topic Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit? in Credit Cards

What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:21:01 GMT

One of the most frequently asked questions asked here is "what kind of credit card can I get? My scores are xxx, yyy, zzz.

That's when you are bombarded with particular cards you should apply for, which one's to avoid.

So you go to a site and check out a particular card, and they state minimum requirements, such as: for those with excellent credit...fair, good or poor credit.

That's left the person scratching their head as to what do they consider poor, fair, etc credit scores? I know I asked this questions sooooooo many times, I thought I put down my thoughts.IMO, this is the key to successful applying and acceptance.

I found this loose definition on cardratings.com. (Thanks net panther for the url! great site). But take it with a grain of salt. YMMV:

Credit Score Rating Example:
720 - 850: Excellent
680 - 720: Good
640 - 680: Fair
350 - 640: Poor
000 - 349: No Credit

A few have posted comments stating the same. hauling I believe was one of them, the others I forgot but Super Contributors(sorry, forgot who. I've slept since then)

For me, I'm somewhere in the "Fair" range of scoring, and I know it does me no good at all to apply for a card that would recommend "Good" and certainly not "Excellent", as it would only result in a hard inq + a drop in scores.

The moral of the story is: do not apply for cards that are beyond your reach. It only leads to disappointment, plus a drop in scores.

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:52:35 GMT

Excellent advice Syl. I know for a fact that I would fall into the poor credit range. I dont plan to stay there forever.

Message Edited by landocalrissian on 12-06-2007 10:52 AM

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

MidnightVoice — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:54:18 GMT

What does 2/3 Excellent abd 1/3 good come out to be?

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

SmartCookie — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:01:28 GMT

To make it more confusing Sylvia, is that chart supposed to be for standard FICOs or for credit card enhanced PFICO.

The world may never know... crunch.

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:23:58 GMT

Great info THANKS!!

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:45:12 GMT

I remember griping at Barry on the FICO Forums Feedback board about this, because you had posted the link to the myFICO "Get a Credit Card" page (look at the top menu bar, everyone, over on the right), and they use the same categories.

It doesn't make sense to me that myFICO uses the speedometers-of-death with one set of ranges, but a different one for the credit card link on its own site.

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:46:09 GMT

@SmartCookie wrote:
To make it more confusing Sylvia, is that chart supposed to be for standard FICOs or for credit card enhanced PFICO.
The world may never know... crunch.

Yes, S.C. exactly. lol! The closer I come to understanding FICO scoring, the more I realize how distant I am!

As it comes close to the FICO upper range, it's a decent benchmark to go on....for me at least. At least I now have SOME sort of guide on this zaniness when I go into my app feeding frenzy.

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

MidnightVoice — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:45:15 GMT

http://www.myfico.com/LoanCenter/Offers/CreditCards.aspx

Your Credit Rating

Excellent (741+)
Good (661-740)
Fair (581-660)
Poor (580 & below)

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:53:29 GMT

I just updated TheNewWorldMan's color guide to credit scores over on Understanding FICO Scoring. After all this time, it leaves me in hiccups from laughing.

I'm now azure on EX! Never would have dreamed it.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=9728

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:57:26 GMT

Good post, Syl, but scores alone are not all that matter which is my concern. CCC each have their own policy. My recent decline by BOA is an example. A PR 6yrs old, CA on an account 7yrs old.

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

coco08 — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:45:23 GMT

I've asked myself this question many times also. It's nice to hear where you stand on the ratings. I'm also somewhere in the fair category. I'm pretty new here, (though I log on every day without fail!) and I almost never post anything.

As I sort through the rebuilding process, I'm learning so much and I've started a short list in my head of certain people whose advice I think of as being very sound and which resounds with the voice of experience. Your name is definitely on that list, so I thank you!

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

ccaddict — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:08:01 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:

I just updated TheNewWorldMan's color guide to credit scores over on Understanding FICO Scoring. After all this time, it leaves me in hiccups from laughing.

I'm now azure on EX! Never would have dreamed it.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=9728

LOL!! Nice link...just couldn't stop laughing towards the end.

This will probably a perennial question, no matter how the fico score model changes..

Re: What constitutes: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent credit?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:55:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Good post, Syl, but scores alone are not all that matter which is my concern. CCC each have their own policy. My recent decline by BOA is an example. A PR 6yrs old, CA on an account 7yrs old.

Thanks Anderson, and I agree. That orig. post was not to be taken as an assurance that given a particular score, and cards that fall within those scoring parameters, that one will get a card. Was just meant to be a benchmark to be considered when thinking about applying for a particular card. Without a benchmark, I'd be running around in circles wringing my hands and having anxiety attacks!

Same thing happened to me last July. Was turned down by Discover, even though I had FICO score of 681 with TU. Reason? Collections and something in Public Records.