topic Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Apexcrest123 — Thu, 16 May 2024 23:36:03 GMT

Hello everyone!

im new to credit. After not having credit most of my life im in my lower 40s and decided to start building credit last year.

i started wiith a chime secured card, then am authorized user on a cap venture 20k limit, then a credit one 400 dollar limit, then amazon store card 500, cap one platinum 300 and finally care credit by synchrony for 4,000.
Experian 721

Equifax and transu 680.

heres my problem, i got trigger happy and made the mistake of opening a bunch of accounts within 6 months of each other.

i wish i would have stuck to 3 maybe 4 accounts. I dont want to look like i am desperate.

i have stopped applying or prequalifying completely and now want to grow my credit. My questions are...

if i pay in full or azeo a little each month but make all payments, will my scores start going up?
lets say i pay in full all cards (thats not a problem for me, im good at paying and managing my own funds) for 6 months straight, will i see a score increase or is this going to take years?

my goal honestly is to get where a bank will approve me for a 5,000 dollar limit. I know i have a ways to go but did i screw myself by opening these accounts? Any idea of how long it will take to start seeing a score increase if i keep utilization at ten percent and pay in full?

thankyou, this has been stressing me out and its good to get off my chest, your replies are very welcome and appreciated!

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

JoeRockhead — Thu, 16 May 2024 23:58:00 GMT

Screw yourself? No. If you can pay everything in full, do it. Only let a small balance post on one account.

How many of your accounts are yours, and how many are you an AU?

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Apexcrest123 — Fri, 17 May 2024 00:01:51 GMT

Hi, im an AU on only one account. Its a cap one venture. Its only 4 months old. All the accounts are 2 to 3 months old and one is brand new. Yes i can pay in full without a problem. I dont use the accounts but for 40 or 50 bucks here and there.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Snook_on_the_Line — Fri, 17 May 2024 00:56:55 GMT

Assuming there are no negitave items on your reports, As long as you keep up with 100% on time payments and keep your reported utilization low you should start seeing a steady rise in scores as time marches forward.

my Equifax fico score started at 505ish and went to unscoreable after my negatives were removed. From unscoreable to 750 took less than 18 months. I had five cards that were all brand new. It was a steady rise with a little extra jump when the cards hit one year old. Ten months later and I'm hovering around 765.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

FicoMike0 — Fri, 17 May 2024 01:05:14 GMT

You're not screwed at all. You'll see a score improvement when your youngest account turns 12 months. The 12 months pass in the same 12 months whether you have one account or five. During the same 12 months, all of your hard inquiries will age off. In 12 months you will be better off than If you had spaced the 5 apps out.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

FicoMike0 — Fri, 17 May 2024 01:10:08 GMT

Meanwhile, you will be getting the benefit of having three or more accounts reporting paid. Make sure you ask for credit limit increases, usually every six months. These are usually a soft inquiry. Don't agree to a hard inquiry. As your limit increases, it gets easier to manage utilization.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

FicoMike0 — Fri, 17 May 2024 01:13:30 GMT

Another thing. You can freeze each of your credit reports for free. I say do it. That way, no one can do a hard inquiry. If you decide to apply for credit, you can unfreeze, or even schedule a temporary thaw.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Apexcrest123 — Fri, 17 May 2024 01:14:02 GMT

This is all great news. I dont mind waiting a year or so for my credit to jump. Then i can finally be approved for something with good rewards and a much higher limit. I have to keep reminding myself im just starting out and its ok to have a small limit. Ive heard that the emazon card i have gives credit increases pretty standard. Maybe in a year or so they will graduate me from the store card to the visa card? That would be amazing!

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

JoeRockhead — Fri, 17 May 2024 07:42:34 GMT

@Apexcrest123 wrote:
Hi, im an AU on only one account. Its a cap one venture. Its only 4 months old. All the accounts are 2 to 3 months old and one is brand new. Yes i can pay in full without a problem. I dont use the accounts but for 40 or 50 bucks here and there.

The only thing you did was adding too much, too soon... Time will take care of that, so be patient. No more accounts until your newest account is over a year old.

In the meantime, practice AZE0 and ask for CLIs on your existing accounts if/when they're eligible ss long as they're a SP only.

As for the AU account, I doubt its doing anything for you. If it's reporting a zero balance, you'll actually get a small score penalty being its your only one.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Apexcrest123 — Fri, 17 May 2024 01:41:31 GMT

Ipthat brings me to my second question.

If i closed one of these accounts, like the AU, or the credit one. How bad would it affect me in the long run if i closed one with a zero balance now.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

FicoMike0 — Fri, 17 May 2024 03:58:56 GMT

Generally, it never helps to close an account. The au, I don't know about. As to closing one of your accounts. You want to have at least three open accounts. You'll lose the credit limit from the closed card. For age, the closed account will stay on for 10 years.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Thomas_Thumb — Fri, 17 May 2024 15:03:39 GMT

@Apexcrest123 wrote:
That brings me to my second question.
If i closed one of these accounts, like the AU, or the credit one. How bad would it affect me in the long run if i closed one with a zero balance now.

Close the AU account if you want. It's not really value add at this time. Keep all the other cards open as the combined CL helps hold down aggregate utilization. However, if a card has an annual fee and low potential for a substantially higher CL consider closing it prior to the AF date.

I'd wait 6 months before asking for any CLIs even if they are soft pull. You need to build some payment history.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

SouthJamaica — Fri, 17 May 2024 06:24:54 GMT

@Apexcrest123 wrote:
Hello everyone!
im new to credit. After not having credit most of my life im in my lower 40s and decided to start building credit last year.
i started wiith a chime secured card, then am authorized user on a cap venture 20k limit, then a credit one 400 dollar limit, then amazon store card 500, cap one platinum 300 and finally care credit by synchrony for 4,000.
Experian 721
Equifax and transu 680.
heres my problem, i got trigger happy and made the mistake of opening a bunch of accounts within 6 months of each other.
i wish i would have stuck to 3 maybe 4 accounts. I dont want to look like i am desperate.
i have stopped applying or prequalifying completely and now want to grow my credit. My questions are...
if i pay in full or azeo a little each month but make all payments, will my scores start going up?
lets say i pay in full all cards (thats not a problem for me, im good at paying and managing my own funds) for 6 months straight, will i see a score increase or is this going to take years?
my goal honestly is to get where a bank will approve me for a 5,000 dollar limit. I know i have a ways to go but did i screw myself by opening these accounts? Any idea of how long it will take to start seeing a score increase if i keep utilization at ten percent and pay in full?
thankyou, this has been stressing me out and its good to get off my chest, your replies are very welcome and appreciated!

In the long run no, you haven't screwed yourself.

If you add no new credit or credit applications, and keep your utilization low, you will start seeing score increases very quickly.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Apexcrest123 — Fri, 17 May 2024 14:40:16 GMT

Thanks everyone. One last question. If you close an account in good standing...like lets say i close the credit one account after a year or so becuase of the high fees, does that factor into your ficomscore in terms of length of accounts?

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Thomas_Thumb — Fri, 17 May 2024 15:01:02 GMT

Yes

Fico looks at both closed and open accounts when determining AAoA for scoring and AoOA for scorecard classification. Closed accounts continue to age as long as they are on your report.

In other words, an account closed at 11 months age will show as 1 year 11 months a year after closure. Age is not frozen at time of closure.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

SouthJamaica — Fri, 17 May 2024 15:25:02 GMT

@Apexcrest123 wrote:
Thanks everyone. One last question. If you close an account in good standing...like lets say i close the credit one account after a year or so becuase of the high fees, does that factor into your ficomscore in terms of length of accounts?

Closed accounts stay in your reports, and continue to factor into your aging metrics. Typically they stay in the reports for 10 years, but sometimes drop out sooner, and sometimes stay in longer.

So no. Have no fear. If you have a Credit One account, close it ASAP.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

TheKid2 — Sat, 18 May 2024 04:49:15 GMT

I have closed accounts listed for 12+ years still on the reports right now and I've seen as high as 14+ years before dropping, it really helps the AAoA. It's nice that they don't do 10 years religiously to remove accounts. So, you can close any account or drop AU without fear. I don't think anyone has really nailed down the aging breakpoints for all the different metrics (besides the 1 year mark for newest account as a significant milestone), but older is definitely better and hard to beat an old thick file. Just have to be wary of utilization and carrying balances on many accounts, all of which can be controlled and adjusted should you need to prepare for a credit event where you want the best terms.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 May 2024 11:37:39 GMT

@Apexcrest123 wrote:
Maybe in a year or so they will graduate me from the store card to the visa card? That would be amazing!

The Amazon Prime Visa is issued by Chase

The Amazon Store card is issued by Synchrony

There is no graduation. If you want the Prime Visa you will have to apply for that separately in the future.

You can have both cards so don't think you will have to close one to apply for the other.

But your profile should be far better than it currently is to try for the Chase Amazon Prime.

There are reports that Chase may be relaxed on the 5/24 rule for the Amazon Visa, but I wouldn't waste a HP to find out.

Re: Questions about my short history and will my score go up?

MARINES — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:55:29 GMT

Need latest. Score. I am a us marine veteran trying to upgrade. My credit history