topic Re: What is a “good” Navy score? in Credit Cards

What is a “good” Navy score?

designated_knitter — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 18:45:39 GMT

I've often read that Navy goes more by their own internal score than other factors.

So what is considered "good" by navy standards... I.e good enough to get the big CLIs and starting limits?

I was recently approved for my second card after 90 day (first card is secured nRewards). It Was Platinum with SL limit of 6900 and interest rate of 14.9 percent.

got a letter that stated my Navy score was 299.

Also, I'm coming up on my 3 month review for nRewards and hope to get a CLI out of that. However, I took advantage of the 0 percent BTs and my balance on the Platinum is about 6000/6900. My statements on nRewards has always cut with zero balance.

Will the high balance on the Platinum card hurt my chances of moving forward with the nRewards? I've already mad one 350.00 payment on the Platinum before the first statement cut and made a payment for 2x the minimum just after the platinum statement cut.

On the bright side, the rest of my CCs are all 0 (or very close due to the BTs)

Thanks in advance for any wisdom navy whisperers may have.

Re: What is a “good” Navy score?

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 18:53:55 GMT

Navy isn't really score focused, either their own score or FICO, they're much more interested in the relationship you have with them and how they view your handling of your other credit accounts. They're not shy about large limits despite large balances if you have the income and overall profile to support it but if you can wait until you get your balance down, that obviously doesn't hurt.

Re: What is a “good” Navy score?

Shooting-For-800 — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 13:27:48 GMT

Scores s'mores.

I started at 333 with a tiny card.

My scores went down and limits went up.

It is all about relationships with Navy Fed.

Re: What is a “good” Navy score?

M_Smart007 — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 14:45:39 GMT

My Navy internal score is 330 .. seems to get me everything I need with them

Re: What is a “good” Navy score?

CreditMagic7 — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 14:51:45 GMT

Who knows. That little wizard who roams their credit halls with his magic wand.

I seen scores bordering near 500's some years ago sporting start lines of 20-25K while my (then) 780's barely eeked out a 3,100 SL on my first card. And i mean tons of brand new card users with a Victoria Secret and few other mediocre cards was suddenly propelled to heights never before seen. I did eventually get up there but whether internal score/fico score/ and, if, including relationship with Navy or combo of all 3 it's well known they dance to the beat of their own drum.

Re: What is a “good” Navy score?

Aim_High — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 17:15:24 GMT

@designated_knitter wrote:
I've often read that Navy goes more by their own internal score than other factors.

So what is considered "good" by navy standards... I.e good enough to get the big CLIs and starting limits?

I was recently approved for my second card after 90 day (first card is secured nRewards). It Was Platinum with SL limit of 6900 and interest rate of 14.9 percent.

got a letter that stated my Navy score was 299.

Also, I'm coming up on my 3 month review for nRewards and hope to get a CLI out of that. However, I took advantage of the 0 percent BTs and my balance on the Platinum is about 6000/6900. My statements on nRewards has always cut with zero balance.

Will the high balance on the Platinum card hurt my chances of moving forward with the nRewards? I've already mad one 350.00 payment on the Platinum before the first statement cut and made a payment for 2x the minimum just after the platinum statement cut.

On the bright side, the rest of my CCs are all 0 (or very close due to the BTs)

Thanks in advance for any wisdom navy whisperers may have.

I immediately thought of another recent posting where I discussed Navy internal scoring, @designated_knitter. I went to find it to give you the link, but also discovered it was you who I replied to on 01/27/2021 with a very similar topic (What does NFCU consider a good relationship?) Here is that link again. Hopefully, it was helpful then and will be helpful now in answering your question.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Personal-Finance/What-does-NFCU-consider-a-good-relationship/m-p/6241432#M220025

By the way, there have been some comments upthread about FICO scores. Those are completely separate and irrelevant when talking about Navy's "internal score." And normally, only those who have been denied for credit have the privilege of learning that score, since Navy doesn't disclose it otherwise. (By the way, were you denied credit, or did they disclose it as part of the secured card program? I've not heard of anyone getting their score without a denial?) The range is from 100 to 450. Navy also doesn't disclose the factors that go into how the score is determined, or score interpretations such as excellent, good, fair, poor. Subjectively, I would estimate that a roughly 300 internal score is a pretty good score. If you assume the scores are evenly divided for simplicity, any score at about 188 or below is in the bottom 25% and the median score would be about 275. Scores above about 362 would be in the top 25%. As @M_Smart007 said, something in the upper 200's to lower 300's is probably all you need to get approved ("GOOD.") And "Excellent" scores are probably in the upper 300's to lower 400's. However, a high Navy score is not enough, in and of itself, to get you credit. I was declined for a More Rewards card in July 2020 due to excessive new accounts. My internal score at the time was 427/450 and my TU FICO score was a perfect 850. Several other members commented that was the highest Navy internal score they had ever seen. I imagine the reason was that normally, absent the excessive credit-seeking, such a score would most likely lead to an approval (with no denial letter ever disclosing the score.)

So while the "internal score" is important, Navy FCU most likely uses it along with FICO score as well as other credit report data such as debt loading, utilization rates, and credit-seeking indicators such as new accounts and inquiries.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Update-NFCU-MORE-REWARDS-AMEX-DENIAL/m-p/6083097#M270579

Credit Unions in general are often more sensitive to debt loading and/or Debt-to-Income, some more than others. I do think Navy is sensitive to debt itself even more than debt-to-income. Your Platinum card utilization by itself is running almost 87% utilization (6000/6900.) That's quite high. I would temper expectations of significant progress on Navy credit limits until you've got a long repayment history and that utilization decreases substantially.

Re: What is a “good” Navy score?

Remedios — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 03:44:10 GMT

@CreditMagic7 wrote:
Who knows. That little wizard who roams their credit halls with his magic wand.
I seen scores bordering near 500's some years ago sporting start lines of 20-25K while my (then) 780's barely eeked out a 3,100 SL on my first card. And i mean tons of brand new card users with a Victoria Secret and few other mediocre cards was suddenly propelled to heights never before seen. I did eventually get up there but whether internal score/fico score/ and, if, including relationship with Navy or combo of all 3 it's well known they dance to the beat of their own drum.

Well, one would hope that now when you're starting over, you wouldn't be knocking down those with store cards, but instead have a bit more understanding on how hard and taxing rebuilding is, and how often applying for what one can get approved for is born out of necessity.

While not exactly the topic here, I hope OP forgives me, you just literally described their credit situation.

Re: What is a “good” Navy score?

designated_knitter — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 15:51:58 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
Well, one would hope that now when you're starting over, you wouldn't be knocking down those with store cards, but instead have a bit more understanding on how hard and taxing rebuilding is, and how often applying for what one can get approved for is born out of necessity.

While not exactly the topic here, I hope OP forgives me, you just literally described their credit situation.

@Remedios You are most definitely forgiven 👏😁

@Aim_High I definitely agree with you about the nearly maxed out Platinum card. Fortunately, I'm in a position to pay down about 1k per month so will only be that way temporarily. But 0 percent interest means vs 22 percent or more... felt like I needed to take the risk.

Sorry for the similar threads...and thanks for your input on both.

I wasn't denied credit this time around... I believe they sent me the score because despite being approved, it was for a relatively high (by Navy standards!) interest rate. It was either that as the trigger or when I reconned the SL and was denied.

interestingly enough, I was denied an unsecured card back when I first joined but never got such a letter... perhaps because I was too new to have a Navy score?