topic Re: Help or hurt? in Credit Cards

Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:06:55 GMT

Have a Cap 1 card (several years) $750K limit. Never late, rarely ever over 1/2 credit limit during any given month. Just got AMEX gold card, no limit set. Good move or bad move for FICO score? Advice appreciated.

Re: Help or hurt?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:28:47 GMT

Hi, welcome to the forums!

If all you had for revolving credit (CC, line of credit) was the Cap One card, the Gold will help. The FICO scoring formulas (one for each credit bureau) "like" to see 2-3 open revolving accounts. Consumers can get into a lot more trouble with revolving credit than with installment credit, so proper use of CC's is rewarded in FICO scores.

Since it's a charge card, it will be ignored for calculating revolving utilization or "util", which is a big driver of scores. If you ever find that you need to get a certain FICO score (for instance, for a mortgage), you might want to read here to find out how to time your CC payment for maximum points. A second revolving CC wouldn't hurt, either, if it reports a CL. Stay away from Visa Signature or Mastercard World cards if this is so --they report differently from standard Visas and MC's.

It's a weird credit world these days...

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:35:19 GMT

Cap 1 was all I had. If it helps score I would be willing to take another cc. What would be best?

Re: Help or hurt?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:44:35 GMT

A lot of it depends on what you want from a credit card, and how and where you plan to use it. For instance, do you want rewards cards, and if so, in what area, and with points or with cash back, and on and on.

One of the simplest sources is your local credit union, or a local bank (as opposed to a local branch of a national bank.) Credit unions especially are geared to working with those who don't have a lot of credit history, who are often too scary to major lenders to take a chance on.

How long have you had credit, and do you have any negatives reporting (lates, collections, judgments, etc)? These factors affect which lenders will be interested in you.

If you've pulled a FICO score (as opposed to a FAKO from Experian, 3-in-1 credit monitoring services, and so forth), what was your score, and was it Equifax or TransUnion? You can't buy your Experian FICO any more. If you still can access the score report, click the second tab titled "Understanding Your Score," and look at the negative factors on the left. What are they, in order? These factors are what are affecting your scores. The positive ones on the right are more warm-fuzzies. Alas, it's the negatives that matter.

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:56:34 GMT

Equifax and Transunion both 720+. Paying down an IRS debt that has been posted on report for a couple of years. Would like points from any cards. I've had credit for a long time and it"s a big plus on both Equifax and Transunion understanding your score. Nothing here on Experian.

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:07:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Have a Cap 1 card (several years) $750K limit. Never late, rarely ever over 1/2 credit limit during any given month. Just got AMEX gold card, no limit set. Good move or bad move for FICO score? Advice appreciated.

750K limit? 750,000?

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:48:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Have a Cap 1 card (several years) $750K limit. Never late, rarely ever over 1/2 credit limit during any given month. Just got AMEX gold card, no limit set. Good move or bad move for FICO score? Advice appreciated.

750K limit? 750,000?

They couldn't give you a million?

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:54:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Have a Cap 1 card (several years) $750K limit. Never late, rarely ever over 1/2 credit limit during any given month. Just got AMEX gold card, no limit set. Good move or bad move for FICO score? Advice appreciated.

750K limit? 750,000?

They couldn't give you a million?

Cheapskates.

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:55:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Equifax and Transunion both 720+. Paying down an IRS debt that has been posted on report for a couple of years. Would like points from any cards. I've had credit for a long time and it"s a big plus on both Equifax and Transunion understanding your score. Nothing here on Experian.

Long term you should have 3 or more CC for best FICO score. However, your score will likely drop a little when you add a new card.

Most recomend having more than 1 cc anyway. If you one CC is lost or stolen or cancelled, you might find yourself in a difficult situation with no backup.

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:54:18 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Have a Cap 1 card (several years) $750K limit. Never late, rarely ever over 1/2 credit limit during any given month. Just got AMEX gold card, no limit set. Good move or bad move for FICO score? Advice appreciated.

750K limit? 750,000?

They couldn't give you a million?

Cheapskates.

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:14:02 GMT

Whoa........!! Clearly a delusional slip there. $750

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:58:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Whoa........!! Clearly a delusional slip there. $750

Yes, but it was quite fun, imaging a $750K limit , especially with Capital One.

Re: Help or hurt?

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:16:22 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
A lot of it depends on what you want from a credit card, and how and where you plan to use it. For instance, do you want rewards cards, and if so, in what area, and with points or with cash back, and on and on.

One of the simplest sources is your local credit union, or a local bank (as opposed to a local branch of a national bank.) Credit unions especially are geared to working with those who don't have a lot of credit history, who are often too scary to major lenders to take a chance on.

How long have you had credit, and do you have any negatives reporting (lates, collections, judgments, etc)? These factors affect which lenders will be interested in you.

If you've pulled a FICO score (as opposed to a FAKO from Experian, 3-in-1 credit monitoring services, and so forth), what was your score, and was it Equifax or TransUnion? You can't buy your Experian FICO any more. If you still can access the score report, click the second tab titled "Understanding Your Score," and look at the negative factors on the left. What are they, in order? These factors are what are affecting your scores. The positive ones on the right are more warm-fuzzies. Alas, it's the negatives that matter.

Bumping this post, now that we've recovered from the image of a $750K CL Cap One card.

I think it will help you in the long run to have 3 CC's, especially if two of them are revolving. I know you have an AmEx charge card as your second card.

If you can supply some of the above info, we could advise (or confuse) you as to whether now was the time to go for a third card, and if so, which ones might be good matches.

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:22:57 GMT

Both Equifax and Transunion indicate the length of credit history is excellent. Have had Cap 1 card several years and only once or twice exceeded half in limit in any given month. Gold AMEX card is new. Scores were 720 +. Have an ongoing payment with IRS that is reported negatively. Payments steady and always on time. Under 10K. Looking only for points from cards and to improve score.

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:27:59 GMT

Please do.

Re: Help or hurt?

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:37:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Both Equifax and Transunion indicate the length of credit history is excellent. Have had Cap 1 card several years and only once or twice exceeded half in limit in any given month. Gold AMEX card is new. Scores were 720 +. Have an ongoing payment with IRS that is reported negatively. Payments steady and always on time. Under 10K. Looking only for points from cards and to improve score.

First of all, timing: I'd let the AmEx card show up and have six month's worth of payments on it displaying on your reports. It helps to have a trail of history on more than one open card. If you have some sort of deadline coming up, maybe you might try for one sooner, but you probably won't get as good of a deal.

As to which type, it looks like you want a rewards card. Here's where I'm getting out of the way for others to reply! Again, some cards are better than others, because they are earned from specific categories (gas, restaurant, drugstores, groceries), or you apply the points to other categories (airline miles, hotel stays, etc.)

Does the IRS payment report as a judgment?

Re: Help or hurt?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:39:08 GMT

well my peers deff answered ur question. my advice is to use the heck out of this charge card and let ur highest balance report for now. it will hurt ur scores now but in the long run when u pay before the statement that highest balance will report as your credit limit. after 6 months- year of heavy usage you should apply for an amex credit card and then when they saw that u used it a lot they will bless u with a credit limit to accomodate your spending. best of luck my friend.