@fleetfoot wrote:After hearing that Amazon Prime Visa often bypasses Chase's 5/24 rule, I signed on to my Amazon account to see I am preapproved for the card. I'm at 7/24 but thought I'd take a chance since the website claimed I was preapproved, and to my surprise I was instantly approved. The new card with the $22K SL is already displayed on my Chase dashboard and available to spend on my Amazon account. The $250 gift card also instantly posted on my Amazon account. Although the hard inquiry appeared immediately on Experian and TransUnion, the immediate impact was just one point on each. Am I correct to think that the slight drop in average age of accounts will be countered by the drop in utilization once the $22K is added in next month?
Congratulations!! Good call!!
Like everything, depends on your current utilization and credit file. If your utilization was high or penalizing your score, the added CL might help, otherwise you will take a slight hit for new HP and eventually new CC, once it gets reported, which could take a month or more. Nothing a little gardening can't cure in time.
Citi:
Chase:
Aven:
RH:
@fleetfoot wrote:Thank you ElvisCaprice. My current utilization crept over 30% with Christmas spending. By April it'll fall below 10%. I'm thinking the increased $22K SL on this new card will take my utilization down below 23% immediately and then I will aggressively pay off the holiday overspending. Both actions should give my FICO8's a boost, right?
Definitely, once it reports. Although utilization is fleeting on the score.
@ElvisCaprice wrote:
@fleetfoot wrote:Although the hard inquiry appeared immediately on Experian and TransUnion, the immediate impact was just one point on each. Am I correct to think that the slight drop in average age of accounts will be countered by the drop in utilization once the $22K is added in next month?
Like everything, depends on your current utilization and credit file. If your utilization was high or penalizing your score, the added CL might help, otherwise you will take a slight hit for new HP and eventually new CC, once it gets reported, which could take a month or more. Nothing a little gardening can't cure in time.
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@ElvisCaprice wrote:
@fleetfoot wrote:Thank you ElvisCaprice. My current utilization crept over 30% with Christmas spending. By April it'll fall below 10%. I'm thinking the increased $22K SL on this new card will take my utilization down below 23% immediately and then I will aggressively pay off the holiday overspending. Both actions should give my FICO8's a boost, right?
Definitely, once it reports. Although utilization is fleeting on the score.
Congrats on grabbing the Amazon card over 5/24 @fleetfoot. You're getting into the nuances of FICO scoring so if you want to explore it more in depth, you might consider consulting the "Understanding FICO Scoring" forum or starting a new thread there regarding the impacts. For the thread record since signatures change over time, your current signature shows:
Ex FICO8 747
Eq FICO8 735
TU FICO8 742
AAoA 9yrs, 1 0mos
AoOA 39yrs, 1mo
AoYA 1mo
You've got multiple changes going on at once and your score may continue to catch up. That single point drop may just be the start. From the Inquiry Master Thread,
If your score does change after applying and opening a new credit card account, the score change may be due in part from an HP. Opening a new account will likely change your score. The 2 events (HP and new account) are different, but linked. A change to your score may be due the new account only, or the combination of the HP and the new account.
That single point drop was probably just from the HP, IMO. You'll also be positively impacted by the increased aggregate credit limit (lowered overall utilization) but negatively impacted by the new revolving credit account. One recent member reported a 10-point drop from his 850 FICO after opening a new account and our FICO expert @Thomas_Thumb said a non-850 FICO could drop as much as 20 points.
There's a lot more details in the "My FICO Credit Scoring Primer thread." Note that adding a revolver changes your "scorecard" for FICO scoring. "What is important to know about scorecards is that they impact how your specific score responds to information in your credit report and they are why your profile reacts differently than someone else's for the same event."
Utilization has no long-term "memory" so within about 30 days after you reach a break-point, you should see scores increase if no other variables are at-play affecting score. If you want to read more about both individual and aggregate utilization affects on FICO, read "The Truth about Credit Card Utilization" thread. These thresholds (8.9%, 28.9%, 48.9%, 68.9%, and 88.9%) for individual and aggregate utilization were compiled and posted in 2017 based on analysis of hundreds of data points by one of our members. They are simply points where a noticeable "break" in FICO scoring seemed to occur and gives us a <rough> estimate of how much higher utilization will affect scores. The exact FICO algorithm is a trade secret, of course. 
Bottom line, as @ElvisCaprice said is that the impacts should be minimal and nothing that cannot rebound with a little gardening. Definitely paying off that debt will help your scores a lot.
