Hi All,
Need some advice here if possible please. I'm looking to expand my CC portfolio a bit and wanted to see if I can get some suggestions based on my background.
REAL FICO 8
- EQ-654
- TU-659
- Ex-643
- 0 Inquiries across the board over the last 2 years
- No BK, Collections or Judgements
- Length of credit history - Good
- Payment History - Fair
- Amount of debt - Good
- Credit Mix - Very Good
- Income - $250K (1 FT, 1 Contract side job)
I currently have a secured OpenSky that I've never missed a payment on since I've had it for 2 years. Util is at 61%, which I'll explain shortly, but it will be under 9% next cycle so I expect my scores to go up a tad, likely to the 670's across the board. So here is more background:
Bought a house in 2016, right after I went on a app spree and got a bunch of cards (Several Syhncrony, CapOne QS, Disc IT, Barclays). Long story short, due to mismanagement, I ended up losing all of them due to missed payments. At the time, I was making way less and just didn't prepare myself properly for homeownership. I've paid all of them off except for one Synchrony card, which is actually still counting towards my util on FICO, which is making my credit util actually show as 61% because it's counting that unpaid balance in addition to my OpenSky balance. I'm $1000ish from having that paid off as well, then all of my old cards will be paid off and my Util will drop from 61% down to under 9%. Also during COVID, I missed several car payments and mortgage payments, that have all since been caught up and I have no lates on those over the past 7 months.
I want to be realistic, but I also don't want to settle for a bunch of low SL secured cards either if I can help it. I also don't want to waste inquiries. Didn't return any prequal offers from AMEX (not surprisingly). Did a soft prequal for Disc just as a shot in the dark, and got declined due to my past account (also not surprising). I read about Cap 1 being super generous about rebuilding so i figured I give their prequal a try, so I tried it out and it gave offers for QS, Savor and Platinum (this time, I was surprised.)
Any thoughts on how to proceed? I had a plan to to for BOA (Check and Savings account there), Mission Lane, Merrick, and depending on how those go, maybe an Amex platinum and/or BCE (if my scores creep up to 670-680 by then). I'm shocked about the Cap1 prequals but I wonder if I should give one a shot since they came back with offers? Any help would be appreciated. I'm also wondering if I should wait until those late payments are at least a year old. Not sure.
Thanks for any suggestions/insight!
Capital One SavorOne: $3000 / Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Visa Signature: $500 / Mission Lane: $1500 / Merrick: $2000 / CreditOne Amex: $850
@mrcrisp023 Your in a strange predicament! You have income that would support high end cards but your history would scare them away!
Bring your UTI down to under 1% then you can try FNBO! That is a possibility.
Also X1 Card! They would offer you SL with SP before pulling HP, BUT they must be able to verify your income though bank account. They like high income but hate BKs.
Without getting in to more details, see if you can bring up your score to near 700! There are many other CCs that you can get but they probably be toy limits!
@mrcrisp023 wrote:Hi All,
Need some advice here if possible please. I'm looking to expand my CC portfolio a bit and wanted to see if I can get some suggestions based on my background.
REAL FICO 8
- EQ-654
- TU-659
- Ex-643
- 0 Inquiries across the board over the last 2 years
- No BK, Collections or Judgements
- Length of credit history - Good
- Payment History - Fair
- Amount of debt - Good
- Credit Mix - Very Good
- Income - $250K (1 FT, 1 Contract side job)
I currently have a secured OpenSky that I've never missed a payment on since I've had it for 2 years. Util is at 61%, which I'll explain shortly, but it will be under 9% next cycle so I expect my scores to go up a tad, likely to the 670's across the board. So here is more background:
Bought a house in 2016, right after I went on a app spree and got a bunch of cards (Several Syhncrony, CapOne QS, Disc IT, Barclays). Long story short, due to mismanagement, I ended up losing all of them due to missed payments. At the time, I was making way less and just didn't prepare myself properly for homeownership. I've paid all of them off except for one Synchrony card, which is actually still counting towards my util on FICO, which is making my credit util actually show as 61% because it's counting that unpaid balance in addition to my OpenSky balance. I'm $1000ish from having that paid off as well, then all of my old cards will be paid off and my Util will drop from 61% down to under 9%. Also during COVID, I missed several car payments and mortgage payments, that have all since been caught up and I have no lates on those over the past 7 months.
I want to be realistic, but I also don't want to settle for a bunch of low SL secured cards either if I can help it. I also don't want to waste inquiries. Didn't return any prequal offers from AMEX (not surprisingly). Did a soft prequal for Disc just as a shot in the dark, and got declined due to my past account (also not surprising). I read about Cap 1 being super generous about rebuilding so i figured I give their prequal a try, so I tried it out and it gave offers for QS, Savor and Platinum (this time, I was surprised.)
Any thoughts on how to proceed? I had a plan to to for BOA (Check and Savings account there), Mission Lane, Merrick, and depending on how those go, maybe an Amex platinum and/or BCE (if my scores creep up to 670-680 by then). I'm shocked about the Cap1 prequals but I wonder if I should give one a shot since they came back with offers? Any help would be appreciated. I'm also wondering if I should wait until those late payments are at least a year old. Not sure.
Thanks for any suggestions/insight!
In all honesty I think your best bet is to concentrate on getting your scores up, and hold off on applying for any new cards.
It sounds like your on the right path to improving your score for sure so kudos to you for that. Just based on your scores and income i would maybe try for one (or all) of the cards below to possibly get established with decent banks with decent cards small limits can grow but being with the right issuer can save from having to cancel later so I hope these suggestions might help you. Take care.
Those capital one offers seem legit and would allow you to start building a relationship with them while using their rewards cards. You can also request soft pull increases on your capital one accounts every six months so the account can grow over time. Interest rate with them will be high so just try to keep balances low or paid off each month. Capital one is probably the easiest to get approved with.
Truist offers pre qualification for their cards and if you accept a offer it shouldn't even create a hard pull and they usually start around 1500 and go up from there "on average" so yrmv. Their rates are lower than capital one currently. Hard pull increases but can possibly get a decent starting line with your score range.
Discover card offers a prequalifcation also without affecting your credit score see if any offers are available with them if they would benefit your wallet at all. SP credit limit increase requests as often as every 91 days. Discover is probably the second easiest to get approved with.
As the person before me mentioned FNBO; They have a pre qualify tool as well so you can see if you qualify for anything without hurting your score. If you only qualify for their secured card it can offer it to you via the pre qualify so check it out.
If you are going for another secured card try US Bank: 5% cashback in 2 categories and the card can get unsecured around a year on average. It has no annual fee.
In my opinion it would be safe to try for any or all of these based on your current score and income. Raising your score will increase your chances but with pre qualify links it wont hurt to try right now and see what you get offered.
Good luck to you 
Hi, I'm rebuilding too. Since you bank at BOA maybe you could see if they would offer you a card (even with a low SL) or go for a secured card with them? That way you aren't signing up for any sub-prime cards. If it were me I would probably go into a branch to talk with a personal banker. Good luck 🙂
DO NOT USE CAP ONE if you are looking for a good SL as I would bet that the max you would get is probably $500 and also take a 3 inquiry hit for it.
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If you keep applying in the 600's. You'll stay in the 600's for a while. Do what you can to break 700+ and many more offers will come your way. I played the 700 game. Once there I apped and was approved. Here came the score hits. Waited to pass 700 again. Rinse and repeat. Eventually it moved up to 710's base. Then apped. Approved. You see my standings below. The 1 denial was from AMEX for a new checking account. Waited a year and approved. It takes some time. More credit doesnt mean higher scores.
