Next Credit Card?

[Anonymous]

Hello, this is my first post so if you need any more information please let me know.

I'm basically seeking a third credit card, primarily to check current credit scores and to increase my credit limit some more for the future.

A little background: I'm a 21 year old college student, 2 cards open, first card was First Financial Bank and second is Capital One Quicksilver card. My credit score on Cap1's CreditWise app is 747. I have a combined CL of $9500 and oldest credit line of 3 years. My credit usage has always been below 10% but the past couple months its been hovering 10-17% (12% right now). I have 2 inquiries from 1.5 years ago, no poor marks and 100% on time payment. 

I'm hoping you guys can give me some insight on what cards are around my area or if I should just hold off a little longer. My utilization has went up since I've recenlty moved into an apartment at school and have some more bills to pay. I know I can request CLI but I think it might be time to open my third credit card since my scores have went up some more since I was approved for my Cap1 a little over a year ago. I've also been considering getting my free annual scores before applying for another card, would this be a smart choice, or is my CreditWise and previous background enough information for my next card? 

Thanks! Any advice for a plan or future layout would be cool!

[Anonymous]

Well the first thing I'd want to know is what are you looking for from your cards. Cash back? Miles? No annual fee? Are there certain companies you've been looking at?

Those questions aside, it definitely wouldnt hurt to get your scores especially if you get them for free. Creditwise is good for reference, but the score they give is not your fico score.

As for cards? Without knowing for sure what type you are seeking, it's my understanding that discover likes thin profiles so they are definitely an option. Chase is another option. They have a good selection of cards, but if you decide to apply with them first as they have a 5/24 rule(5 apps within 2 years will net you a denial...barring 1 exception that I know of). There are many more options out there. Those are but 2 that I can think of off the bat without knowing what type of card benefits you are looking for.

Welcome to the forums!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input. I'm pretty sure anyone can ask for all 3 credit scores once for free,  corect? I'm porbably most interested in a rewards card with second interest being low interest, travel is negligible so definitely not a travel card. Ultomately, my goal is to raise my CL some more and take out a card that's better than my Quicksilver card I have now. Something that would offr me FICO score checks or something like that rather than creditwise since it's not as accurate.

[Anonymous]

You can do that, but as I recall they are mailed to you so you have to wait for them to arrive. There are quicker ways to get them...at the cost of a dollar (more if you forget to cancel).

Based at what you've written, I'd recommend the discover card. They can be anodd bird at times in regards to approvals, but generally they like thin profiles which yours appears to be. No annual fee, and good Cashback in rotating categories. Chase can be good too. The chase freedom card is quite similar to discover when it comes to reward structure. There is also the freedom unlimited card, which is identical to the quicksilver card you currently have so it's hard to recommend the unlimited version. If you do plan to apply for more than one card, but are curious about chase I'd recommend applying to chase first as they have a 5/24 rule.

The cards I'd recommend overall;
Discover
Chase freedom
Citi DC
Amex BCE

Those cards have no annual fees and good Cashback rewards.

[minski]

Discover also offers free TU FICO 08 score with their card, and free EX FICO 08 score on their credit score website. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the input. I'm pretty sure anyone can ask for all 3 credit scores once for free,  corect? I'm porbably most interested in a rewards card with second interest being low interest, travel is negligible so definitely not a travel card. Ultomately, my goal is to raise my CL some more and take out a card that's better than my Quicksilver card I have now. Something that would offr me FICO score checks or something like that rather than creditwise since it's not as accurate.

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@Anonymous annualcreditreport has no scores. Like @minski said, you can get your Ex FICO 8 from Discover (creditscorecard.com) and if you get a Disco card you'll get your TU FICO 8 from them as well.

[Anonymous]

The annualcreditreport has no scores. Like @minski said, you can get your Ex FICO 8 from Discover (creditscorecard.com) and if you get a Disco card you'll get your TU FICO 8 from them as well.

Thanks! I just got my EX FICO 08 from Discover and I'm at 729. I also just increased Cap1 to 7k, 12.5k total credit line between both accounts now. I also checked with AE and I pre qualify for Blue Cash Everyday and Blue Cash Preferred. Would you guys recommend one of these as my third card?  I'm hoping to take out a third card (since my credit line is pretty thin with only 2 cards)  and ultimately begin to push my credit scores higher. 

On a side note, the Venture cards from Cap1 seem pretty appealing due to their sign up bonus. I feel taking a second Cap1 card right now wouldn't be ideal as I'm hoping to get free reports first from a credit bureau and cap1 uses Vantage3.0. If I was to take a Venture card, would I be able to merge my Quicksilver and Venture into one card eventually?

[Anonymous]

Anyone that's looking for low interest cards, I always give the same piece of advice.  I strongly advise to adopt a PIF strategy.  If you are not carrying balances on your cards, interest rates become irrelevant.  When newer FICO scoring models come out, they'll be using trended data which is the ability to see back 12, 24, 30 months to see what your spend/payment patters are.  Following a PIF strategy will be very beneficial when it comes to future scoring, where those that carry balances (that care about APR) will be considered more of a risk and scoring will reflect that accordingly.  Just something to keep in mind going forward!

[Anonymous]

Somebody earlier mentioned Discover liking thin profiles, I can second that. My SO had zero credit established with nothing reporting in her name and no AU accounts, applied for Discover Chrome unsecured, and got approved for a 1,000 CL.

This was with NOTHING. No installment loans, no cc's, no AU accounts, not even any utlilty/cell bills at the time either...

The 1,000 SL isn't much, but with absolutely no credit to fall back on, she was still able to get that with part time income. I was kind of surprised she was able to get it though, so perhaps she was an exception...? Who knows.

[Anonymous]

As others have suggested I would also recommend Discover It Cash Back Match and AMEX Blue Cash Everyday.. they are generous to approve thin profiles and if you use responsibly they will grow faster. Once you have established good terms with them, then proceed with Chase Freedom and may be pair it with CSP/CSR if you intend to travel that time.