Balance Transfer:Better Applying for AMEX or Discover?

[Repairman]

I currently have 2 American Express cards carrying zero balances, and 3 Capital One Credit cards. 1 with a zero balance, and another with a $11,000 balance that had a 0% promotional interest rate that just expired. I really would love to get another card that I could transfer some of that blanace to, with a 0% offer, so I can continue to pay it down without interest. My dillemna now, is this high balance has brought my credit scores across the board down from around 690 to 670. 

I really want both the AMEX Everyday card as well as a Discover card, and they both offer a 0% promotional rate for balance transfers. With my current scores (and keeping in mind I am a current customer of AMEX), do you guys think I have any chance of gettting approved by AMEX or Discover? If so, which one should I go for? Or should I continue to pay this balance down and wait for my scores to jump up again,  bit, before risking the hard pull? Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[OmarGB9]

Amex gets nervous with high UTIL, even if it's just on one card. What's your overall UTIL? Discover can be fickle and could honestly go either way. I'd say pay down as much as you can and get your scores up before applying for anything.

[creditFiend]

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@Repairman wrote:

I currently have 2 American Express cards carrying zero balances, and 3 Capital One Credit cards. 1 with a zero balance, and another with a $11,000 balance that had a 0% promotional interest rate that just expired. I really would love to get another card that I could transfer some of that blanace to, with a 0% offer, so I can continue to pay it down without interest. My dillemna now, is this high balance has brought my credit scores across the board down from around 690 to 670. 

I really want both the AMEX Everyday card as well as a Discover card, and they both offer a 0% promotional rate for balance transfers. With my current scores (and keeping in mind I am a current customer of AMEX), do you guys think I have any chance of gettting approved by AMEX or Discover? If so, which one should I go for? Or should I continue to pay this balance down and wait for my scores to jump up again,  bit, before risking the hard pull? Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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If you have a good history with Amex, I say go for it, depending on how high the utilization is & how long you've had it that way.  I was just approved for another Amex with high utilization (65%) on my Capital due to a BT.  Yes, risky business, I didn't want to pass up the 85,000 pts offer on the Hilton Surpass.  I received a low SL because of it.  But I have my card!  LOL

I applied on the 5th, had it in hand on the 8th. 

[Repairman]

Utilization is at 50%, and its been that way (35%-50%) for about 3 months.

[creditFiend]

@Repairman - my utilization was a tad higher than yours & I have a paid collection due to come off soon. If you can wait, then of course that's best to pay it down. But if you have a need right now, I say go for it. My FICO 8 was 707, dropped to 704 from the HP & I've only been a member since Jan 2014.
If you're on their good customer list, they'll overlook the utilization.
Good luck in whatever you decide. And please report back with data points.

[Repairman]

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@creditFiend wrote:
@Repairman - my utilization was a tad higher than yours & I have a paid collection due to come off soon. If you can wait, then of course that's best to pay it down. But if you have a need right now, I say go for it. My FICO 8 was 707, dropped to 704 from the HP & I've only been a member since Jan 2014.
If you're on their good customer list, they'll overlook the utilization.
Good luck in whatever you decide. And please report back with data points.

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My only concern though, is that my score is lower than yours. Do you still think I have a chance?

[creditFiend]

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@Repairman wrote:

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@creditFiend wrote:
@Repairman - my utilization was a tad higher than yours & I have a paid collection due to come off soon. If you can wait, then of course that's best to pay it down. But if you have a need right now, I say go for it. My FICO 8 was 707, dropped to 704 from the HP & I've only been a member since Jan 2014.
If you're on their good customer list, they'll overlook the utilization.
Good luck in whatever you decide. And please report back with data points.

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My only concern though, is that my score is lower than yours. Do you still think I have a chance?

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Right.  That was my issue, but I felt I had nothing to lose at that time.  I only have 3 inq on EX.  But new accounts from 10/2015.  My length of history is 11.5 yrs, AAoA is 2.3.  Although I had 65% utilization on one card, my overall is right at 5% for all cards.  So that could be why they approved me.

How many baddies do you have?  What's your overall utilization?  Income?  AAoA?    Depending on your answers, you may still have a shot. 

[Repairman]

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@creditFiend wrote:

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@Repairman wrote:

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@creditFiend wrote:
@Repairman - my utilization was a tad higher than yours & I have a paid collection due to come off soon. If you can wait, then of course that's best to pay it down. But if you have a need right now, I say go for it. My FICO 8 was 707, dropped to 704 from the HP & I've only been a member since Jan 2014.
If you're on their good customer list, they'll overlook the utilization.
Good luck in whatever you decide. And please report back with data points.

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My only concern though, is that my score is lower than yours. Do you still think I have a chance?

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Right.  That was my issue, but I felt I had nothing to lose at that time.  I only have 3 inq on EX.  But new accounts from 10/2015.  My length of history is 11.5 yrs, AAoA is 2.3.  Although I had 65% utilization on one card, my overall is right at 5% for all cards.  So that could be why they approved me.

How many baddies do you have?  What's your overall utilization?  Income?  AAoA?    Depending on your answers, you may still have a shot. 

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@Anonymous, 50% IS my overall utilization. I have zero balances on all of my cards except for 2 Cap 1 cards which sit @ 73% and 84% utilization. I have 2 baddies that are about 2 years old (a charge off and a cancelled card with lates, both Paid In Full).

[creditFiend]

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@Repairman wrote:

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@creditFiend wrote:

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@Repairman wrote:

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@creditFiend wrote:
@Repairman - my utilization was a tad higher than yours & I have a paid collection due to come off soon. If you can wait, then of course that's best to pay it down. But if you have a need right now, I say go for it. My FICO 8 was 707, dropped to 704 from the HP & I've only been a member since Jan 2014.
If you're on their good customer list, they'll overlook the utilization.
Good luck in whatever you decide. And please report back with data points.

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My only concern though, is that my score is lower than yours. Do you still think I have a chance?

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Right.  That was my issue, but I felt I had nothing to lose at that time.  I only have 3 inq on EX.  But new accounts from 10/2015.  My length of history is 11.5 yrs, AAoA is 2.3.  Although I had 65% utilization on one card, my overall is right at 5% for all cards.  So that could be why they approved me.

How many baddies do you have?  What's your overall utilization?  Income?  AAoA?    Depending on your answers, you may still have a shot. 

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@Anonymous, 50% IS my overall utilization. I have zero balances on all of my cards except for 2 Cap 1 cards which sit @ 73% and 84% utilization. I have 2 baddies that are about 2 years old (a charge off and a cancelled card with lates, both Paid In Full).

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If your overall utilization is 50%, then I would not apply for Amex.  This is a YMMV situation.  I would get the balance down to where the overall utilization is under 30%.  And pay both cards down to 50%.  

I only had ONE card with high utilization.  With two being high, I wouldn't chance it, could very well result as a denial. 

Discover may not approve you either. 

Maybe in another six months you may be in a good position to app.  Hope this helps. 

[Repairman]

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@creditFiend wrote:

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If your overall utilization is 50%, then I would not apply for Amex.  This is a YMMV situation.  I would get the balance down to where the overall utilization is under 30%.  And pay both cards down to 50%.  

I only had ONE card with high utilization.  With two being high, I wouldn't chance it, could very well result as a denial. 

Discover may not approve you either. 

Maybe in another six months you may be in a good position to app.  Hope this helps. 

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Yes. Thanks for the advice. I definitely will be in a better position in 6 months time, I was just hoping to avoid paying interest fees on that high balance.