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A posted about a month or so ago about my low credit esteem after working to build my credit from nothing over the past 3 years.
Here is my current situation:
Income: 36k (another few thousand from investments)
Home: Own, no mortgage
Installmen loans: never any of any type
AAoA: 2 years 5ish months years
Oldest Account: 3 years 2 months
Current Utility: $4/500 (BoA) , $38/500 (Cap1), $0/2000 (Orchard Bank)
No lates. 4 accounts reporting, 3 active 1 closed (BoA reported as lost/stolen, it's a duplicate of an open account)
Inquiries: 1 Experian, 0 Equifax, 1 Transunion, all now older than 1 year.
Credit Scores:
Transunion: 727 Fico (from here, 48% utility, it hasnt updated yet)
Equifax: 670 Fico (from here, 48% utility, hasnt updated, 1 Medical collection from 2007, listed 2010 for $304 reported as unpaid, going to dispute this)
Experian: 734 Plus score? from FreeCreditScore.com, this one IS updated with 1% utility
I was waiting to put in all my apps at once and got so excited after two years of no apps that I couldnt wait, got up the courage and put in double apps for Zync and BCP... AND... I was approved on both. Of course I wont believe it til I actually see the BCP in the mail... Afraid they will say "oops we made a mistake". So add one more inquiry to Experian now.
Since my AAoA will take a big hit with Amex, I kind of just want to get out of the way a few more apps. Here is a list of my long term credit goal cards (not in any particular order):
US Bank Cash+
Rei US Bank
Amazon Rewards by Chase*
Discover More
Paypal Extras Mastercard
Chase Freedom*
Chase Sapphire Preferred*
A couple store cards for deals/offers
Bill Me Later
*I am probably blacklisted from Chase due to $52 owed to them from a closed bank account froman annual fee for a United Mileage Plus Debit Card. Debating what to do about this since this was shortly before the July 2011.
Any suggestions of what else I might want to try currently? I was thinking definately Paypal since I have no GE cards and they grow nicely.
Have you tought about some credit unions? With such few inquiries, one would think you could get very very nice cards.
The only drawback I could come up with is your Equifax. Creditors may not like it much at this point.
Are you going to try all 9?
I have minorly looked into credit unions. None locally because I plan to move across country in the next year, and I don't qualify for any of the amazing military CU. I know a lot of credit unions use Equifax and my score is so bad there right now. I've been dragging my feet on the dispute, I really should get that done asap. But the equifax score/report is why I havent looked to much into that.
And no, I dont plan on applying for all 9, those are just the cards out of all the ones I looked into that I found would enhance my purchasing. I dont really want more than 1-2 Inquiries per report, and I am afraid any inquries to Equifax will end up being wasted due to denials. However I would like to at least double, hopefully triple my current available credit due to utilization issues and more traveling coming up. I know strictly due to limits I would not qualify for the US Bank Cash+ and the CSP at this time, but they are two goal cards.
Could someone advise me what Barclay cards I could maybe get with a TU-716 or any other cards with a Equifax of 673 or should I just wait a couple more months and see whether score will be higher. I have only one credit card and feel I need two more for sure. What do you guys think?
Appreciate the feedback.
Have you tried the web site, who gave me credit , to see what other people were approved for barclay cards and with what scores at least you will have an idea, and it also shows what states?
You definitely need to wait until your UTI is updated then I would start with the prime banks first and work your way down the list.
Perhaps something like this:
US Bank Cash+
Discover More
CitiBank
Another Bank of America card
And only one store card. Walmart for the free TU FICO score every month.
How old are your current cards and have you ever called for CLI?
Do you know what your limit on the BCP is? If not, call & ask.
I could be wrong about this but if you're on Chase's blacklist they'll just kick ur app back & won't even bother running your credit. For such a measly amount it might be a smart idea to just pay it & clear it up with them. Chase closed a cheking acct I had with them with a negative balance last year & they still approved me from a Freedom card last month, so you might be ok. Based on what I've read the last couple of months on these forums Chase has been more lax in their underwriting criteria fir the Freedom card. However, they are pretty stingy with CL, so you are better off waiting till your BCP reaches 61 days, try for a 3x CLI & then apply for the Freedom. Even tough your AAoA will be lower in 2 months you'll have a much better chance at a higher CL with Chase.
You may want to look into Citi's cards as they seem to pretty generous w/ CL which would help you out with util. However, they base their CL in large part on income. Check out the Forward & the ThankYou cards.
Btw, congrats on your double Amex approvals! I'm jealous of your BCP as I just got denied last week.
Also, your best bet with US Bank is to wait till your BCP is 61 days & try for the 3 x cli, which will hopefully bring your cl above the $5k mark needed for that card. Also, if you apply for the cash+ card & aren't qualified they'll auto consider you for the flex rewards card.
@CruzImperial wrote:Have you tought about some credit unions? With such few inquiries, one would think you could get very very nice cards.
The only drawback I could come up with is your Equifax. Creditors may not like it much at this point.
Are you going to try all 9?
I agree, assuming they pull EX/TU, your going to get as very nice CL from them!
My local CU as well as USAA will be my first apps of 2013 w/ hopes of decent CL, so I can set a hopeful tone for future cards beyond theirs.