Approvals with High utilization?

[Anonymous]

I choose to have high util on my cc because of business investment reasons.

As of today total CL on personal cc - 32K. Util is around 26K (80%). TU08 - 661.

Average age - 3 year 8 months. Oldest 8 years.

Thanks to bofa delay in applying my last payment, one of my bofa cc has statement balance above limit.

There are other loans on my credit report - car, business and personal loan (used for business). All are in range of 19 - 26 months old.

- No mortgages.

- One late 30 day payment from 2014.

- No BK. No collections.

- There are 6-8 inquries on all three of my CRA in past 2 years. 80% of them are for my car loan Dec 2017.

I'm thinking of applying new cc just to lower my util. Not needed for anything else.

Which credit cards are good for my profile? And should I apply all together within an hour? Goal is to get max cc possible with minimum number of HP for now.  Then rest for 6 months.

I have following list in mind:

- Citi Costco

- CareCredit

- Citi Aadvantage

- PSECU

- Penfed (got an invitation for penfed platinum rewards in the mail. Member for 1+ year)

Since Apple was a SP,  I tried it and got denied. Hence concerned about applying for another CC with HP.

I'm also seeing offers for personal loan as a way to do credit consolidation. Is it a better strategy? Has anyone tried that route?

Current card: 

- Citi diamond (750)

- Bofa travel and cash rewards (12K)

- Disco (14K)

..some smaller from retails and credit unions

[Jnbmom]

What was the reason for the denial on the Apple card?

With high utilization you may run into trouble getting approvals .

[Anonymous]

Rejection was for high util. Should I take consolidation loan offer and bring down util to 49%? NW is showing preapprovals for loans. EX is showing pre approval for CitiAA.

[Jnbmom]

Nerd Wallet and Exp are just advertising , I wouldn't take much stock in either.

Hopefully others will chime in with some thoughts.

[Anonymous]

You mentioned the high utilization due to business investments. Is there any chance you could perhaps bring that down? That would increase your chances of being approved your next card.

You could always run a pre-approval through AMEX and see what happens. If you get this verbage, "Name, you are pre-approved!," after inputing your information, you should be in the clear. It has worked for me and many others on the forum. As with anything, there are no guarantees. This pre-approval only applies to AMEX cards.

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You mentioned the high utilization due to business investments. Is there any chance you could perhaps bring that down? That would increase your chances of being approved your next card.

You could always run a pre-approval through AMEX and see what happens. If you get this verbage, "Name, you are pre-approved!," after inputing your information, you should be in the clear. It has worked for me and many others on the forum. As with anything, there are no guarantees. This pre-approval only applies to AMEX cards.

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If your aggregate utilization is at 80%, new cards are most likely not happening. You're almost at "maxed out" status. 

You could try personal loan for debt consolidation, but that may come with APRs resembling pay day loan.  

Unfortunately, I think you will have to bring the utilization down the old fashioned way, by paying down your cards 

Once your utilization is at more reasonable level, you can try applying for new cards and doing a BT at that time. 

[CreditInspired]

Hi and welcome to MyFICO

IMHO, that Apple decline is a big hint not to apply for any CCs, at least until your UT is <28.9%. It is wonderful that you were able to get that information with only a SP.

You did not ask, but we would be happy to guide you on the best way to get your CCs paid down if you want to list your CCs, limits, and APR.

Yep, as Remedios said, you may get approved for a loan, but with a usurious rate since you're at 80% UT.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. Checked on website, which AMEX have high chance of approval at this point?

[Anonymous]

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@CreditInspired wrote:

Hi and welcome to MyFICO

IMHO, that Apple decline is a big hint not to apply for any CCs, at least until your UT is <28.9%. It is wonderful that you were able to get that information with only a SP.

You did not ask, but we would be happy to guide you on the best way to get your CCs paid down if you want to list your CCs, limits, and APR.

Yep, as Remedios said, you may get approved for a loan, but with a usurious rate since you're at 80% UT.

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Thanks @Remedios

Based on your inputs, I met a local CU for personal loan. Had a long chat without actually filing application. Things looks positive, and something might work out. I might have to refinance my car with them and make it a (semi) secured loan with car being the asset. The max APR would be 14-15%.(min is 11%). I would be able to bring down current util atleast to 30% (target to 7%). I will put down the CC with max APR first.