Having a cc report a large balance (with a 0% intro apr) when apping

[money_talks]

Is it a good idea to leave one account with a very large balance (over 50% util on the single account) if it has a 0% intro apr at the moment of apping? The creditor you are apping will not know you have a 0% apr on that account and it may well raise a red flag. 

I guess you can explain to them that you have the 0% intro apr and that they look at the account open date and they will be able to see the account is 0-12 months old. I guess you can further explain during a manual review or recon (if necessary) that you are taking advantage of the 0% apr and that it would be counterproductive to your cash flow to pay the credit card with the 0% apr just for apping and then try to rack up the charges again on that same card.

Any suggestions? If the single account with 0% intro apr is over 50% util, but your overall util on all revolving accounts is below 50%, are you in good shape when apping?

[amakol]

Depends what you consider good shape and what your profile looks like. If you've got a good history, you'll still be approved probably but will you get the best APR or credit limit? Maybe, maybe not. Your call - the limit can be raised later, the APR might never used depending on your habits and the bonus could be useful now, for example. If you're a borderline candidate, then it will make a difference in whether you're approved or not.

Also 50% overall utilization is a high benchmark. Even if one individual card is high, I'd try hard to get overall utilization ideally below 10-20% and at the most 30%.

[leoment]

I wouldn't worry about it as long as you don't have more than one account reporting with such a high util.  When I opened my Slate card, I transferred $10k to the card (which has a $10.5 limit), and have been paying it off monthly.  My scores did drop, but not drastically as the rest of my accounts have little or no balance report monthly.  My scores are still around 750 despite my card having a util of >80% for the last 5 months or so.