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Balance Transfer Card Question

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question


@K-in-Boston wrote:

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."


Thank you for your thoughts...Unfortunately Chase is going down to 0 instead of equally because right now its 0% APR. I feel it would be easier for me to focus on 1 card with 1 APR % then 2 cards with 2 different APR %.

And I double checked. Its at 4k I mispoke. I have forced them to lower it several times throughout the years. For a while it stayed at 3k and it jumped again a couple years ago. I don't have a lot of other types of credit elsewhere and I was told I want my credit to be more balanced. So when I get my overall usuage down I'm going to askt hem to lower it again. I have had that card for almost 6 years now. I'm not sure who it was issued by as it was my second ever 'charge' card when I was first getting credit. I don't use it a lot--maybe that is why they kept raising it?

***edit*** I also used to have amazing credit (780). Then I made a stupid mistake with two of my credit cards (CapitalOne and Syncrony Bank) and it tanked my credit down to 500. After cutting a deal with Syncrony and paying them back and closing the card, I need CapitalOne down.

Message 11 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question


@Remedios wrote:

Are you a member of any local CU? 

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


Unfortunately I am not. I was never sure how CUs worked and kind of steered clear from 'unknown'...probably not the best tactic but after I lived above my means I didn't really have any money to put in one anyway.

Message 12 of 18
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question


@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for your thoughts...Unfortunately Chase is going down to 0 instead of equally because right now its 0% APR. I feel it would be easier for me to focus on 1 card with 1 APR % then 2 cards with 2 different APR %.

And I double checked. Its at 4k I mispoke. I have forced them to lower it several times throughout the years. For a while it stayed at 3k and it jumped again a couple years ago. I don't have a lot of credit elsewhere and I was told I want my credit to be more balanced. So when I get my overall usuage down I'm going to askt hem to lower it again. I have had that card for almost 6 years now. I'm not sure who it was issued by as it was my second ever 'charge' card when I was first getting credit. I don't use it a lot--maybe that is why they kept raising it?

***edit*** I used to have amazing credit (780). Then I made a stupid mistake with two of my credit cards (CapitalOne and Syncrony Bank) and it tanked my credit down to 500. After cutting a deal with Syncrony and paying them back and closing the card, I need CapitalOne down.


Thanks for the clarification on the Kohl's card.  It has been issued by Capital One since 2011, so yours has always been a CapOne card.  As for having your credit more balanced, I'm not sure I understand that.  Outside of insurance scores (which aren't used in CA, HI, MA), scoring doesn't differentiate between retail and bank cards - they're all just revolving credit cards.  The only real reasons for a credit line decrease would be for your own security reasons or if you're brushing up against total revolving credit compared to income.  With your total limits right now, the latter would only be a concern if you had no income at all.

 

As for paying off the Chase card but leaving the Capital One card at 90-100% utilization, that's of course your choice to make.  However, having a completely maxed out credit card is a big red flag for lenders, deflates your credit scores far more than having for example two cards at 70%, and will seriously lower your chances for new credit to transfer the balance - or at least qualifying for a credit line large enough to support the balance you'd like to transfer.  Best of luck to you.

Message 13 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question



Thanks for the clarification on the Kohl's card.  It has been issued by Capital One since 2011, so yours has always been a CapOne card.  As for having your credit more balanced, I'm not sure I understand that.  Outside of insurance scores (which aren't used in CA, HI, MA), scoring doesn't differentiate between retail and bank cards - they're all just revolving credit cards.  The only real reasons for a credit line decrease would be for your own security reasons or if you're brushing up against total revolving credit compared to income.  With your total limits right now, the latter would only be a concern if you had no income at all.

As for paying off the Chase card but leaving the Capital One card at 90-100% utilization, that's of course your choice to make.  However, having a completely maxed out credit card is a big red flag for lenders, deflates your credit scores far more than having for example two cards at 70%, and will seriously lower your chances for new credit to transfer the balance - or at least qualifying for a credit line large enough to support the balance you'd like to transfer.  Best of luck to you.


Well I have a family member who works for the bank and they were telling me if I don't have a more balanced credit ie, car loan, credit cards, morgage, etc.. then it can be bad. So if all my credit comes from credit cards it wouldn't look as good as some credit from cards and some from a loan...and I will think it over again. Thank you for your help!

Message 14 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question


@K-in-Boston wrote:

Thanks for the clarification on the Kohl's card.  It has been issued by Capital One since 2011, so yours has always been a CapOne card.  As for having your credit more balanced, I'm not sure I understand that.  Outside of insurance scores (which aren't used in CA, HI, MA), scoring doesn't differentiate between retail and bank cards - they're all just revolving credit cards.  The only real reasons for a credit line decrease would be for your own security reasons or if you're brushing up against total revolving credit compared to income.  With your total limits right now, the latter would only be a concern if you had no income at all.

As for paying off the Chase card but leaving the Capital One card at 90-100% utilization, that's of course your choice to make.  However, having a completely maxed out credit card is a big red flag for lenders, deflates your credit scores far more than having for example two cards at 70%, and will seriously lower your chances for new credit to transfer the balance - or at least qualifying for a credit line large enough to support the balance you'd like to transfer.  Best of luck to you.

Well I have a family member who works for a bank. They told me its better to have credit from multiple sources (ie cards, loans, etc) then a ton from just one type. As for the utilization I will think it through again. Thank you for the information!

Message 15 of 18
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

You're very welcome!  Oh certainly having a diverse assortment of account types is very important (simply having an open installment loan alone can be 20-30 points for some people).

Message 16 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

Carecredit is a soft pull for a credit line increase, if you log into your account online click the increase limit button and ask for something big. The worst that can happen is they say no. I just got a soft pull today from them 6k to 18k. My scores and stats are different but if you do get something out of them your utilization and overall available credit can go up. As long as what you click through doesn’t mention pulling your report you’re good to go.

Message 17 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Balance Transfer Card Question

I would say the best advice regarding account types is to diversify.  I wouldn't focus too much on balancing unless your FICO attributes say so.

 

When you are presented with a FICO score it comes with 3 to 4 attributes.  And those attributes are usually listed in the order of most impact.  Pay attention to those.  They are the things holding your score down.

 

 

Message 18 of 18
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