cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Balance Transfer Card Question

tag
Anonymous
Not applicable

Balance Transfer Card Question

Hello,

I am really new to all this and I have been learning a lot by lurking on these forms, so I'm not sure if this goes here or in Rebuilding Credit. Please let me know if I need to move this. I am currently trying to clean up my credit score after being an idiot. I want to find a card to do a BT of $3095 from my CapitalOne Card. My hope is to get this amount down to 1k before the 0% APR runs out.

I am waiting until April/May to apply because my credit score will go from a 687 to about a 710 due to me paying off my Chase card in Febuary/March. I don't know what a good card to choose would be or if I should continue to wait or not.

Card I have:
Chase: Limit of $2K current amount on it: $1702 Paid off around the end of Feb/beginning of March
CapitalOne: Limit of $3.3K current amount on it: $3292. Hoping to get down to $3k before BT
CareCredit: Limit of $7.2K current amount on it: $2225 (fixed promo balance won't transfer)
Cabelas/Cap1: Limit $2k Current amount: $0
Kohls/Cap1: Limit 6K Current amount $0

Also I don't know if loans count against me, but I currently have consolidated all my student loans into 1 loan in forbarance right now for: $50.2K


Message 1 of 18
17 REPLIES 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

You currently have 2 cards that are maxed out, and they very well could hinder any approvals for a BT card. Not sure what else is on your report such as any baddies etc.

With that being said, I would try the Discover pre-qual. They typically offer 12 to 18 month BT. 

Good luck! 

Message 2 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question


@Anonymous wrote:

You currently have 2 cards that are maxed out, and they very well could hinder any approvals for a BT card. Not sure what else is on your report such as any baddies etc.

With that being said, I would try the Discover pre-qual. They typically offer 12 to 18 month BT. 

Good luck! 


Would you still recommend that if I only had 1 card maxed out? When I apply my Chase is going to be close to or at $0.

Message 3 of 18
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question


@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

You currently have 2 cards that are maxed out, and they very well could hinder any approvals for a BT card. Not sure what else is on your report such as any baddies etc.

With that being said, I would try the Discover pre-qual. They typically offer 12 to 18 month BT. 

Good luck! 


Would you still recommend that if I only had 1 card maxed out? When I apply my Chase is going to be close to or at $0.


Any maxed out card lowers your chance of approval, or approval with decent SL

It would be the best to bring the balance down as much as you can before the application 

Message 4 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

No. You need to get both maxed out cards down to under 29%. If you want a favorable review of your application for new account.

Message 5 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question



Any maxed out card lowers your chance of approval, or approval with decent SL

It would be the best to bring the balance down as much as you can before the application 


Okay thank you for clarifying. I was hoping since I was planing to apply after Chase was down to 0 I would have better odds (Care at 30% and Cap at 90%), I could transfer my CapitalOne amount over so I could work on getting that down. But it sounds like from you guys its probably best to wait it out at my 25% APR for a while. Smiley Happy

Message 6 of 18
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

Are you a member of any local CU? 

Sometimes they can be a bit more lenient with their members vs. cc issuers

Message 7 of 18
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

While of course the best approval odds are going to be with cards reporting under 29%, having them a bit higher doesn't mean you'd be automatically denied.  I'd get the balance down on the two maxed cards somewhat equally.  Using rounding like credit scoring algorithms do, your Chase card is at 86% and your CapOne is absolutely maxed at 100%.  In the same time period, putting $1000 on Chase and $700 on CapOne would put you at around 36% and 70%; once those new balances reported to the credit bureaus you should see a noticable improvement in your scores, and would certainly look more favorable to new lenders.

 

Also, do you really have a $6,000 Kohl's card?  Did that start with Capital One, or is it an older card originally issued by another lender?  I've only seen one card higher than $4,000 here and most people (including wife who has scores in the 800s and has had her card for over 25 years) are stuck at $3,000 receiving letters that say "you already have the maximum credit line that this type of account allows."

Message 8 of 18
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

@K-in-Boston, I was just about to mention that. I don't think I've ever seen a Kohl's CC with anything above $4K. Unless the OP meant $600 CL? That's a lot of Kohl's if it's indeed $6K! 😄
Message 9 of 18
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

Legal_Girl is the only person I know of with more than $4k and there are only a few of us higher than $3k, when $4k became available during a brief window.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Credit-limit-on-Kohl-s/m-p/4690929#M1360473
Message 10 of 18
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.