Hello and welcome!
I'll address the parts I know about. First, as far as auto loan inquiries, yes, they are all grouped as one (as long as they're coded properly; in other words, they should say "Auto loan/vehicle loan" or whatever when you look at the inquiry info) as far as FICO is concerned, BUT they all still show up individually, and thus lenders can still grade that however they want.
Secondly, Citi Retail division is different from the regular Citibank division. They don't "talk" to each other. Even if they did, you'd still take a HP for every app with them. They're not like Amex where existing cardholders *usually* only get SPd for new applications.
As far as that affecting your chances with Amex, in my opinion, no. Amex isn't generally inquiry sensitive, unless of course you've been excessively seeking credit (think double digit number of apps in a short amount of time).
I'm not sure what you mean by "Do I apply around the same time for both cards to avoid the Hard pulls even being on my record at the time?" Hard pulls are instant in almost all cases. The second bank would see the inquiry from the first. Citi can be a bit more inquiry-sensitive, so I'd app them first.
@TRJ87 wrote:Awesome, That's some great information.
That is what I was thinking with Citi bank and Best Buy but had read that Amex will only soft pull if you have an existing account. Did not think I would get lucky with Citibank offering that. Possibly a good scenario if the retail division does not talk to the Bank itself. Best Buy cards seem to have some really low SL approved and my goal is to boost my Utilization rate and hopefully get my score above the 700 mark before applying for the Amex Gold.
and that is was I was suggesting if I applied for the Amex and the citibank on the same day I could avoid them seeing the pulls. I have no other pulls besides the ones I listed which could be seen as 7 or 3 depending on how they look at the auto loan's.
to throw another thought out there on my strategy does this seem like a decent plan some of you more experienced multi card holders could suggest a better strategy? The custom cash would cover me for fuel, The Amex on Dining and groceries, my Amazon card for any other purchases, and The Bonvoy card for travel when able.
Also when doing my research I came across the Bonvoy eat local rewards program, I plan to pair my Amex Gold to this account so I can double down on points, start earning Bonvoy points before I get the card and still earn the Amex points for dining. anyone else done this or signed up for this program? they seem to have a decent amount of restaurants in my area that I would be willing to try.
again any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.
The adage about Amex only SPing after the first credit app is only partially true. As a few members here can attest, HPs can and DO still happen for existing cardholders.
No unfortunately you can't avoid one or the other seeing the pulls. Citi and Amex HPs are instant, so the moment you hit the submit button, your report would be updated with a new inquiry. So as I said, whatever bank you apply for second would see that first HP. The 7 individual pulls would all count as individual inquiries for both Citi and Amex. Now whether they think that's too much, I don't know.
I think you'd be pretty well covered, yes, if those are your top spend categories.
I have no idea about that program, but now I'm intrigued.
@TRJ87 wrote:Howdy all,
New to the community but have been lurking for about a month. I have taken in a lot of information over the month and started working on a strategy to build my credit score for future goals.
my score is not terrible at the time but I am trying to break into the 700's sitting around 670 currently. no negatives on report except a collection that was closed about 3 years ago. I have 7 hard inquiries that I racked up recently. I purchased a vehicle in March and then got a new job in May that required a truck so I traded car back in and bought a truck. had 3 Hard pulls for each vehicle purchase I made. question? I have read on here that the 3 hard pulls should only count as 1 but it pulls up as 3 different inquiries for each of the vehicle purchases. do I need to request for those to be combined or will it happen naturallly?
They're supposed to appear in your report, they're just not supposed to be counted as 3 inquiries for scoring.
The truck was purchased in June and just now hit my report mid July dropping my scored from 690's to 670's I know this will recover but I am looking to expand my rewards cards and to expand my utilization rating.
The truck has nothing to do with your revolving utilization; it's only counted in installment utilization.
The 7th hard inquiry I had was my acceptance of a Chase Amazon rewards card with a 6900SL I was pretty excited to be accepted and for that amount! other cards on my profile Citibank BestBuy card SL 1300 which was just increased and a standard Wells Fargo credit card with 11,500 SL. I owe $2,500 on wells fargo and about $350 on the BestBuy card. I have brought down my wells fargo card from 5800 down to the 2500 within the last 2 months. New job is paying well and getting me on the correct path to higher credit scores!
So enough back story here are my goals, questions, and concerns for my near future. I really want to get the Amex Gold card I dine out frequently and cook a lot, so the rewards categories for the Amex gold really hit home for me and hopefully starting a relationship with Amex. further down the road I would like to expand to the Marriot Bonvoy either boundless or Brilliant. The new job continues to pay well I want to travel more and pairing the Amex rewards points and Bonvoy points seems to be the perfect marriage. A hitch in my plans though, Gas being the prices they are now I need cashback or rewards for that spending as well.
My advice is to be more focused, and not be distracted by all the glitter from competing offers. If the Gold card is what you really want you should hold out for that.
The citibank custom cash with the 5% back for highest spending category will be used exclusively for gas so I can always get the 5% cash back. First question, since I have a "relationship" with citibank because of the BestBuy card will they make a hard pull on credit when applying for the custom cash card?
No, only Amex does that.
If so will another hard Pull risk my chances of acceptance for the Amex Gold?
IMHO you need to chill out and stop applying for things. Bear in mind: the underwriting for the Amex Gold is easier than Citibank's. So when it is time to apply for something apply for the Amex.
I want the Amex gold but the Gold being just a charge card will not help raise my utilization rate therefore not add to my overall to increase credit score where the citi custom cash card might.
2nd question. Do I apply around the same time for both cards to avoid the Hard pulls even being on my record at the time?
I worry that Amex will decline me already because of the number of inquiries I already have. But I would like to start earning Rewards points on all my spending and thats where the Citi Custom Cash card came into play.
No, you should stop applying altogether, and take some time off.
Sorry about the first time long winded posts just wanted to cover all the info to get the best advice.
I want to state also I had a succesful goodwill late payment removal with Citibank BestBuy card thanks to reading information on these Forums. It should hit this month on reports but shows on the account the late fee refund!
Thank you all for any advice in advance and good luck to everyone on their credit journey.
