Hi all,
As of earlier this year my primary residence changed to the USA and I am set on improving my credit profile as quickly as possible. I have an excellent card portfolio in my home country (Amex Centurion etc) and have the lifestyle to support applying for premium travel cards. However being new in the country and having a thin credit profile it seems like there is a very long road ahead before I am eligible for this.
I'm looking for any tips on increasing my profile as quickly as possible and becoming eligible to receive higher CLs and apply for cards such as the Venture X, BILT, etc.
My current credit profile is as follows:
Closed accounts:
- Amex BCP - $8000 CL - 01/21
- Amex Gold - NPSL - 09/21
- Amex Gold - NPSL - 02/22
Context: In 2021 I used Amex Global Transfer to apply for US cards with my foreign profile and was approved for the Amex BCP and Gold. Unfortunately later that year my account was hit with a FR and closed due to not being able to provide documents (IRS tax returns etc.). I tried opening an account again in 02/22 which was approved but shut down several days later as they found the previously closed FR (I was hoping they wouldn't).
Open accounts:
- Capital One QuicksilverOne - $500 - 03/23
- Amex Green - NPSL - 04/23
- Amex Gold - NPSL - 05/23
- Chase Freedom Unlimited - $1500 - 05/23
- Chase Sapphire Preferred - $8000 - 05/23
- Discover It - $500 - 05/23
- GS Apple Card - $4000 - 09/23
- Amex BCP - $1000 - 09/23
Context:
- Somehow there was a 60 day late payment (for $12) on my credit profile for one of the previously closed Amex accounts. I didn't know about this because I had no access to my credit report without an SSN and never received notification from Amex. Therefore the limits of my Capital One and Discover cards are low at $500 because I unknowingly applied with the mark on my report. Amex finally removed the remark as of last month but neither will reconsider my limit yet.
- Amex Green & Gold approved via Global Transfer
- Chase cards approved due to existing relationship (bank account I had open for some years with average balance of ~60k). CFU was $4500 at first and CSP $5000 but I moved some credit around as I don't use the CFU much due to its fees.
- Apple Card & BCP not yet reporting / no inquiry made due to credit report freeze.
Scores / Data:
- FICO8: EQ 723, TU 735, EX 727
- FICO9: EQ 741, TU 737, EX 715
- Inquiries: EQ 1, TU 2, EX 7
- Total CL: $15.500 ($10.500 reporting)
- Utilisation: 9% of reporting
- AAoA: 11 months
- AoOA: 2y 8m
Hoping there is anything I can improve 
. I am planning to request CLIs for all cards whenever possible but so far it seems like all accounts are too new.
Thanks in advance for any insights!
It's time to stop applying and start growing current relationships with the creditors you already have. You have a great travel card already with the CSP, take full advantage of what it has to offer for the next 12 months, then see where things are.
Welcome to My FICO Forums and the USA, @jesse-h.
I'm a little confused about your goals. What is the specific allure of the Venture X and BILT? From my experience on My FICO, most members dropping profile data points such as yours are aiming for either AMEX or Chase specifically for "premium travel cards" since they are considered the best-in-segment by most consumers. For profile, you mentioned having AMEX Centurion, lifestyle to support premium travel, $60K bank balances. If you have significant investable assets, lenders do offer "short-cuts" to preferred clients in some cases.
However, you've already got the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the AMEX Green/Gold, all of which are great travel-related cards. Why not just build and solidify those relationships?? Sometimes more isn't better. With Chase, if you put heavy usage of the $8K limit on your CSP for a few months and with them now offering easy soft-pull CLI opportunities, you might be able to boost that up to the $10K minimum required for a Chase Sapphire Reserve; then do a product change. (You could also move the remaining limit on CFU as needed, even if you ended up closing it. I've found that Chase allows you to move 100% of a limit when closing a card as long as the account has been dormant for six months prior.) The Chase Sapphire Reserve is an outstanding premium card. Likewise, if the AMEX Platinum is your goal, and you've got your foot-in-the-door with AMEX, they make it easy to add more cards. If you go to your online profile and browse the cards, hit Apply Now for Platinum, and see "You're Pre Appoved!" then it's guaranteed. Often the new card is a soft pull also. Right there, you'd have the two leading premium travel cards. If AMEX tells you "it's easy to expand your relationship" (which means you aren't preapproved), it's possible to product change one of your existing charge cards to the Platinum.
Again, if you have investable assets you might look into the affiliate cards AMEX offers such as the Morgan Stanley Platinum or Charles Schwab Platinum.
Venture X is a good card, but IMO, it doesn't beat the Sapphire Reserve for overall value for several reasons. You could revisit that one later-on after you've continued to build your US credit profile if you still feel like you'd benefit from it.
If you have and are willing to invest with UBS, they offer an outstanding >premium Visa Infinite card aimed at their HNW clients.< (But it's also offered to non-clients.)
Outside of the above suggestions, I agree with the others that you've applied FAR too aggressively in trying to set up a new profile. Those low-limit approvals ($500 for Capital One/Discover, and $1000 AMEX) are the tell-tale signs. Those are absolute minimum approvals so you just barely squeaked by. That is a sign to slow your roll. For higher limit approvals, you need to apply slowly, strategically, and methodically. I usually suggest no more than one new revolving account every six months, but especially for those who are building/rebuilding or have a thin profile. You've hit (*8*) new accounts in just SIX months!!!! That's more than one per month on average!!! No wonder that you're batting low on starting limits. Patience is the key word. But if you apply my suggestions above by expanding your Chase/AMEX relationships, you can proceed with little or no further additional credit-seeking (new accounts or hard pulls.) That will allow your accounts to age further and set you up for long-term growth and stability.
Besides the AMEX/Chase focus, if you'd like to continue to expand your Discover/Capital One/Apple relationships, those cards will all grow with some continued spend-and-pay. And they all grow with soft pulls. Put some moderate to heavy spend through each one and continue to apply for more credit once every six months. They will grow.
Good luck and again, welcome.
@jesse-h wrote:Hi all,
As of earlier this year my primary residence changed to the USA and I am set on improving my credit profile as quickly as possible. I have an excellent card portfolio in my home country (Amex Centurion etc) and have the lifestyle to support applying for premium travel cards. However being new in the country and having a thin credit profile it seems like there is a very long road ahead before I am eligible for this.
I'm looking for any tips on increasing my profile as quickly as possible and becoming eligible to receive higher CLs and apply for cards such as the Venture X, BILT, etc.
My current credit profile is as follows:
Closed accounts:
- Amex BCP - $8000 CL - 01/21
- Amex Gold - NPSL - 09/21
- Amex Gold - NPSL - 02/22
Context: In 2021 I used Amex Global Transfer to apply for US cards with my foreign profile and was approved for the Amex BCP and Gold. Unfortunately later that year my account was hit with a FR and closed due to not being able to provide documents (IRS tax returns etc.). I tried opening an account again in 02/22 which was approved but shut down several days later as they found the previously closed FR (I was hoping they wouldn't).
Open accounts:
- Capital One QuicksilverOne - $500 - 03/23
- Amex Green - NPSL - 04/23
- Amex Gold - NPSL - 05/23
- Chase Freedom Unlimited - $1500 - 05/23
- Chase Sapphire Preferred - $8000 - 05/23
- Discover It - $500 - 05/23
- GS Apple Card - $4000 - 09/23
- Amex BCP - $1000 - 09/23
Context:
- Somehow there was a 60 day late payment (for $12) on my credit profile for one of the previously closed Amex accounts. I didn't know about this because I had no access to my credit report without an SSN and never received notification from Amex. Therefore the limits of my Capital One and Discover cards are low at $500 because I unknowingly applied with the mark on my report. Amex finally removed the remark as of last month but neither will reconsider my limit yet.
- Amex Green & Gold approved via Global Transfer
- Chase cards approved due to existing relationship (bank account I had open for some years with average balance of ~60k). CFU was $4500 at first and CSP $5000 but I moved some credit around as I don't use the CFU much due to its fees.
- Apple Card & BCP not yet reporting / no inquiry made due to credit report freeze.
Scores / Data:
- FICO8: EQ 723, TU 735, EX 727
- FICO9: EQ 741, TU 737, EX 715
- Inquiries: EQ 1, TU 2, EX 7
- Total CL: $15.500 ($10.500 reporting)
- Utilisation: 9% of reporting
- AAoA: 11 months
- AoOA: 2y 8m
Hoping there is anything I can improve
Thanks in advance for any insights!
I would say your best bet for building your profile is to not do anything except maintain very low utilization, let most accounts report zero balance, and refrain from applications at this time. Since you already have a top of the line travel card in the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and a good companion card in the CFU, I would concentrate on using those two as much as possible, and consistently paying them down, to encourage CLI's.
I would imagine one of these days Amex will approach you with a preapproved offer on the Amex Platinum, which would give you another "premium travel card".
