Care Credit

[myfavoritehue]

Considering applying for them and want a better idea of what to expect. My scores are 743 EX, 739, EQ, 727 TU and my data points, at the moment, are: 100% payment history    0 dergatory marks   10% overall utilization  17 total accounts   4.1 AAoA   0-3 INQ

What I want to know is:

1. Does this reflect on your report as an installment loan or a revolving credit account?
2. How does the approval process work? (ex. If a procedure costs $15k but your highest limit on your report is $5k, how likely is it that you'll be approved?
3. Will it show as 0% before you spend that money or is the utilization, automatically, 100% and you have to pay it down?
4. What bureau do they pull from?
5. What bureaus do they report to?
6. How long did it take to show up on your report from when you were approved?

[Remedios]

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@myfavoritehue wrote:

Considering applying for them and want a better idea of what to expect. My scores are 743 EX, 739, EQ, 727 TU and my data points, at the moment, are: 100% payment history    0 dergatory marks   10% overall utilization  17 total accounts   4.1 AAoA   0-3 INQ

What I want to know is:

1. Does this reflect on your report as an installment loan or a revolving credit account?
2. How does the approval process work? (ex. If a procedure costs $15k but your highest limit on your report is $5k, how likely is it that you'll be approved?
3. Will it show as 0% before you spend that money or is the utilization, automatically, 100% and you have to pay it down?
4. What bureau do they pull from?
5. What bureaus do they report to?
6. How long did it take to show up on your report from when you were approved?

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1) Revolving credit 

2) This page explains it in detail https://www.carecredit.com/howcarecreditworks/prospective/

3) It will report $0.00 if that's your balance. If the statement balance is any other amount, that's what it reports, regardless of type of financing you opted for 

4) Mostly TU

5) All three EX, EQ, and TU 

6) Synch usually will report within days to a week after opening 

[mikesonthemend]

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@Remedios wrote:

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@myfavoritehue wrote:

Considering applying for them and want a better idea of what to expect. My scores are 743 EX, 739, EQ, 727 TU and my data points, at the moment, are: 100% payment history    0 dergatory marks   10% overall utilization  17 total accounts   4.1 AAoA   0-3 INQ

What I want to know is:

1. Does this reflect on your report as an installment loan or a revolving credit account?
2. How does the approval process work? (ex. If a procedure costs $15k but your highest limit on your report is $5k, how likely is it that you'll be approved?
3. Will it show as 0% before you spend that money or is the utilization, automatically, 100% and you have to pay it down?
4. What bureau do they pull from?
5. What bureaus do they report to?
6. How long did it take to show up on your report from when you were approved?

---

1) Revolving credit 

2) This page explains it in detail https://www.carecredit.com/howcarecreditworks/prospective/

3) It will report $0.00 if that's your balance. If the statement balance is any other amount, that's what it reports, regardless of type of financing you opted for 

4) Mostly TU

5) All three EX, EQ, and TU 

6) Synch usually will report within days to a week after opening 

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Also, deferred interest, length depends on the amount. Typically high interest rates, but if paid before period ends 0%. Also have received several incentive offers lately. Most veterinarians also accept, and more and more pharmacies.

[Queen_Etherea]

I was approved when my scores were in the 680's. I started off pretty low, like under $3,000 if I remember correctly, but I got the card up to $15,600 in under a year. I'd say your approval odds are definitely in your favor. 

[Anonymous]

i was about to start a thread on this too, i was reading about it online but didn't find many answers.

here's the questions i had:

is it better to get this card before you need it, or do they have some special intro offer making it best to wait til last minute?

if you want to use it for yourself and a pet, does that mean you should app for 2 of these? or how about hospital, dental, vision... is it ever seperate accounts or always only just one? How is your credit limit decided if you want to use it for multiple things?

do they let you do CLI's if you hold the card but don't need to use it for anything?

do they cancel it for non-use?

when is it better to use carecredit instead of a normal card w/ 0% offer?

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

i was about to start a thread on this too, i was reading about it online but didn't find many answers.

here's the questions i had:

is it better to get this card before you need it, or do they have some special intro offer making it best to wait til last minute?

if you want to use it for yourself and a pet, does that mean you should app for 2 of these? or how about hospital, dental, vision... is it ever seperate accounts or always only just one? How is your credit limit decided if you want to use it for multiple things?

do they let you do CLI's if you hold the card but don't need to use it for anything?

do they cancel it for non-use?

when is it better to use carecredit instead of a normal card w/ 0% offer?

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There's no new account into offer that I'm aware of on CareCredit

The way the 0% promos work is they are tied to the provider you choose, and that provider actually subsidizes the interest (at least partially) during the 0% period... this is why the offers will vary from provider to provider, with some offering longer terms than others.

Each person can only have one CareCredit account, and you're free to use it at multiple providers like any credit card.  You can also have multiple 0% promos going at the same time but it can get confusing to keep up with so I personally don't recommend that unless there's no other option.

Synchrony is known to close CareCredit accounts for non-use, but it's easy enough to put an occasional charge on it at either Walmart for health items or at Walgreens for most items other than lottery, alcohol and tobacco.

Some will make a case for using a major network card with a 0% promo rather than apply for CareCredit, and if you happen to have one with a promo at the precise time you need to make your purchase that can work out well.  I like CareCredit since having it takes the timing aspect out of the equation... I have it for unexpected dental expenses, and my provider regularly offers lenthy 0% promos.  You'll have to decide what works best in your own situation, of course.

[Anonymous]

thanks @UncleB

do you know, are you able to shuffle the limits of sync cards around, put more from your paypal or lowes card into carecredit?

how bad is it to have multiple sync cards or to approach their max exposure limit? i see a lot of people here with 35k on the lowes card, and 25k on the pp mastercard. adding a carecredit to that mix might put you over the top. a rumor i saw says sync max exposure is 100k across all cards.

do they shut down all your cards, or cut all your limits? comenity does this kind of stuff so that's why i ask.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

thanks @UncleB

do you know, are you able to shuffle the limits of sync cards around, put more from your paypal or lowes card into carecredit?

how bad is it to have multiple sync cards or to approach their max exposure limit? i see a lot of people here with 35k on the lowes card, and 25k on the pp mastercard. adding a carecredit to that mix might put you over the top. a rumor i saw says sync max exposure is 100k across all cards.

do they shut down all your cards, or cut all your limits? comenity does this kind of stuff so that's why i ask.

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Synchrony isn't known for cutting limits unless you have a significant score drop, in which case many other lenders would take AA as well.  You shouldn't have any issues using the credit line as long as you make payments that are higher than the minimum required (you would likely even be fine just paying the minimum, although due to the high APRs and promo expirations it would be foolish not to pay more anyway).

For most people there is a total $100k total exposure limit for all Synchrony accounts, although occasionally you'll see reports where people have exceeded it (usually not by too much, though).  When it comes to CLIs it's usually enforced.

You can't reallocate credit lines with Synchrony in the traditional sense like you can with some lenders (i.e. Chase), but if you find yourself bumping up against the $100k total exposure limit you can usually just ask them to CLD one card then ask them to CLI the card you want it on.  CLIs with Synchrony are usually not hard to come by if you have a strong TU. 

I have four Synchrony cards (Lowe's, Belk, CareCredit MasterCard, and Sam's Club MasterCard) and I've never had any issues with any of them.  Lowe's and Belk are my two oldest credit accounts (15 years and 13 years).  Back in 2007 my Lowe's was balance chased down to ~$500, but that was understandable since I was going through a foreclosure at the time.  It bounced back nicely though... the credit line is now $20k.