Apply for NFCU card now or later?

[Goal_Getter]

So i recently joined Navy Federal three days ago through my sister who is ex-military. No hard pull for membership btw. My fico 8 scores as of today per CCT is 609 EX, 615 TU, and 608 EQ. Current utilization is high at 79% (ouch!). I’m wondering if i should app now for a NFCU credit card with the hopes of doing a balance transfer with 0% interest? Or, wait for about 3 to 6 months? My TU report show 8 inq, EQ 12, and EX 15. Majority of those occurred in 2017. TIA

[Anonymous]

They pull FICO 09. I think EQ. I recently was approved for my first unsecured - Rewards at a $1k SL. Joined in October.

[CreditInspired]

Hi OP and welcome to MyFICO

I wholly believe that you should not apply for anything until you get your UT to less than 28.9%. Even if you were approved, I don’t think it would be large enough to do a BT unless the amount is like $500.

IMHO, I suggest gardening for a minimum of 12 mos.

Just my 2cents.

[Anonymous]

I had 80% utilization albeit on a AU but OP’s Fico 08 are quite a bit lower than mine. I probably wouldn’t unless their FICO 09 is closer to 700. NFCU graduates quickly so the starting SL is irrelevant. The relationship is what I value.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Scores are almost meaningless with Navy. Utilization and debt to income factors are much higher. In your case i woild work on your utilization then apply. As stated above a low sl can easily be fixed in a matter of months. Navy is awesome like that

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Scores are almost meaningless with Navy. Utilization and debt to income factors are much higher. In your case i woild work on your utilization then apply. As stated above a low sl can easily be fixed in a matter of months. Navy is awesome like that

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+1

[Goal_Getter]

Thank you all for your feedback. I am taking your advice and decided to get my utilization down before apping for the cash rewards card. That’s why i love this board. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

My UTI was around 50% fico 9 according to NFCU is 551. I was approved for 10k cash rewards. my DTI is not bad tho. Also, the one card that has a high UTI I'm an AU on. Just to add an extra data point for you.

[Anonymous]

I would strongly caution you to forgo an app right now. That UTIL is insane 🙈

As context, I barley squeezed in the door (the backdoor at that) with their Cash Rewards Product a few days ago - $500SL. My scores are a bit better than yours, and my UTIL is only 5%. Inq. are about the same. I'm assuming my $130K income played the deciding factor - if not the entire factor lol. For me, I cared less about the SL, it was the long-term relationship goals I was interested in.

They did, however, approve me for a $15K CLOC same day. Which for them I believe is a revolver. Not sure how that works, assuming UW was just different.

IMHO, figure out how to deal with intensely throbbing UTIL.

Best of luck to you!