Discover It Cash Back

[simplegirl]

I'm trying to see if I should apply for the discover card in October. I just got a secured wells fargo card in April with a 800$ limit and my scores are 625EQ 654TU 626EX & will this help me towards trying to get the ford explorer in dec 2017 or will it hurt me? I have one negative thing on my credit that I just reopened to pay off and 2 student loans that are deferred until next year that I have and will be paying off. I also have a car loan for a car that was totaled in April & should be put as paid by october & my credit age is 1.5years.

[Anonymous]

I would certainly wait for higher scores. Will those come by October? Hard to say. Use your WF card sparingly, and pay it off in full every month. This fall, when you think you're ready, you could check for a prequalified offer from Discover.

Getting a card this fall should not negatively impact your auto loan next winter at all. Could really help flesh out your profile if you show responsible use for a year.

[simplegirl]

So how high should I try and get my score? because I also want to build a relationship with DCU & maybe get a personal loan and pay that off in 6 months

[Anonymous]

I was under the impression that Discover pre-qualified or invite offers were all BS and had no bearing on ones ability to be approved or not unlike other creditors like Amex or Chase that have pretty solid pre-qualified offers.

[RonM21]

Going by the threads I've seen, that appears true. It's been reported that their pre-qual online site is sort of bogus. Anything in the mail though, may be different. Who knows.

[takeshi74]

---

@simplegirl wrote:

my scores are 625EQ 654TU 626EX

---

It's never just about score but if you're going to refer to scores you need to be aware of the specific scoring model as well as the CRA.  You need to find the model & CRA that Discover uses in its credit decision and pull that specific score to see where you stand.  Take a look at the Credit Pulls Database (Google to find).

---

@simplegirl wrote:

I have one negative thing on my credit that I just reopened to pay off 

---

You want all derogs removed if possible.  Caerfully research in the Rebuilding subforum.

---

@simplegirl wrote:

will this help me towards trying to get the ford explorer in dec 2017 or will it hurt me?

---

Getting derogs removed will matter more than opening new accounts but if you only have the one secured card then you probably want to gradually thicken your profile.  We don't have a crystall ball and we're not underwriting your auto loan but 1.6 years should give you enough time to recover from the impact of a new account.

---

@simplegirl wrote:

my credit age is 1.5years.

---

What's this?  Age of oldest account?  AAoA?  Something else?  Where are you getting this figure from?  AAoA will generally be most useful to us.

---

@simplegirl wrote:

because I also want to build a relationship with DCU & maybe get a personal loan and pay that off in 6 months

---

Don't rely on the relationship meme.  It's primarily about what your credit profile and income qualify for at time of consideration.  Relationship will not overrule those primary considerations.  If you qualify you qualify.  If you don't you don't.

Why the personal loan?  If you already have an open installment you won't see much, if any, benefit.  You're going to drop your AAoA by getting the personal loan.  You'll also incur a hard pull.  While HP's are typically a small factor they are going to have a bigger impact for your credit profile.  You'll also see a bigger impact from having a new account on your reports.

---

@simplegirl wrote:

I just got a secured wells fargo card in April with a 800$ limit

---

Keep an eye on revolving utilization for this card when you go to app for new credit.  It's very easy to have cards with low limits report high revolving utilization which will hurt you when your credit is being assessed for an approval.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

This fall, when you think you're ready, you could check for a prequalified offer from Discover.

---

Never rely on prequals with any creditor.  A prequal is not a guarantee either way no matter how "solid" anyone says one or another creditor's prequal may be.

[simplegirl]

The only open installment loan I will have is the student loans which I'm trying to get paid off by the beginning of next year and the 1.5 years is the age of oldest account which would be my car but my car was totaled out so they are currently paying it off. As far as negative items I already paid one and have an agreement with the original creditor to pay the other. I just need to remove the one I paid off and I know its not all about scored plus I already checked & they pretty much pull all three where I'm at. So the personal loan would add more variety to my credit report plus my mom said a loan officer told her that it would be good for me to get a personal loan with a credit union and pay it off in 6 months to boost up my credit more.

[ronstar7]

---

@simplegirl wrote:

I'm trying to see if I should apply for the discover card in October. I just got a secured wells fargo card in April with a 800$ limit and my scores are 625EQ 654TU 626EX & will this help me towards trying to get the ford explorer in dec 2017 or will it hurt me? I have one negative thing on my credit that I just reopened to pay off and 2 student loans that are deferred until next year that I have and will be paying off. I also have a car loan for a car that was totaled in April & should be put as paid by october & my credit age is 1.5years.

---

YMMV but I just got approved on 6/8 for Discover (1,200) along with Amex, Citibank, Walmart and Chase on 6/13 and my scores are on the lower side of the spectrum as well. I just recieved my Discover card yesterday in its pretty box If you feel you should wait then wait but if you want it now go for it. Best of luck if you do!

I also have an open collection, my AAOA is higher though at 4 years and 1 month and my utl was 0 with no inq for the last 18 months. No pre qual.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

I applied and was approved after getting a Discover mailer - The APR on the mailer was the same as the one I got through the pre-approval on the Discover site. Not a range, a single number.

Scores are in the 680s, AAoA is 4 months. No baddies.

[simplegirl]

I signed up for credit karma & one of my recommend cards was journey student capital one so I'm going to apply for that one first & then work my way up to the discover it card