Credit Card Advice

[Anonymous]

Hoping to get some advice on a good card strategy to improve my credit rating and also to get a good card for daily use. According to CK (not loved around here it seems) I have scores around 715, according to this site I have a FICO8 of 660 or a FICO9 of 730. I don't have much credit history (oldest credit only 14 months old). Right now I have a Cap1 Platinum with a $650 limit, Cap1 Quicksilver One $750 and I just got an Amazon Prime Rewards card with a $10k limit. I tend to keep under 10% utilization (I actually tend to pay off whatever I owe before the due date so it tends to be 0%), 100% on time payments, no derogatories. I have not requested a CLI for either Cap1 card as of yet.

I was hoping the Prime card would aid in my credit rating as it seems the two factors that are dragging me down are age of credit and available credit, but the Prime card does not seem to be reporting a limit (my available credit is still listed at $1400). I was thinking about going for a CSP (listed as good approval odds on CK), but my understanding is that will also not report a credit limit increase. I would like to get a good travel rewards card (hence the CSP), what do you guys think is my best bet?

[Anonymous]

First, it's not the CK scores don't get loved around here, it's that they're usually incorrect, sometimes wildly so, as you yourself proved by posting your scores from My Fico. 

Sometimes it takes up to a month for a new card to report ... Amex cards take two most of the time. 

When did you get your AMZ card? 

[Anonymous]

I got the Amazon card on 5/9

[simplynoir]

With Chase I believe they report a few days after the statements cuts. Also they report to the bureaus after you have a $0 balance. So, if you're looking to get the CSP I would at the very least wait for the adjusted CL on the Amazon card to post before considering applying for the CSP. Chase likes to see you having experience with a large credit line since the minimum SL on the CSP is $5k.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I got the Amazon card on 5/9

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Pretty sure AMZ took a month to report ... if I recall correct

[thummel]

Credit karma odds don't mean anything at all. Only way to know if your chances are good is checking to see if your pre qualified. If your not it's a 50/50 shot.

[Anonymous]

I would just wait it out till your Amazon card reports to the bureaus, which should be in another few weeks. When building credit, sometimes you just have to give it some time.

I'm assuming the Amazon card is the Chase VISA card and not the store card. If so, I wouldn't apply for the CSP. Chase has just extended you 10k of credit, and they will probably look for some payment history before extending you at least 5k more for the CSP, especially because your file is still thin. I was in a similar position with a 730 FICO, and applied for the CSP and FU at 14 months, got an instant approval for the CSP with a 6k limit, and a denial for the FU.

Also, with no baddies, a 660 FICO08 seems very odd. It is recommended let a small balance (1-9%) report on one of the card statements and then pay it off before the due date and have the other card at 0 for optimal scoring.

Creditkarma is a very useful report monitoring tool, it is just that you have to take their scores and card recommendations with a grain of salt, on not rely blindly on them.