0% Apr and Effect on Fico

[Anonymous]

I just got approved for Amex BCE and PRG 50K yesterday.

My other two cards are:

Chase freedom : limit of $4.4K

Barclyas Sallie Mae : limit of $8.8k

I got approved for BCE with a limit of $9.3K.

My other two cards, dont have the 0% Apr, even when I had the promotion, I would pay off my balance in full, and keep a small balance of > 10% on either card.

My question is, if I keep the balance to zero on my Freedom and Sallie Mae, but buy some electronics with my Amex BCE (take advantage of 0% APR), and pay more than the minimum payments on it, how will my FICO score be effected? Will it drop or stay the same?

I read somewhere, as long as the utilizations on all combined cards is > 10%, the FICO score shouldnt be effected, is that correct?

Thanks for reading,

[OmarGB9]

Yes just keep overall util low and only report a balance on one card and your scores shouldn't be affected.

[Anonymous]

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@OmarGB9 wrote:
Yes just keep overall util low and only report a balance on one card and your scores shouldn't be affected.

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Thanks, so take for example:

My TOTAL combined limit of all cards is : $22.5K

So, if I was to take advantage of 0% Apr with AMEX BCE, as long as my other two cards report zero, and my AMEX has a payment of less than $2,225K (out of $9.3K), my score shouldnt be affected, and if I only pay, just above the min payment on my Amex BCE, my score will remain about the same?

My other concern is, whether if I make a charge on Amex of $2.2K (out of my limit $9.3K, which comes to be ~ 23% utlisation), will this seem to be over utilization, or the score only takes into account, the TOTAL utilisation of all TOTAL cards?

Thanks

[kdm31091]

You're overanalyzing and overstressing about this IMO.

Utilization has zero memory. You could max out a card (not a great idea, but you could) and then pay it off the next month and your score would recover immediately.

Even at lower levels, it rings true. 0% offers are designed to be used. Use them, then pay off the balances. Any temporary ding from increased utilization will recover as soon as they are paid off and report as such the next statement.  If you were planning to max out every card, I would say proceed with caution. You aren't planning to do anything nearly that extreme so seriously, it will be fine.

It's not worth worrying about it, is the bottom line.

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

You're overanalyzing and overstressing about this IMO.

Utilization has zero memory. You could max out a card (not a great idea, but you could) and then pay it off the next month and your score would recover immediately.

Even at lower levels, it rings true. 0% offers are designed to be used. Use them, then pay off the balances. Any temporary ding from increased utilization will recover as soon as they are paid off and report as such the next statement.  If you were planning to max out every card, I would say proceed with caution. You aren't planning to do anything nearly that extreme so seriously, it will be fine.

It's not worth worrying about it, is the bottom line.

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I think you are right, maybe I am overthinking it.

But I want to take advantage to the 0% APR, since it will be till October 2016 next year.

I would like to plan it our right, and thats why I asked, if I have > 10% utlisations on the TOTAL CC limit, will I be fine, thats all.

EDIT: How do charge cards affect the Score, I know the balance has to be paid of in full every month, but what if it cant be PIF, is there any interest rate on them, I am not sure how they work lol

[OmarGB9]

Yes you should really only worry about utilization when you DON'T have 0% offers available. But individual utilization is also taken into account, which should be kept under 30% at least. However, as long as you PIF or at least down to under 10% util by statement cut, you'll be fine.

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kdm31091 wrote:

You're overanalyzing and overstressing about this IMO.

Utilization has zero memory. You could max out a card (not a great idea, but you could) and then pay it off the next month and your score would recover immediately.

Even at lower levels, it rings true. 0% offers are designed to be used. Use them, then pay off the balances. Any temporary ding from increased utilization will recover as soon as they are paid off and report as such the next statement.  If you were planning to max out every card, I would say proceed with caution. You aren't planning to do anything nearly that extreme so seriously, it will be fine.

It's not worth worrying about it, is the bottom line.

---

I think you are right, maybe I am overthinking it.

But I want to take advantage to the 0% APR, since it will be till October 2016 next year.

I would like to plan it our right, and thats why I asked, if I have > 10% utlisations on the TOTAL CC limit, will I be fine, thats all.

EDIT: How do charge cards affect the Score, I know the balance has to be paid of in full every month, but what if it cant be PIF, is there any interest rate on them, I am not sure how they work lol

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Do not ever use a charge card if you can't PIF....I am not sure what happens, but it is never going to be a good thing as you're required to PIF. I think they either charge you a ridiculous fee or it gets marked as a late payment or something.

[Anonymous]

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@OmarGB9 wrote:
Yes you should really only worry about utilization when you DON'T have 0% offers available. But individual utilization is also taken into account, which should be kept under 30% at least. However, as long as you PIF or at least down to under 10% util by statement cut, you'll be fine.

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Is that for a single CC util or the total CC util?

EDIT : Or just use > 10% util on my AMEX and carry zero balance on other cards, and only pay min or slightly above min, will this strategy be ok too?

Thanks

[OmarGB9]

Ideally for a single CC, but if not possible, then at least total CC.

[newhis]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just got approved for Amex BCE and PRG 50K yesterday.

My other two cards are:

Chase freedom : limit of $4.4K

Barclyas Sallie Mae : limit of $8.8k

I got approved for BCE with a limit of $9.3K.

My other two cards, dont have the 0% Apr, even when I had the promotion, I would pay off my balance in full, and keep a small balance of > 10% on either card.

My question is, if I keep the balance to zero on my Freedom and Sallie Mae, but buy some electronics with my Amex BCE (take advantage of 0% APR), and pay more than the minimum payments on it, how will my FICO score be effected? Will it drop or stay the same?

I read somewhere, as long as the utilizations on all combined cards is > 10%, the FICO score shouldnt be effected, is that correct?

Thanks for reading,

---

Remember that you can try for up to 3X CLI on your Amex card at activation or any day you want after that. If they deny your request then you try again after 90 days.

There are reports that they ask for tax documents for more than 25k in some cases. So if you don't have any other card at 10k or more, you can try for 20k or so.

And for FICO scoring, just keep paying on time and without interest (0% promos pay 3 times the minimum or more). The best score you can get is with only 1 card reporting < 10% and others at $0 balance. Sometimes the difference with that and 15% overall is small. In fact my DW TU Score is higher this month than lasts and more cards are reporting, the difference is that a loan is more than 50% paid now and her credit history is 1 month older, even with a TU INQ didn't lower her score.