topic Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 19:15:58 GMT

Hi All,

Not sure this is in the correct section but here goes - Many questions if anyone has time to answer one or all it would be most appreciated:

Background Info:

So I added three new cards after browsing around here a couple weekends ago...dawned on me I needed to add few more cards because I only had two low CL cards at 500 each. New cards are Barclay Business aviator with 5,000 CL, Delta AMEX Gold with a 1000 CL and a Credit One with a 500 CL. Current scores are EQ 671, TU 695 and EX 632, which reflects an 80-88% utilization and i've just PIF and going to wait for reporting. I am planning on leasing a car at the end of the month and would like to have the best interest rate possible so hoping for a bump in scores.

Question 1:

Going from 88% to zero UTI do you know approximately how much my FICOs might increase?

Question 2:

Should I PIF the new cards before they hit my CR or wait until the statement comes?

Question 3: When the new accounts report will they report with the current balance?

Question 4: Should I use my new Business CC to pay my car downpayment/fees and PIF immediately ? Is this a normal thing to do or would Barclays even allow such a large charge on a new account - (will be about 3500-4000 down for a lease)?

Question 5: I got the Credit One card, it was a pre-approval from the mail at 1500 CL if I recall, however they only issued a CL for 500. Should I recon call? I hear on this forum its a lame card. **Intereresting factoid is they sent me a letter indicating my EXPERIAN score is 715, which isn't true. So I am not sure where they are gathering their info.

Question 6:

Should I continue to APP ? If so who else should I try? I don't have any store cards, but had a great history with Nordstrom 10 years ago but closed the account during my divorce.

Thank you so much for this forum. Its helped me tremendously with improving on financial descisions.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

AppHappyTog — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 19:38:12 GMT

My vote is no... especially if you are looking into leasing a vehicle soon. Generally you want to stay away from app'ing for new lines of credit 6 months before a large purchase. You keep going, you may do more harm than good if all these accounts report before you go to apply for financing. You've already got the inquiries so I would just give it a rest- you have more than enough accounts to help improve yours scores if you garden for a bit.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 19:56:39 GMT

I would definitely PIF the smaller lines before the statement cuts. It would be easy to get high utilization on those.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 20:13:40 GMT

No, I would not suggest continuing to app.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 20:22:57 GMT

Oh shoot. Will the three new CLs negatively impact score when they report? Also when they report do they do so with the current real time balance or do I have until the next statement? I was thinking they would improve scores but sounds like it may take 6 mos. appreciate your time!

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 20:24:05 GMT

I PIF two of the existing CL, but haven’t received the statement in the new ones. Should I pay the new ones down prior to receiving statement?

Thank you!

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 20:26:04 GMT

Ok that’s what I was thinking too. Would you suggest my chances are better if I apply now for the car lease or wait til months end OR wait six months? My current car will be paid off in 14 mos.
Super appreciate your input!

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 21:32:32 GMT

If I understand your situation right, you have a total of five cards now. Is that right?

The best thing for your score is:

* No new applications for credit

* Pay all cards to zero except one, with the remaining card at a small positive balance.

Is that doable? If so, do that, use some free tools to pull your credit reports every week, and when all your cards are reporting the way you want, you can pull your three FICO 8 scores at Credit Check Total for a buck, to see where your scores are.

Assuming they get to where you want, then go for your car lease then.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 22:37:26 GMT

Yes that is correct. Five cards now. I am a myfico member so I get one report per month and alerts for scores anytime there is activity!

Two have 0 Balance. New: Amex has statement bal of 185 and full balance of 536 (CL of 1000). Barclay card bal: $879 (CL of 5000).

Credit One: Bal: 39 (CL of 500).

Would anyone recommend paying the two new ones off prior to them hitting my CR?

Thanks again,

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 22:39:31 GMT

Does the Credit One account have an annual fee? If so, you may as well close it down now, as you'd still have 4 revolvers remaining. You're going to want to close it eventually anyway, so it may be in your best interest to address that sooner rather than later.

If you're looking to maximize your scores, you want only 1 card to have a balance reported... so yes, you'd want to pay those 2 cards down to $0 before they report since you already have one with a reported balance.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 23:59:19 GMT

Yes the Credit One does have an annual fee of 39. I haven’t received the card, but wasn’t thrilled when I called and the CL was only 500 when the initial offer said 1500.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 00:36:26 GMT

I'd shake off that Credit One account like a case of the fleas if I were you. They're a predatory lender that probably gets the most negative talk on this forum from what I've read. I can understand someone getting suckered into applying for a Credit One account if they have absolutely no revolvers and are just starting out, although there are better options (Cap One, Discover), but you're in a place where you've already got a couple of better cards like Amex. You literally have zero use for Credit One. Just my opinion.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

AppHappyTog — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 03:00:33 GMT

@WolfChild1 wrote:
Oh shoot. Will the three new CLs negatively impact score when they report? Also when they report do they do so with the current real time balance or do I have until the next statement? I was thinking they would improve scores but sounds like it may take 6 mos. appreciate your time!

Quite possibly they will. Those new accounts will effect your AAoA and your AoYA. Hard for us to say what will happen when they do show up but the general consensus is to expect a ding and just consider yourself lucky if you don’t get one since it depends so much on your credit profile.

Pay down existing balances on accounts as others have said and leave a small balance to report on one- under 8.9%, my sweet spot is 5% but it varies for everyone.

Check your new accounts for statement dates and expect that they will likely report within days off that statement cutting so make sure you’re ontop of those balances.

And no more cards. You’re fine with the amount you have as far as credit profile and if you let the age a bit you should be golden.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 03:11:06 GMT

Thanks. You all have been so kind so many posts it’s incredible....great resource...I’ll follow the advice and get rid of the Credit One and also pay off the two new cards....and ”garden”. I may put off the car lease for a few months as well.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

jamie123 — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 08:16:51 GMT

@WolfChild1 wrote:
Thanks. You all have been so kind so many posts it’s incredible....great resource...I’ll follow the advice and get rid of the Credit One and also pay off the two new cards....and ”garden”. I may put off the car lease for a few months as well.

The payment technique that the other posters have recommended is referred to as the AZEO method around here. It is short for ALL ZERO EXCEPT ONE and refers to credit cards and their balances. It is how you can groom your scores to be as high as they can possibly be considering your credit profile. It is one of the only things that we can actively control when it comes to our credit scores. You only need to use the AZEO method if you want to see how high you can get your scores or you plan on applying for new credit in the near future and need your scores as high as possible.

And yes, ditch the Credit One card. You should stop back in the forums for credit card suggestions before you app for anymore credit cards. You really only want to have credit cards from the so called prime lenders which are:

AMEX

Bank of America

Citi Bank

Chase

Discover

Wells Fargo (Stay away from these guys.)

You don't really need to add any credit cards for another year but might want to add a couple more after that. Long term it is best to have 5 to 8 well aged credit cards. It makes for a thick credit profile and will keep your scores high and rock solid stable in the future. Make sure to set up automatic minimum monthly payments on all your credit card accounts in the event you forget or something happens, you are assured that at least the minimum payments get made.

Good luck!

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:03:43 GMT

@jamie123 wrote:
@WolfChild1 wrote:
Thanks. You all have been so kind so many posts it’s incredible....great resource...I’ll follow the advice and get rid of the Credit One and also pay off the two new cards....and ”garden”. I may put off the car lease for a few months as well.
The payment technique that the other posters have recommended is referred to as the AZEO method around here. It is short for ALL ZERO EXCEPT ONE and refers to credit cards and their balances. It is how you can groom your scores to be as high as they can possibly be considering your credit profile. It is one of the only things that we can actively control when it comes to our credit scores. You only need to use the AZEO method if you want to see how high you can get your scores or you plan on applying for new credit in the near future and need your scores as high as possible.

And yes, ditch the Credit One card. You should stop back in the forums for credit card suggestions before you app for anymore credit cards. You really only want to have credit cards from the so called prime lenders which are:

AMEX
Bank of America
Citi Bank
Chase
Discover
Wells Fargo (Stay away from these guys.)

You don't really need to add any credit cards for another year but might want to add a couple more after that. Long term it is best to have 5 to 8 well aged credit cards. It makes for a thick credit profile and will keep your scores high and rock solid stable in the future. Make sure to set up automatic minimum monthly payments on all your credit card accounts in the event you forget or something happens, you are assured that at least the minimum payments get made.

Good luck!

OMG I figured out how to quote. Thanks Jamie123, I will defininately avoid Wells (negative experience with exisiting car loan) Good idea on the minimum payment auto debit. My oldest cards are Citi received when I had excellent credit, however they've hurt my feelings big time when taking AA years ago dropping CL to 500 each. Suppose I'm grateful they didn't raise my IR.

Cheers. Have a great day.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:10:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'd shake off that Credit One account like a case of the fleas if I were you. They're a predatory lender that probably gets the most negative talk on this forum from what I've read. I can understand someone getting suckered into applying for a Credit One account if they have absolutely no revolvers and are just starting out, although there are better options (Cap One, Discover), but you're in a place where you've already got a couple of better cards like Amex. You literally have zero use for Credit One. Just my opinion.

Sounds like Credit One is subprime. Should I keep it if they offer to increase the CL? Also they had a 715 EX score on the welcome letter which clealy aint true. Is that weird? Or do they just use a diff model? None of my EX scores are that high.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

HeavenOhio — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:42:00 GMT

You can add Capital One, the credit unions, and many lesser known banks to the list of "prime" lenders.

Note that most prime lenders offer "subprime" cards for those who need to go that route. But unlike the Credit Ones of the world, those banks aren't predatory.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 16:00:09 GMT

@WolfChild1
Sounds like Credit One is subprime. Should I keep it if they offer to increase the CL? Also they had a 715 EX score on the welcome letter which clealy aint true. Is that weird? Or do they just use a diff model? None of my EX scores are that high.

No. They could offer to raise your credit limit to $20,000 and you should still run for the hills. No doubt the score that they provided you with was drawn up using a different scoring model, hence the reason it's different than what you're used to seeing.

Re: Three New Cards since 3/24/18 - Should I add more?

WolfChild1 — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 16:04:12 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
You can add Capital One, the credit unions, and many lesser known banks to the list of "prime" lenders.

Note that most prime lenders offer "subprime" cards for those who need to go that route. But unlike the Credit Ones of the world, those banks aren't predatory.

Now that I think of it, Credit One did solicit my business with an offer of prequal of 1500 CL on email and then welched on the deal and gave me 500. They name it Platinum so you think its a quality card.