Brother needs advice, new to credit

[Creditplz]

Hey everybody, as some of you might remember about 2 weeks ago I added my brother as an AU to my BBR 8k, I paid the account to $0 (I forgot having a $0 balance hurts). His score of 0 went to 726 once it reported yesterday (CCT EX Fico8). His account age is 9 months.

What should be app for?? Or should I just leave him on the BBR for a few more months??.

[Anonymous]

It could be worth a shot to check out the various pre-approval apps from the various banks. Capital One, Chase and Amex to name a few. If they come back with decent options he should give it a shot. 

Ask him what kind of rewards he is after and nudge him in the direction of the best bank for that. If the banks do not come back with any pre-approvals, it may be best to have him wait a little longer. 

[Creditplz]

Nothing on pre-qualify, I'm assuming they haven't SP him yet since the account just reported yesterday

[colinstu]

having a balance of $0 does not hurt..

[Creditplz]

To maximize Fico it's recommended to leave a balance beteeen 1-10%.......

[Chris679]

Yes, having a zero balance on all of your revolving accounts does hurt your FICO score and personally I was denied for Citi Forward years ago for "no use of revolving credit."

OP, Cap One is a great place to start as well as a local CU.

[Creditplz]

If I let pay all my balances to 0 (which I typically do) my score dips 7 points from 769-763 (I've done so before)...

[colinstu]

You can use your cards and still report a $0 balance, that shows actvity still. 

Keeping a $0 balance and NEVER charging anything to it, yes that will hurt.

[Chris679]

colinstu this is incorrect. FICO does not care how much you run through your cards each month only the balance reported. Yes each CCC knows the activity you are putting on their card and yes if you go through a credit report with a fine tooth comb you can see activity. But you do not want to have all revolving accounts report zero it will ding your score and you can be denied because of it like I was.

[newhis]

A few things:

- a BBR card (if that is BofA Better Balance Rewards), does hurt if you report $0 balance, you will lose the quarter bonus, the card needs to report a balance every month

- if the report is clean and only this AU is on the reports, you will get pre-approvals after a couple of months (sometimes up to 6 months)

- I recommend getting a secured loan to get extra FICO points thanks to a better credit mix, check this thread

- Amex BCE is a good card

- Discover IT is a good card 

- don't apply for many cards

- wait more than 6 months after first card to get Chase core cards, the SL will be better

- I see some people with Amazon Prime that can get an Amazon-Chase card with good limit as first card

This is what I did for a friend with only an auto cosign:

- try Amex BCE, he got it with $1,000

- try Discover IT, he got it with $1,000

- less than 3 months later, Amex is $3,000

- less than 4 months after getting Discover the limit is $2,500

- told him to wait until this summer, maybe Amex will be $9,000 and Discover above $5,000 then try for other cards (like Cap1 and Chase)

Good luck.