Which cards pull which bureaus? Inquiry strategy

[kimbersleep]

Hi,

I've seen a lot of advice on MyFico forums saying in order to maximize your Fico score, you should have 3 open revolving/credit card accounts -- PIF on two to keep the balance reporting to bureaus as zero, and keep one reporting under 8.99% utilization.

Well, I have two credit cards, both are opened very recently. One reporting zero balance, one much less than 8.99% util.

I'd like to open a third, and I'd like to do so strategically to give myself the most favorable reporting on inquiries. I'm showing 0 inquiries on Experian currently, 2 TransUnion, and 5 on Equifax. Of these, all but 1 on Equifax are in the past 2-9 months.

Questions:

• For my next credit card, should I target a HP on only one particular bureau?
• If so, which bureau would be most advantageous to keep inquiries looking favorable?
• Also, is there a database somewhere of which credit card issuers pull which bureaus?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[taekwon]

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@kimbersleep wrote:

Hi,

I've seen a lot of advice on MyFico forums saying in order to maximize your Fico score, you should have 3 open revolving/credit card accounts -- PIF on two to keep the balance reporting to bureaus as zero, and keep one reporting under 8.99% utilization.

Well, I have two credit cards, both are opened very recently. One reporting zero balance, one much less than 8.99% util.

I'd like to open a third, and I'd like to do so strategically to give myself the most favorable reporting on inquiries. I'm showing 0 inquiries on Experian currently, 2 TransUnion, and 5 on Equifax. Of these, all but 1 on Equifax are in the past 2-9 months.

Questions:

• For my next credit card, should I target a HP on only one particular bureau?
• If so, which bureau would be most advantageous to keep inquiries looking favorable?
• Also, is there a database somewhere of which credit card issuers pull which bureaus?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Go to <mod edit>  Select your state and type in the creditor name(Chase, Cap1 etc.). Leave the CRA and Score Name fields blank to get the maximum results. You will see what CC was applied for, CB pulled, approved or denied, CL, City applied from, fico score when applied and date applied.

I'm sorry, links to that site aren't permitted on myFICO.  --UncleB, Moderator

[AverageJoesCredit]

Great suggestion by Taekwon. To get you better advice you should tell us what your current profile looks like. Your low inquiries is nice. But what are your Fico scores, which 2 cards do you currently have, their limits, what are you looking for in a credit card, rewards, low apr, travel?. Of course there are certain lenders who favor one bureau over the other. Are you looking for unsecured or secured. The more info you give on your wants and needs will give you the best recomendations beyond the generic ones. Lol, no more should try for Navy, unless that doors open for you .

[Anonymous]

Just going off of the limited info you gave, and the scores in your sig, a score over 700 should get you in with American Express, They will pull EX for you, which doesn't have any inquiries at the moment

[JoeLuvsHisCredit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Just going off of the limited info you gave, and the scores in your sig, a score over 700 should get you in with American Express, They will pull EX for you, which doesn't have any inquiries at the moment

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+1 I would do a Amex Ap

[Anonymous]

I have to respectfully disagree with the advice given above thus far to the OP.  What hasn't been said yet to the OP that needs to be said is that when considering apping for a CC, the LAST thing someone should be worried about is what bureau they are going to pull.  The only exception here would be if say you're dirty on one bureau with a 600 score but clean on the other 2 with 700 scores.  Assuming all of your scores are relatively the same, where you are going to take an inquiry should not be a consideration.  It should be all about the CARD.  You should app for a card because it's the one you want that suits you best.  If that card happens to be the one that pulls the bureau that you have a million inquiries on, either take your chances and app or hold off until the inquiries fall off an to the point where you feel comfortable apping for that product. 

Inquiries are the least significant part of FICO scoring.  The portion of the FICO pie that contains inquiries only constitutes 10% of your score, and inquiries are only a small portion of that 10%.  An inquiry will result in anything from a zero point drop to a 10 point drop, maybe.  The drop associated with the "new account", potential AAoA reduction and AoYA dropping to 0 is usually more significant. 

OP, my advice is don't sweat the inquiry.  If you are set on apping for 1 more card, go for the card you actually want and will still appreciate and use a year+ from now, beyond the point where the inquiry that resulted from the app will matter.

[kimbersleep]

Thanks for all of the different perspectives and the link to the credit pulls database. I don't feel strongly about any other cards right now (I have Discover IT Cash back and NFCU goRewards) so I may just garden until the 0% introductory rate runs out on Discover and add a third, maybe with another 0% intro, at that time.

[JoeLuvsHisCredit]

FYI

My BOA credit card is killing my mailbox with 0% offers plus on online too. I had it for a year and my Boa always have 0% offers for me plus 0% offers for direct bank deposit to my bank. BOA is the only bank I know of that allow you to do that . They pulled EX on me

[AverageJoesCredit]

This is why i often ask what op's leave out from their posts as im always on mobile so i never see signatures. The more info we can see, not just those on full site, the better the advice and recomendations. I had no idea op had 700 scoes plus a Disco and Navy card. I would always recommend an apper to app for a card they want and need vs a card one can get because a certain bureau is often used by certain lenders. In this case Amex is a good viable recomendation as it can lend to profile diversification but again only if op could use that particular card.

[Anonymous]

Tiger09 why do you have such high CL's with such low scores?