General question about applying for new credit

Anonymous · ‎05-24-2018

Good day to everyone. I hope everyone is doing well.

My question is about when you should apply for new credit and how it will affect your overall credit score. As everyone here, I am trying to raise my scores. I understand that every situation is different, but from reading here and my profile I seem to be lacking in overall credit limit.

FICO 8 credit scores (from 05/23/2018) were Equifax - 711; Transunion - 708; Experian - 715.

Oldest Account: 21 years, 8 months

Average Age: 12 years, 1 month

Newest Account: 3 years, 7 months

At this point, my only credit cards were a Discover card at $6,000, Citi at $4,260 and two Capital One Platinum cards at $4,500 and $300.

On 5/23 I applied for and was approved for a Navy Federal cashRewards card with $25,000 limit at 11.15%, instant approval.

On 5/23 I applied for and was approved for a Navy Federal CLOC at $15,000, instant approval.

My credit report(s) showed 0 inquiries, 0 public records, 0 collections and 20 total accounts; 7 listed as open including a charge-off from Bank of America from 6.5 years ago (set to be removed from reports in August 2018). This was also the last late payment on record. From the myFICO 3B report, Equifax does not show the amount of the charge off and lists my utlilization at 1%. Both Transunion and Experian include the charge off amount of $6,944 in the utilization and shows that as 22%. From Experian.com directly it shows 0% utilization and does not include the charged off amount in total credit.

I have a current car loan through Navy Federal with a $42,000 balance of $70,000.

Neither the cashRewards or CLOC have shown on my credit reports yet. I have a hard pull from Transunion and Equifax for the Navy Federal applications.

On 5/24 I applied for the Marvel MasterCard and was denied (from what I read here would have been a Transunion pull which would have shown one inquiry). I am awaiting the letter for reasons.

I went to American Express (as they seem to pull Experian) and was pre-qualified for the Blue Cash Everday, Amex EveryDay and the Premier Rewards Gold Card. Should I try to keep applying in the short term? Is it worth it overall to apply for these, or any other cards with my low utilization and low inquiries?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Anonymous · ‎05-24-2018

It looks to me like you need to remove negative items from your credit report. Your age of accounts factors are already maxed out, which would put you in a position to achieve a perfect 850 score with no negative items present and utilization in an ideal spot.

Based on the cards you have, there is no reason to apply for additional credit, unless it's a card you really feel would positively impact your spend pattern that you'd use a lot. If I were you, I'd focus on getting rid of whatever negative items are holding your scores back and enjoy some 800s.

SouthJamaica · ‎05-24-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
Good day to everyone. I hope everyone is doing well.

My question is about when you should apply for new credit and how it will affect your overall credit score. As everyone here, I am trying to raise my scores. I understand that every situation is different, but from reading here and my profile I seem to be lacking in overall credit limit.

FICO 8 credit scores (from 05/23/2018) were Equifax - 711; Transunion - 708; Experian - 715.
Oldest Account: 21 years, 8 months
Average Age: 12 years, 1 month
Newest Account: 3 years, 7 months

At this point, my only credit cards were a Discover card at $6,000, Citi at $4,260 and two Capital One Platinum cards at $4,500 and $300.

On 5/23 I applied for and was approved for a Navy Federal cashRewards card with $25,000 limit at 11.15%, instant approval.
On 5/23 I applied for and was approved for a Navy Federal CLOC at $15,000, instant approval.

My credit report(s) showed 0 inquiries, 0 public records, 0 collections and 20 total accounts; 7 listed as open including a charge-off from Bank of America from 6.5 years ago (set to be removed from reports in August 2018). This was also the last late payment on record. From the myFICO 3B report, Equifax does not show the amount of the charge off and lists my utlilization at 1%. Both Transunion and Experian include the charge off amount of $6,944 in the utilization and shows that as 22%. From Experian.com directly it shows 0% utilization and does not include the charged off amount in total credit.

I have a current car loan through Navy Federal with a $42,000 balance of $70,000.

Neither the cashRewards or CLOC have shown on my credit reports yet. I have a hard pull from Transunion and Equifax for the Navy Federal applications.

On 5/24 I applied for the Marvel MasterCard and was denied (from what I read here would have been a Transunion pull which would have shown one inquiry). I am awaiting the letter for reasons.

I went to American Express (as they seem to pull Experian) and was pre-qualified for the Blue Cash Everday, Amex EveryDay and the Premier Rewards Gold Card. Should I try to keep applying in the short term? Is it worth it overall to apply for these, or any other cards with my low utilization and low inquiries?

Thanks in advance for any advice.