topic Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards in Credit Cards

Credit Card APR and # of cards

maxq — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:29:00 GMT

So I have been trying to get all my credit in good shape for a possible mtg this summer. I recently pulled my credit and have 2 negatives, 1 bk and 1 baddie(settlement paid and account should be closed). I have only 4 open credit cards. Made the mistake of closing a very small one, but my oldest, back last year. I read now you shouldn't close them. Anyway, I was wondering what your current APR would be for your cards and how many open you have? Just out of curiosity. Mine are: HSBC- 16.99% CITI- 12.74% Cap1- 15.90% WAMU- 16.75% All of mine are currently paid off with a zero balance. However, I know I should put a little bit on a couple of them just to have some credit showing. I just am so excited my credit is looking better and better each month. I went from a score of somewhere around 600 to now my highest is 725 and lowest is 700.

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

maxq — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:37:53 GMT

i actually have a question also, can you contact your cc company and see if they will lower the apr? just wondering since obviously mine are high. i know it's from the risk they took back when i opened them up. if you can ask and they lower the rates does that reflect poorly in your fico score or will it improve them? thx

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:38:40 GMT

Put a 5% balance on one card- (20 points for me)

HSBC will lower your APR if you call and ask to close-

Have you called the back door for Cap1 to get a lower APR or CLI?

Have you ever had a problem with WAMU? This APR is higher than mine-

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:40:03 GMT

APR's are not calculated in FICO scoring-

Ask away-

You have more power with the zero balances-

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

maxq — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:44:38 GMT

Tim I will put 5% on my Citi card since it is the lower rate. I have had the Cap1 and the WAMU card about the same length of time. My WAMU has almost a 10k limit and I do not want to do anything with that one because I just paid it off...lol. I will call HSBC and see if they will lower my rate. Do you ask to close the card and then they offer the lower rate? Or do I ask to lower my rate? Side note: Cap1 just started charging a monthly 29.00 fee. I haven't been using the card since I paid it off months ago. Maybe that is why the fee? I should call them too to find out about that. Oh, I never had a problem with WAMU. In fact they keep increasing my CL! My CL has increased like 7k over the last couple years! Crazy!

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

maxq — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:45:59 GMT

they don't have to do a hard inq on my account in order to lower the apr do they? reason i ask is bc i'm trying to get a house this summer.

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:55:24 GMT

Capone does not hard-

HSBC- ask to close- retention will lower without hard

maxq wrote:
they don't have to do a hard inq on my account in order to lower the apr do they? reason i ask is bc i'm trying to get a house this summer.

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

maxq — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:39:43 GMT

Tim I wanted to say thanks for telling me to call and get my APR's lowered. It worked! I called 3 of the 4 to ask for a decrease in my APR. I basically said I have been a good standing customer and would like to lower my APR. WAMU surprised me and even increased my CL! Not that I wanted it because I honestly don't need a card with 10k CL. Anyway, I wanted to say thanks. Oh, on a side note I do still have a small balance on my large card. Less than 2% utilization. So I'm keeping a very small % on at least 1 card through each reporting cycle. That way it shows I'm using credit but paying things off as soon as I can. 1st time in my life I have almost nothing owed on credit cards! New APR's to boot!

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:42:41 GMT

@maxq wrote:

. . . .Oh, on a side note I do still have a small balance on my large card. Less than 2% utilization. So I'm keeping a very small % on at least 1 card through each reporting cycle. That way it shows I'm using credit but paying things off as soon as I can. 1st time in my life I have almost nothing owed on credit cards! New APR's to boot!

Isn't that weird? Losing points for not having any balance at all, but there you go. Sounds like you have the perfect strategy going.

Congrats on the APR reductions, and good luck on your mortgage this summer!

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

maxq — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:48:26 GMT

thx hauling! i think my wife and i will be in good shape...her credit scores are better than mine atm but i am going to try to pass her up before we get our mtg. we'll see how my strategy goes...i will keep you guys posted over the next several months... this site is great! full of helpful information....things i wish i would have known 20 years ago...oh well, always learning

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:40:45 GMT

Your welcome- and nice work.

maxq wrote:
Tim I wanted to say thanks for telling me to call and get my APR's lowered. It worked! I called 3 of the 4 to ask for a decrease in my APR. I basically said I have been a good standing customer and would like to lower my APR. WAMU surprised me and even increased my CL! Not that I wanted it because I honestly don't need a card with 10k CL. Anyway, I wanted to say thanks. Oh, on a side note I do still have a small balance on my large card. Less than 2% utilization. So I'm keeping a very small % on at least 1 card through each reporting cycle. That way it shows I'm using credit but paying things off as soon as I can. 1st time in my life I have almost nothing owed on credit cards! New APR's to boot!

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:42:42 GMT

@maxq wrote:
Side note: Cap1 just started charging a monthly 29.00 fee. I haven't been using the card since I paid it off months ago. Maybe that is why the fee? I should call them too to find out about that.

$29 a MONTH?!?!?? Yeesh, remind me to never get a Cap1 card... Yeah, I'd call about that...

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

MidnightVoice — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:51:52 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:

Isn't that weird? Losing points for not having any balance at all, but there you go.

Yet I get hit for having balances on too many cards, even if util is <5%.

Go figure

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:56:28 GMT

@MidnightVoice wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Isn't that weird? Losing points for not having any balance at all, but there you go.
Yet I get hit for having balances on too many cards, even if util is <5%.

Go figure

TU got me for balances on TWO cards, util = 3%. I don't like TU.

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:03:40 GMT

maxq

that's great ! just a question when did you file bk? i did it was discharged 1/05 and i'm trying to get my credit up. yours loks awesome great cl

Re: Credit Card APR and # of cards

maxq — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:38:42 GMT

bama~ i filed back in 99, i started to receive cc approvals/apps right away in the mail and they went right in the trash...lol....my 1st card i opened was back in 2001, i think it was just a tad over 2 years before i did it....i was nervous because i knew my past problems, but i also knew i matured in my financial world so to speak....so i went for it...after a few months of dabbling, i decided to open another account...i used 2 cc's for about a year then opened a 3rd, after that i decided to open a 4th...so in total 4 cards within 5 years of me filing...i did close one and opened another one just last year....so i've had some proof of credit usage and never been late on my payments, only 1 card did i have a very large utilization percentage, personal reasons, but have since paid that one down to less than 2% UTI my advice, i'm not a pro nor am i a financial adviser, your in a good spot right now to begin to get your credit and your life back...i would not advise getting multiple cc accounts atm...just open 1 and see if you can maintain some constraint on spending and never be late...i always paid more on my accounts than the minimum payments as well so you may want to try to pay more....try putting only about 3% utilization on your card and work with that for a few months...after you have shown you can be responsible with 1 card then and only then would i suggest opening another account, i personally would pay off that 1 card before you try to open another account, then just repeat that process with that new card....at this point you probably won't need more than 2 to get you started and you should see your FICO scores going up with your commitment on getting your credit in order...i would offer more but without knowing your lifestyle and your personal situation i could not begin to give you advice on a car loan or mortgage...