Suggestions on best options for high credit limit balance transfer card?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking for suggestions/strategies to consolidate as much personal cc debt ($20,000+ on AMEX and Chase credit cards) as possible with a 0% balance transfer card. I'm aware that I can get a personal loan, but I'd rather have a zero rate for 12-18 mos. than the 7-10% rates I'm seeing for multi-year personal loans. For a balance transfer, I don't mind paying 3-5% transfer fee, and the intro period doesn't need to be the longest available.

My FICO Bankcard 8 scores are 775, 784, and 815, and my scores using the "older versions for credit card lending" are all in the Very Good range (758, 776, 770). TransUnion score is highest in each. The primary drag on my scores seems to be revolving credit utilization, which is around 46%. My spouse (who could be a co-applicant if it helps) has slightly lower scores in the Good and Very Good categories for bankcard applications (722 to 744 range), with the main drag there being a short credit history and an 8% utilization rate.

Any suggestions/strategies are greatly appreciated, including whether including my spouse as a co-applicant would help or hurt and what card(s) seem to be my best option to get approved for a high credit limit and balance transfer. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Your scores seem fine given a 45% utilization. Your wife’s low utilization isn’t a drag on her scores, but the age of her credit would be. With the limited data you’ve provided, have you tried prequals on Citi or Discover? Both typically have pretty good BT cards/options.

[Pikaboo-icu]

Welcome to My Fico! 

Have you considered a Credit Union?

They tend to give higher SL's usually.

There are many very good CU's favored around here.

NFCU

PenFed

DCU  and others..

CHEERS

[Anonymous]

Thanks ttulaw. I've tried prequals on both, and I do prequalify. However, the prequals I've seen don't ask what credit limit is being sought and give no indication what credit limit to expect. What I'm looking for here is an idea of the maximum credit limit I might expect to get for a cc balance transfer and how to maximize my chances of getting something close to $20K.  Qualifying for a credit limit of a few thousand dollars won't help me much, and I'd prefer not to have the hard pull on my credit if that's all I can expect. So my question is more directed to whether there are particular cards/lenders that tend to give higher credit limits than others to applicants with "Very Good" and above credit scores. If you (or anyone else) have any insight or suggestions along those lines, that would be wonderful.

And on my spouse, my question is more whether it's likely to be any benefit to have a co-applicant (if that option is even available) whose credit scores are slightly lower than my own. I'd think as a general matter that having two borrowers on the hook would be better than one in the eyes of most lenders, but I don't know how credit card lenders specifically look at these things.

[FinStar]

What is your average CL and the highest you currently have? You mentioned balances in excess of $20K, is that across 2 CCs with AmEx and Chase or distributed among others?

[Anonymous]

Most of the $20K+ balance is AMEX, with a smaller amount on a Chase card. The CLs on those cards are both around $21-$22K. The interest on the AMEX is 15%, and the Chase is 7%, so I'm mainly interested in transferring the AMEX.

I've also got two other Chase cards with a zero balance -- one with a $15K CL and the other with a $500 CL (a promotional card offer).

[FinStar]

---

@Pikaboo-icu wrote:

Welcome to My Fico! 

Have you considered a Credit Union?

They tend to give higher SL's usually.

There are many very good CU's favored around here.

NFCU

PenFed

DCU  and others..

CHEERS

---

OP, have you given any thought to the above? ^^^^

[Aspireto850]

Look at the Goldman Sachs ‘Marcus’ last an which goes up to @40k for personal loans. Good luck!

[Aspireto850]

OP, I meant Goldman Sachs ‘Marcus’ LOAN!

[Anonymous]

I'm making the same choices. My scores are lower than yours: 756, 752 and 764. I have a couple of cards with a CL of 30K, a few more at 10K and then a few lower than that. I am carrying balances on 3 cards (2 of them are 0% interest and around 15% utliziation) and the 3rd is the maxed out card that I want to BT.

I was just approved with NFCU with a 15K SL. I hope those data points aid you in making your decision.