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38% Utilization $29k 717 FICO Best Strategy for New Apps?

njames33
New Contributor

38% Utilization $29k 717 FICO Best Strategy for New Apps?

Most of CC debt is from business expenses. End goal is to move as much of this business debt over to business cards that don't report to personal so I can separate the two.

Previously was at $46k utilization with 2 cards maxed out. Paid those down a bit but score dropped from 740 because new auto and new CC popped up. Had applied with Amex & US Bank for biz cards and was denied for high utilizaiton.

Plan now is to try and find soft pull preapprovals for business cards before doing any hard pulls. I will have a new card showing up in a week so I want to apply strategically for any new accounts. If biz cards are not likely then I would like to try and find another card or two with 0% balance transfers or low intro APRs.

Would really like to get into the Amex biz softpull system but concerned I will lose another HP on them, same with US bank biz for their low into APR.

Any adivce would be appreciated.

FICO8
EQ: 717
TU: 716
EX: 719

FICO Bankcard 8
EQ: 717
TU: 708
EX: 728

FICO 9
EQ: 679
TU: 693
EX: 681

FICO Bankcard 9
EQ: 671
TU: 687
EX: 671

FICO Bankcard 5, 4, 2
EQ: 735
TU: 741
EX: 737

FICO 5, 4, 2 (Mortgage)
EQ: 754
TU: 736
EX: 742

Inquiries: (Mostly from recent auto)
EX: (5 inq) CU, CU, CU, CU, Amex
EQ: (3 inq) CU, Penfed, PenFed
TU: (1 inq) US Bank

AAoA: 5 years/8months
AoNA: 1 months (car loan PenFed, CC PenFed)
AoOA: 15 years/10months

1 installment loan accounts (new auto)

0 negatives. Only red flags are:
High revolving account balances
High installment loan balances

38% Revolving Utilization $29k
1 Card 88% $15k (0% balance transfer)
1 Card 60% $15k (best purchase APR)
3 other CC's less than $50

Good income but new business recently started

Message 1 of 5
4 REPLIES 4
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: 38% Utilization $29k 717 FICO Best Strategy for New Apps?


@njames33 wrote:

Most of CC debt is from business expenses. End goal is to move as much of this business debt over to business cards that don't report to personal so I can separate the two.

Previously was at $46k utilization with 2 cards maxed out. Paid those down a bit but score dropped from 740 because new auto and new CC popped up. Had applied with Amex & US Bank for biz cards and was denied for high utilizaiton.

Plan now is to try and find soft pull preapprovals for business cards before doing any hard pulls. I will have a new card showing up in a week so I want to apply strategically for any new accounts. If biz cards are not likely then I would like to try and find another card or two with 0% balance transfers or low intro APRs.

Would really like to get into the Amex biz softpull system but concerned I will lose another HP on them, same with US bank biz for their low into APR.

Any adivce would be appreciated.

FICO8
EQ: 717
TU: 716
EX: 719

FICO Bankcard 8
EQ: 717
TU: 708
EX: 728

FICO 9
EQ: 679
TU: 693
EX: 681

FICO Bankcard 9
EQ: 671
TU: 687
EX: 671

FICO Bankcard 5, 4, 2
EQ: 735
TU: 741
EX: 737

FICO 5, 4, 2 (Mortgage)
EQ: 754
TU: 736
EX: 742

Inquiries: (Mostly from recent auto)
EX: (5 inq) CU, CU, CU, CU, Amex
EQ: (3 inq) CU, Penfed, PenFed
TU: (1 inq) US Bank

AAoA: 5 years/8months
AoNA: 1 months (car loan PenFed, CC PenFed)
AoOA: 15 years/10months

1 installment loan accounts (new auto)

0 negatives. Only red flags are:
High revolving account balances
High installment loan balances

38% Revolving Utilization $29k
1 Card 88% $15k (0% balance transfer)
1 Card 60% $15k (best purchase APR)
3 other CC's less than $50

Good income but new business recently started


FNBO and Citizens Bank.


Total revolving limits 748700 (628200 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 717 EX 682

Message 2 of 5
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: 38% Utilization $29k 717 FICO Best Strategy for New Apps?

@njames33  please do not post identical threads in multiple forums 

Message 3 of 5
CreditWithColin
New Member

Re: 38% Utilization $29k 717 FICO Best Strategy for New Apps?

You could "Hide Utilization" by essentially paying it all down with a personal loan. Credit utilization on revolving accounts is a big impact when applying for business CC's where as loan debt is not nearly as weighted. I would get every individual revolving account to 30% , not just overall utilization to 30%, if any individual account is 50% or more this can trigger a denial or a low limit approval... again, you could get a personal loan to essentially refinance CC debt, lower utilization and increase approval odds. Soft pull Biz cards are far and few, Citizens, Amex, FNBO to name a few. Depending on your personal credit profile and current relationships your best bet may be to get a business card from a lender you already have a relationship with. As for your new business concerns, even with a new business, you can still use a good projected revenue.

Message 4 of 5
njames33
New Contributor

Re: 38% Utilization $29k 717 FICO Best Strategy for New Apps?


@CreditWithColin wrote:

You could "Hide Utilization" by essentially paying it all down with a personal loan. Credit utilization on revolving accounts is a big impact when applying for business CC's where as loan debt is not nearly as weighted. I would get every individual revolving account to 30% , not just overall utilization to 30%, if any individual account is 50% or more this can trigger a denial or a low limit approval... again, you could get a personal loan to essentially refinance CC debt, lower utilization and increase approval odds. Soft pull Biz cards are far and few, Citizens, Amex, FNBO to name a few. Depending on your personal credit profile and current relationships your best bet may be to get a business card from a lender you already have a relationship with. As for your new business concerns, even with a new business, you can still use a good projected revenue.


Thanks for the help. Any idea on personal loans that don't require proof of income for a new business? When I was looking into this in the past most I could find require tax returns for proof of business income. 

Message 5 of 5
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