@Anonymous wrote:I've historically avoided credit cards like the plague due to some horrible card mismanagement stories by family members that put me in the mindset that it was best to avoid them. However, I still managed to rack up student loan debt from college and law school that I've been making solid payments without fail on for the past 8, almost 9, years. For years I blindly assumed that since I was paying that loan down that I must have a "perfect" credit score and never bothered to do any serious research into it.
Fast forward to 2018 when I'm finally financing a new car to replace the rugged 2002 model I'd been driving since high school and basically kept being told that I don't have much of a credit history. I do some research into the value of revolving cards and credit which completely wipes out everything I thought I knew about credit. I popped in a couple of apps for no AF cards that made sense before doing much more research, as they were mailed to me basically, and was instantly approved for Savor One (SL $1000) in January and the basic Amex no AF Hilton card (SL $2000). Those made sense to me at the time since a huge chunk of my spending goes to dining and I travel relatively frequently across the state, and fly 2-3 times per year for work, with overnight stays usually being in Hilton and the occasional Mariott property and flight bookings being a crapshoot since I live in a rural area near a small airport and basically have to take whatever United, American, or Delta is handing out. (We book our hotels & flights, pay for them, and are reimbursed by the state).
Over the past month since opening those cards, I've learned a good deal from this site about Chase 5/24, what a thin file is, etc. So I've basically put any further applications on ice until I develop a solid strategy to make applications more efficient. Probably after letting these cards settle a while before new applications in August-September range. Basically, my question is how much value does my years of loan payments matter when weighed against the brand spanking new age of my revolving accounts? Especially when it comes to my current goal of the Chase CSP/CSR and Chase's conservative lending strategy. I'd also note that any business cards are an automatic no-go as my job requires no "appearance of outside influence" and I can't have my name attached to any business, self-employed or otherwise.
To cap:
Equifax FICO8: 714
Equifax FICO9: 734
Experian FICO8: 721
Experian FICO9: 743
Transunion FAKO: 685 (Though I suspect this may be higher on the real FICO, but haven't checked yet. The Equifax FAKO was 680 for comparison)
Never been negative. No baddies. 0% Utilization on the current two as I basically pay any balance every other week.
Oldest Account: 8 years, 10 months
Average Age: 3 years, 1 month
Youngest Account: 1 month
Currently at 2/24
Income: $42,500
DTI ratio: 28%
Chase will be more interested in your revolving credit history, which is in your case new. The ideal Chase applicant for the CSP or CSR would be someone who has at least a year of revolving history, at least one account with a limit of $5k, and not too many recent cards.
So in your case you should, after you've had your Amex Hilton card > 60 days, apply for a credit limit increase to 6k.
Then I would start checking with Chase for a preapproval. Best method would be to check for an in-branch preapproval.
If you don't get a preapproval, I would say you might as well take a flyer once you have a credit limit of 5k or more and at least 1 year of revolving credit history to show.
@ChessChik47 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I've historically avoided credit cards like the plague due to some horrible card mismanagement stories by family members that put me in the mindset that it was best to avoid them. However, I still managed to rack up student loan debt from college and law school that I've been making solid payments without fail on for the past 8, almost 9, years. For years I blindly assumed that since I was paying that loan down that I must have a "perfect" credit score and never bothered to do any serious research into it.
Fast forward to 2018 when I'm finally financing a new car to replace the rugged 2002 model I'd been driving since high school and basically kept being told that I don't have much of a credit history. I do some research into the value of revolving cards and credit which completely wipes out everything I thought I knew about credit. I popped in a couple of apps for no AF cards that made sense before doing much more research, as they were mailed to me basically, and was instantly approved for Savor One (SL $1000) in January and the basic Amex no AF Hilton card (SL $2000). Those made sense to me at the time since a huge chunk of my spending goes to dining and I travel relatively frequently across the state, and fly 2-3 times per year for work, with overnight stays usually being in Hilton and the occasional Mariott property and flight bookings being a crapshoot since I live in a rural area near a small airport and basically have to take whatever United, American, or Delta is handing out. (We book our hotels & flights, pay for them, and are reimbursed by the state).
Over the past month since opening those cards, I've learned a good deal from this site about Chase 5/24, what a thin file is, etc. So I've basically put any further applications on ice until I develop a solid strategy to make applications more efficient. Probably after letting these cards settle a while before new applications in August-September range. Basically, my question is how much value does my years of loan payments matter when weighed against the brand spanking new age of my revolving accounts? Especially when it comes to my current goal of the Chase CSP/CSR and Chase's conservative lending strategy. I'd also note that any business cards are an automatic no-go as my job requires no "appearance of outside influence" and I can't have my name attached to any business, self-employed or otherwise.
To cap:
Equifax FICO8: 714
Equifax FICO9: 734
Experian FICO8: 721
Experian FICO9: 743
Transunion FAKO: 685 (Though I suspect this may be higher on the real FICO, but haven't checked yet. The Equifax FAKO was 680 for comparison)
Never been negative. No baddies. 0% Utilization on the current two as I basically pay any balance every other week.
Oldest Account: 8 years, 10 months
Average Age: 3 years, 1 month
Youngest Account: 1 month
Currently at 2/24
Income: $42,500
DTI ratio: 28%
Hi OP, +1 on the advice SJ gave you, but to the sentence in bold...I don't know why those new to credit think it's better to report 0% utilization on their credit cards, rather than use the cards and let them report to the bureaus then pay them in full by the due date. You want to show that you are using your credit and managing it effectively and reporting zero usage every month goes against that. If you are concerned about the percentage that is being reported, then you control that by making a payment before the statement cuts, but I find that using your card and letting them report then paying in full is much easier and manageable. In the long run, it can help you get a credit limit increase (if that's a goal) and cards with other lenders (if that's a goal) because again you're showing that you use your cards and are financially responsible by paying them off.
I have 5 revolvers and 1 charge card and I think I report a balance on at least 3 or 4 of the revolvers every month and right now I'm on a 0% for purchases for 6 months on my AMEX Platinum charge card and I have a balance on that too (taxes)...my scores all range from 812 to 833 and have for the last year or so. Full disclosure, I have about $190K of total credit lines and report balances of about $20K or so. My point is that almost all my cards report a balance every month and I keep getting offers for more credit (which I happily deny at this point, lol).
Good luck to you in goal of getting that Chase trifecta! Time and patience will get you there!
@ChessChik47picked up on your 0% utilization, which I missed. You could increase credit scores by letting 1 of the 2 cards report a small statement balance before paying it off.