improving thin file

[bRICrEAW]

I posted a couple of months ago about being denied for Ebates Visa and Amazon Visa when I was trying to build my thin file. I got Discover It as recommended, but I thought it could be a good idea to get a few more cards. Is there an ideal amount of time to wait before applying for a few more credit cards? And do the number of inquiries make a difference in getting approved? And what is the ideal number of new accounts? 

I was told before that Ebates was one of the harder synchrony cards to get. Synchrony denied the Ebates Visa before due to my sagestream report, and all of the reasons for the denial are referencing sagestream. I have since requested sagestream and ARS frozen. Is it possible I could still get approved for Ebates Visa if I applied again since sagestream is now frozen, or what would it take to be approved for the Ebates card? I am currently considering some of the synchrony cards, Costco Visa, and Walmart cards. 

[AverageJoesCredit]

Is the Ebates card still a viable cc for you in the current economy?. If so might as well try, its only a hp. Least youll know where you stand.

[bRICrEAW]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

Is the Ebates card still a viable cc for you in the current economy?. If so might as well try, its only a hp. Least youll know where you stand.

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I still use Ebates quite a bit. Despite everything that's been going on, I still earned over $50 in the last month or so on Ebates, and I think it really does add up. The credit card would allow me to earn a lot more on top of that. I just don't want to waste another inquiry if people think that I won't be able to qualify yet because I really do already have enough inquiries

[Anonymous]

With a thin file, I would take the safe route. Go for banks with pre-approval and don't mind thin files like Capital One and Amex. The Rakuten Visa is a difficult card to get, even with a thick file and good FICO score. 

[mikesonthemend]

Call me what you will. I firmly believe all of the banks are attempting to run up balances so they can ask for a bigger bailout.

[JR_TX]

My take on improving a thin file is "slow play"!

Treat it like a marathon and not a sprint! Time is on your youth side. 1 app per year on a card you really have a use for is what I suggest. You don't wanna end up with a bunch of useless low CL cards/store cards.

Start with a card that does SP CLI like Disco, BoA, Amex, etc.. grow that and in a year app for another. Rinse and repeat! Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

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@bRICrEAW wrote:

I posted a couple of months ago about being denied for Ebates Visa and Amazon Visa when I was trying to build my thin file. I got Discover It as recommended, but I thought it could be a good idea to get a few more cards. Is there an ideal amount of time to wait before applying for a few more credit cards? And do the number of inquiries make a difference in getting approved? And what is the ideal number of new accounts? 

I dont know how thin your profile is....but I stared with no credit scores a little more than 3 years ago and reached near 300k credit line now.   I started with Capital one and Amex.   Capital one stopped at 12K & 16k and those do not grow.   I have numerous Amex, from 45k to 3.5k.
I would recommend Amex if you want to grow your credit line.   Also I would not apply MANY....your SL will be low and will not grow when your profile reaches certain age.   Aforementioned Cap1 started with 1k or 1.5k and grew to 12k two years ago then stopped there. 
With 3+ yrs and enough income, my last approval 4 months ago was 30k and now near 40k.  I assume you get the overall picture.

As someone mentioned, chase the ones with SP CLI - Amex, BoA, Citi, Cap1...

[bRICrEAW]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@bRICrEAW wrote:

I posted a couple of months ago about being denied for Ebates Visa and Amazon Visa when I was trying to build my thin file. I got Discover It as recommended, but I thought it could be a good idea to get a few more cards. Is there an ideal amount of time to wait before applying for a few more credit cards? And do the number of inquiries make a difference in getting approved? And what is the ideal number of new accounts? 

I dont know how thin your profile is....but I stared with no credit scores a little more than 3 years ago and reached near 300k credit line now.   I started with Capital one and Amex.   Capital one stopped at 12K & 16k and those do not grow.   I have numerous Amex, from 45k to 3.5k.
I would recommend Amex if you want to grow your credit line.   Also I would not apply MANY....your SL will be low and will not grow when your profile reaches certain age.   Aforementioned Cap1 started with 1k or 1.5k and grew to 12k two years ago then stopped there. 
With 3+ yrs and enough income, my last approval 4 months ago was 30k and now near 40k.  I assume you get the overall picture.

As someone mentioned, chase the ones with SP CLI - Amex, BoA, Citi, Cap1...

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This sounds like good advice. My profile is still pretty thin right now as far as credit cards. I got Amex Delta a year ago, a couple of retail cards in December, and the Discover It that they recommended here back in February. I have bankruptcy that won't fall off until the end of this year. I tried boa before, and I was denied due to the bankruptcy and the fact they were iib. I was thinking about Capital One, but I was leery about the three hard pulls, but I think I can probably get one as they send me pre-approvals all the time. I have not tried Citibank because I thought I'd probably get rejected for the bankruptcy also since they were iib. however, I was thinking about getting the Costco card because that seems like a good one, and I read on here about a lot of people being able to get it with bankruptcy still. What do you think is a good number of cards to get to build my credit back up?

[seattletravels]

Do you need other cards now? Why not let your Amex and Discover continue to age a bit until your bankruptcy ages off? 

[RSX]

agreed with slow and steady

also, for some cards to grow, they need Spend

if you have too many cards that can be difficult to do

when i moved to the US, i only had a Cap1 to start - i put EVERYTHING on that card for a year - and it hit $16,750

if you apply too quickly, not only will you get low SL cards, you wont be able to do heavy spend on all of them - so keep it minimal for now