CC Application Strategy

[Roisin]

@805orbust Thank you. I'm a new member, but also, a long-time lurker. I'm humbled by the knowledge on this forum, and look forward to continuing to learn from the wisdom offered here. Despite my impetuousness, I've managed to hold back (well, some, anyway) and benefit from what I've learned so far. I've not been steered wrong yet.

[805orbust]

🤣🤣🤣 @Roisin I find it hard to argue either way my friend! 

[Anonymalous]

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@Roisin wrote:

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Regarding "tons" of CCs being a no-no, perhaps I’m off here, but I don't consider a dozen or so CCs to be over-the-top. Am I wrong on this? I'm guessing that my first, recently unsecured card, and possibly my second card are bucketed, and I want a solid group of quality CCs to grow with me over the years.

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It's not the number of credit cards, it's the rate. For young files, a lot of new inquiries or tradelines tend to be treated much more harshly than for thick, aged files. That's why CLs often drop off steeply with app sprees. If you managed to avoid that, congratulations.

I had the same plan you did -- to front load my cards by getting a bunch very early, and then letting them age. That's optimal from an AAoA standpoint, but it falls down on the practical side. Because after an early rejection and some reconsideration, I realized it would be hard to get the cards and CLs I wanted, without some history. So the first stage was stepping stones, getting cards to build a history, and then applying in a burst later (I applied for 3 cards in December, and got 2 of them -- the one rejection was a local CU, who despite pulling a score of 790, thought the $30K+ in new credit I added in the past year was way too much.)

There is a balance -- too fast, and lenders chop SLs or hand out rejections. But too slow also seems to hurt, probably because there just won't be enough months of paid as agreed on the credit report, and because they want to see applicants who have proven they can juggle a few cards.

I think my pace (about 1 card/6 months) hit a sweet spot, but other posters did very well and went a bit faster. Just not too much faster -- the posters who took that path ended up with a lot of cards, but toy limits. Going slower also doesn't seem to help, because the one person who did also got a lot of rejections, probably because of the thinness of their file.

If you haven't discovered it yet, this is useful for mini-sprees:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Which-Report-Will-They-Pull-Part-2/td-p/63797...

Of the 3 cards I applied for in December, 1 pulled EX, 1 pulled TU, and 1 pulled EQ. That maximized my chances for acceptance and a good SL, because they wouldn't see the other inquiries, and thus wouldn't know I applied for the other cards (at least not until the new tradelines appeared on my credit report). So to each lender, it looked like I hadn't applied for anything in at least 9 months.

Anyway, good luck with your journey, and I respect wanting to build a credit history on your own.

[M_Smart007]

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@805orbust wrote:

You'll be fine tho, there are some SMART people here and I continue to rely on their wisdom.  😉

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@805orbust,

[SouthJamaica]

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@Roisin wrote:

I’d like to be approved for two CCs this spring, then eventually, more down the road. I’m seeking advice regarding the best way to meet my goals, specifically, CC suggestions and a well-considered application order to give myself the best chances for approvals (and no wasted HPs), highest SLs, and potential for CL growth and lowest possible APRs for the long haul. I’m aware that my best move creditwise would be to garden. However, there are other considerations for me now that outweigh gardening. If I can add a card or two without crashing and burning, I want to do it.

My husband and I are planning some home renovations, and I want to have more credit at my disposal later this year. Also, we might increase our HELOC, and I want to add CCs before that happens, and far enough in advance so as not to adversely impact any approval decisions.

Cash back works best for me, but is not essential; 0% APR for 15 months, or more, is preferred; and SUB would be lovely, but it’s not a deal breaker. I care more about the long-term benefits of each card than short-term perks. To be honest, if there’s a choice between two similar cards, the integrity of the institution behind a card can matter. I’m over 5/24, so Chase is out (FWIW, I’m delighted with my CFF). 

My long-term goal is to have perhaps a dozen, or so, cards with lowest APRs possible, and let them grow. Right now, because I have a relatively short credit history. I’m in the middle APR tier, and I expect to be there for some time. Part of my reasoning for wanting a number of cards is that I want to keep my UTL in check. As it is, I try to never spend more than 30%. I shop at Sams and Costco, and I’d like at least one more Visa for Costco.

My scores are in the mid 700s. TU and EX are consistently higher than EQ. I apply for CCs using just my teacher’s salary, and don’t include my husband’s income (which is far greater than mine) or any other income that I may earn. The bad news is that I have a relatively short credit history, with seven CCs; four of those were added January through October ‘22 (so, my most recent CC was new 5 months ago).

CCs I’m considering:

BCE: I want this card, it’s solid. 3% CB online retail is right up my alley. Don’t know SL or APR.

WF AC: Mailing me offers, VISA Signature. Don’t have WF CC. Not necessarily a WF fan. APR 24.24%

FNBO Evergreen: Visa Signature. SL is known (meh) via their online pre-approval. APR 24.24%

Ally Unlimited Cash Back MC for Educators: Mailing me offers LIKE CRAZY. APR 20.99%

PenFed Gold or PenFed PCR: Visa or Visa Signature. Maybe apply for PenFed CC next year (I’m new to CU). 15.49 - 17.99% APR.

Of course, I’m open to other CC suggestions/ideas, and I realize there are no hard answers or guarantees. Thank you for your patience with my long post. I look forward to your insights and advice.

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Blue Cash Everyday and PenFed Power Cash sound good to me. Just remember that with the PenFed Power Cash, in order to earn 2%, as opposed to 1.5%, you need to have a PenFed checking account which either (a) maintained a $500 minimum balance that month, or (b) had direct deposits totalling $500 that month.  It appears that PenFed accepts any electronic transfer into the account as a direct deposit.

[805orbust]

@M_Smart007  can you and @SouthJamaica sense when I'm talking about you guys!?  🤣🤣🤣 

[Roisin]

@Anonymalous thank you for including the link to "Which Report Will They Pull, Part 2." I'd found the first one, but had not remembered or discovered Part 2.

What a game changer. 

If I’ve interpreted the info on Part 2 correctly, it looks like most of the CCs I’m interested in will pull EX, with a possibility of TU as well, except for PenFed, which seems more likely to pull EQ. Add to that, for my app last June, Cap1 pulled all three – EX, TU, and EQ. Then in July, another app pulled EX and TU. In October, another pulled EQ, and another pulled EX. They were all approved, however, that leaves me with two pulls for TU, two for EQ, and three for EX. ☹️ 

I get it. If I wait at least until August, all but one EX and one EQ will be more than a year old. And, if I could just manage to sit on my hands a bit longer, they’ll all be gone in November. Nevertheless, I’m pretty certain that I can’t contain myself for that long (plus, I've messed up our HELOC plans). <eye roll> The good news is, I plan to pay off my CCs in mid- to late-April, so it only gets better still. 

So now, if I can just hold my horses, the question is: in which order do I apply? And, am I relatively “safe” trying for two in August? Would it be better/worse to do one app in August, and a second in November?  Regardless, after two, I’ll save the rest for next year. Promise.

[Roisin]

Thank you for your input, @SouthJamaica. I'm kind of leaning toward putting BCE at the top of my list; even if I can't use it at Costco, with the 3% CB for online purchases, and it's other perks, it may be the best match for my spending habits.

Regarding PenFed, it's interesting about the required monthly $500 direct deposit or minimim balance parked in checking in order to realize the 2%. To me, parking $500 seems remarkably similar to having a secured card, does it not? At any rate, I'm growing my savings with them, and I'm thinking that the Power Cash will be on for the list for next year. At least, that's what I'm contemplating today. There's always tomorrow ...

[Beefy1212]

If the BCE appeals to you... might I suggest you go for the BCP, first year annual fee is waived and you can downgrade to BCE for year 2 and beyond the BCP has a larger sub, and twice the cb at the grocey store. Many people view the BCE as a place holder for amex offering them an upgrade bonus to BCP if you dont need 3% online the BCP year 1 beats it handily in every way. The bce does a few different things moderately well but is generally easily beat by others cards. 

The only thing bcp doesn't have is 3% online, but you were looking at wells fargo active cash simply take the autograph instead and since also looking at FNBO use that for the 2% active cash would give you.

Next I would look at the PayPal mastercard it is also 2% everywhere no hp if denied and gets 3% back while using paypal which most mainstream sites use online anyway. It is also easy to get replaces the need for the FNBO and/or active cash/Autograph card and has pretty good to decent starting limits. no intro zero apr though.

I don't carry balances ever so I dont care about apr or apr offers so maybe that is a deal breaker for you but I think it is worth a look regardless.

I have a 2 year old profile with 11 cards ~80k tcl, 3 loans 2 paid 1 active and a 775 fico 8. I am likely on the agressive side when it comes to getting new cards, and dont view inquiries or new accounts as badly as our gardners that have replied to you do.

[Anonymalous]

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@Roisin wrote:

If I’ve interpreted the info on Part 2 correctly, it looks like most of the CCs I’m interested in will pull EX, with a possibility of TU as well, except for PenFed, which seems more likely to pull EQ. Add to that, for my app last June, Cap1 pulled all three – EX, TU, and EQ. Then in July, another app pulled EX and TU. In October, another pulled EQ, and another pulled EX. They were all approved, however, that leaves me with two pulls for TU, two for EQ, and three for EX. ☹️ 

I get it. If I wait at least until August, all but one EX and one EQ will be more than a year old. And, if I could just manage to sit on my hands a bit longer, they’ll all be gone in November. Nevertheless, I’m pretty certain that I can’t contain myself for that long (plus, I've messed up our HELOC plans). <eye roll> The good news is, I plan to pay off my CCs in mid- to late-April, so it only gets better still. 

So now, if I can just hold my horses, the question is: in which order do I apply? And, am I relatively “safe” trying for two in August? Would it be better/worse to do one app in August, and a second in November?  Regardless, after two, I’ll save the rest for next year. Promise.

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Well, it has been more than 3 months, and waiting 3-6 months for a young file is a typical recommendation. So plenty of myFICOers would have applied by now, and some were quite successful. I was on the slow end of the sweet spot, and even I applied for my second card at 6 months, and my third at 9 months. Though if those are your only cards, you haven't yet reached 1 year of credit history. And that makes it harder with a lot of the major lenders (like Chase).

I think people worry too much about inquiries. If you apply and get approved, an inquiry is really just an advance notice to other lenders that you might have gotten a new card. Once the 3 new cards showed up on your credit reports, they became what's important, not the initial inquiries (barring the minor ding to your score).

The only inquiries that really matter are the new inquiries, because by selectively targeting bureaus, you can prevent lenders from getting that advance notice of your other applications when you apply for several cards in a short time. Given how the bureaus worked out, it sounds like a mini-spree with PenFed + something that pulls Experian would be reasonable. If you want more cards that pull EX, I'd space them out by at least a month, and apply for them in descending order of importance, because the first will have the best odds at approval and a good SL.