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@jamesdwi wrote:
@bichonmom wrote:
@variableResistor wrote:How does Paying In Full weekly affect my chances in getting an Automatic Credit Limit Increase? On one hand you are consatnly keeping your utilization significantly lower and at the same time the CC are making money off merchant fees and getting a quick return on their investment. On the other hand, you are using less of your credit limit and do not appear to need a CLI.
IMO, it does more harm than good. First, your "high credit" reporting to the CRAs is never going to get very high. I had one underwriter deny me a higher CLI because the high credit amt reporting for a higher CL CC (at the time) was low. So, she threw that it my face when I was asking for a CLI, saying that I didn't need it because the highest balance I had had on this other CC was $XX.
Second, some CCs don't like multiple payments every month. Some seem to be okay with it, but others aren't.
Also, I think it looks like you may have budgeting problems. If I'm an underwriter (this is just my opinion) and someone is paying weekly, I'm going to be reluctant to give a CLI because I think that they're just barely managing the CL they have now. Yeah, it may look responsible to pay weekly. But really, the people I know who have $ don't do that. I think most people do it because it helps them to budget their income and be sure their CCs are paid. That's a good thing. But in terms of convincing an underwriter to give a CLI, I'm not so sure it helps.
If an underwriter complained that my high balance wasn't high enough I would have them look at my payment history for the card, so he could see that I push 1k-2k a month through his card and don't want to have my UTL go abovt 10% and since I don't have a 20k CL, I have to pay weekly.
or he could look at my older cards where I did have a high balance reported of 95% of my CL did report. Of course they are all reporting 0 these days.
I completely agree with bichonmom on this one; I'm firmly in the camp of recommending that your high balance be set at a non-trivial number on all of one's cards. I'll even take a month or two worth of interest in running my life through whatever particular card up to a high percentage of the CL (while pooling cash in checking account) before smashing the balance on it with whatever slush fund I've accumlated.
It's one thing for a lender on a CLI: they may have access to your payment history (which they may or may not count), but generally speaking, if you're not using the limit, there's no incentive for them to give you anymore as obviously you're managing just fine without it, why should they take any additional risk on you?
Secondly, other lenders will see a high balance (and compare it vs. your current balance, responsible use of credit, muy bueno!) and make decisions off that, and they won't generally have access to your payment record. Since payments get reported to at least EX as an aggregate over the statement month, some lenders might be sophisticated enough to look at that, but given that most computer algorithms are as simple as possible I would bet on auto approvals being more likely based on high balance vs current, rather than payments reported.
In your case James, having the high balance on record once is probably enough though a date is reported on that and subsequently it may be discounted if it's too old; for people who haven't established that though, and likely won't with a weekly payment strategy, I think it does more possible harm than good for future underwriting endeavours. This is especially true as most people don't do this, and anything you do different from the norm, is something they can flag for future review. I much prefer being the needle in the haystack.
@bichonmom wrote:
@variableResistor wrote:How does Paying In Full weekly affect my chances in getting an Automatic Credit Limit Increase? On one hand you are consatnly keeping your utilization significantly lower and at the same time the CC are making money off merchant fees and getting a quick return on their investment. On the other hand, you are using less of your credit limit and do not appear to need a CLI.
IMO, it does more harm than good. First, your "high credit" reporting to the CRAs is never going to get very high. I had one underwriter deny me a higher CLI because the high credit amt reporting for a higher CL CC (at the time) was low. So, she threw that it my face when I was asking for a CLI, saying that I didn't need it because the highest balance I had had on this other CC was $XX.
Second, some CCs don't like multiple payments every month. Some seem to be okay with it, but others aren't.
Also, I think it looks like you may have budgeting problems. If I'm an underwriter (this is just my opinion) and someone is paying weekly, I'm going to be reluctant to give a CLI because I think that they're just barely managing the CL they have now. Yeah, it may look responsible to pay weekly. But really, the people I know who have $ don't do that. I think most people do it because it helps them to budget their income and be sure their CCs are paid. That's a good thing. But in terms of convincing an underwriter to give a CLI, I'm not so sure it helps.
+1
I agree. I pif but still let my balances report. I want potential creditors to know how much I run though my cards. While some creditors are now reportiing payments made as well as balances it is fairly new, sporadic, and likely most analytics don't yet incorporate that info.
When I anticipate apping, I prepay and optimize my FICO scores but other than that I just pay once in a cycle.
But, what if.....
You have a limit from $500-1500 and need to pay a few times a month due to heavy activity?
I do this weekly on my $500 limit chase freedom, which i use the most because of the %5 and 1% opposed to a higer limit discover i have with %5 and .025%. I hope that they see quickly that i need more of a limit and run a lot of consistent activity through it.
@annab wrote:Hi! new to posting on this forum, but I have been reading everyone's credit stories for the past month now.
Nicholas's questions prompted me to finally reply and share my story... i'm not sure if it'll help but so far I've had no problems getting approved for credit cards or getting the best APR on loans. I just refi my mortg and locked in a great 2.875% on 15 yrs!!
Thats very helpful Anna....I would love to hear more smart expert management credit user.........
I used to pay my cards off each week.
But, now I am going to just PIF the day before due-date. Kind of doing this as a test to see how it will affect my score.
My scores are in the 780's accross the board.
@Pworld wrote:But, what if.....
You have a limit from $500-1500 and need to pay a few times a month due to heavy activity?
I do this weekly on my $500 limit chase freedom, which i use the most because of the %5 and 1% opposed to a higer limit discover i have with %5 and .025%. I hope that they see quickly that i need more of a limit and run a lot of consistent activity through it.
In this case, fully using one's limit and paying it multiple times a month is a good strategy for getting a CLI on the individual card or lender (in this case Chase). Other lenders may not see that though for their underwriting criteria; however, Chase in this scenario will have upsides in increasing your limit and you have a reasonable request in raising it too with your heavy utilization.
If this is the card / lender you wish to grow a relationship with, this strategy is nothing but goodness in my opinion... it's a completely different scenario though than using the weekly payment to never let your card go above 10% utilization. Personally I would still let one of those near max limits report so other lenders can see that at least you're using the $500 CL, and it's a discussion point for higher limits from them on other approvals if you can explain your spending habits during a recon / manual review.
Edit: it's not all about scores . Spend is a non-trivial factor in obtaining CL's from many lenders.
I was paying all my balance off every month but using very little of the credit and saw no increase on my score so i began paying off a part 200 of 500 at a week or two prior to the payment due at mid month then again a few days before the due date if possible always definately helps by the due date your good. I started seeing i never owed anything by the due date or sometimes it said i had no balance which was a mistake so i had to keep track of the numbers remember the due dates and original credit limits etc and keep track simultaneously making payments and figuring the utl and percentage of each card seperately for the debt to credit ratio but forgot to put it all together to remember they add other factors when totaling it up on fico scoring which is what they will use to pull for credit loans. The score says they have various types of key characteristics each lender goes with when dividing up the fico scoring on each individual account the lender sets up to evaluate their important categories by percentage but they also say on the fico web page score watch thing, that there is a variation standard of three types of fico scores a low mid and high and the lenders typically go with the mid of the ranges and bureau they go with is actually something you can typically find out prior to applying or getting a pull. I know that i may not be correct but when i paid of the remainder of the balance by the due date week then it always would balance off the whole amount regardless of the utl it would leave me with no interest rates!!!! yay BUT IT ALSO LEFT ME WITH THE SAME SCORE DUE TO NOT ENOUGH MOVEMENT IN MY CREDIT EITHER WAY SO I THINK IT DEPENDS IF YOU FIGURE OUT A LARGER AMOUNT TO PUT ON THE CREDIT AND THEN MAYBE PAY OFF INTO TWO PARTS LIKE I DID THAT MAYBE IT BRINGS UP THE SCORE THEN WITHOUT ADDING INTEREST TO YOUR OVERALL CREDIT BECAUSE THAT WAS MY MAIN POINT FOR NEVER WANTING CREDIT TO BETGIN WITH. WHY PAY TO BANKS FOR THEM TO HOLD MONEY I DO WELL WITH AND CAN SAVE MYSELF AND CAN USE TO PAY FULLY WITHOUT NEEDING ANY LOAN ETC. AND GET CHARGED A SMALL FEE TO LOAN ME MY OWN MONEY AND HAVE A LITTLE FEE WITH THAT FOR INTEREST TO TOP OFF . SEEMS WACKY BUT IT IS ONLY WAY TO GET YOURSELF ON THE MAP AND THAT MAKES SENSE I GUESS....
I DISAGREE COMPLETELLY I WAS TRYING TO DO THE SAME THING FOR A WHILE THINKING IF I WAS PAYING IT OFF THEN I COULDNT GET INTO ANY TROUBLE OR OTHER ISSUE WITH THAT SINCE I DIDNT HAVE ANY CREDIT BEFORE AND DIDNT GET HOW ANY OF IT WORKS. I WOULD ALSO GET PARANOID ABOUT HOW TO PAY OFF THE MONEY I WAS PUTTING INTO THE CREDIT LINE AND HAVING THERE SO I WOULD END UP PAYING IT OFF THINKING ABOUT THE INTEREST NEVER ABOUT RAISING THE SCORE ASSUMING THAT IF I JUST PAID OFF THE MONEY USED EVERY MONTH THAT IN A YEAR OR MORE I WOULD GET SOME KIND OF CREDIT BECAUSE I ASSUMED IT TOOK THAT LONG TO EVEN RAISE A CREDIT SCORE AT ALL!!!! OH BROTHER THATS HOW MUCH I KNEW GOING INTO THIS BECAUSE I WAS NOT TOLD ANYTHING ABOUT CREDIT WHEN ASKING AND I ASKED EVERYONE I KNEW ABOUT IT!!! THE FACT IS VERY LITTLE PEOPLE HAVE GOOD CREDIT THEY WERE HONEST ABOUT NOT HAVING MUCH OF A CLUE HOW TO DO IT BECAUSE THEY DIDNT EVER FIGURE IT OUT AND DID THE FINANCE THEY WORKED WITH AND NEED TO PUT ON CREDIT WHICH TO ME IS AWEFUL!!! SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE AND TRYING TO BE EXTRA EXTRA CAREFUL NOT WANTING TO END UP HOW THE THINGS THEY SEE AROUND THEM HAVE BEEN. MY DAD HAS GREAT CREDIT DID ALL HIS WORKING LIFE SINCE HE GOT CREDIT ETC ETC.,. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT IT HE SAYS TO PUT MONEY IN BANK FOR BALANCE TAKEN OUT ON CREDIT CARD AND THEN TRANSFER OR SEND CHECK BY MAIL SO THIS COMING TWO MONTHS AFTER MY CREDIT RAISE THAT IM DUE FOR AGAIN THEN ILL ATTEMPT THIS METHOD BECAUSE IT JUST MAY BE WHAT WORKS. i DONT WANT TO WAIT A YEAR TO RAISE SO I HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY DILLIGENT IN MY ATTEMPTS AT FIGURING APPLYING AND EXECUTING MY GRADUAL CREDIT RAISE THAT HAS GONE FROM THE ENDS OF 400'S TO NOW 620+ IN ABOUT 8 MONTHS I DONT KNOW IF THAT IS GOOD OR NOT OR WHAT BUT I KNOW I THOUGHT I WAS GETTING INTO MAYBE A LIGHTER 500 IF AT ALL BY END OF THE YEAR IN ANOTHER 4 MONTHS!!! MY 622 IS THE BEST THING TO HIT EVER AND IN JUNE I MANAGED TO PAY OFF MY BALANCE IN FULL AND RAISE AGAIN MY LINE A BIT SO I GOT UPTO A GOOD 660-680 AND THEN SAW THE DROP IN JULY DUE TO TOO HIGH REVOLVING CREDIT USAGE SO MIXING IT UP TO SEE WHAT WORKS AND HOW TO GET IT HOW I WANT IT AS LONG AS IT IS A CONSISTENT STEADY CLIMB UP IS ALL IM REALLY WANTING TO SEE IN THE FUTURE I CANT GO WRONG THIS WAY BECAUSE IM REALLY LEARNING ALONG THE WAY IN A MORE SAFE MANNER THAN THE REST OF WHO I HAVE DISCUSSED WITH..
THATS PROBABLY THE MAJOR REASON FOR THEM NOT INCREASING YOUR CI ON THE CARDS DONT YOU THINK? SINCE YOU KNOW THEY SAY IT MATTERS NONE HOW MUCH YOU TRULY CAN GENERATE IF YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THE ABILITY IN REMAINING CONSISTENT AND KEEPING ACCOUNT ON ALL THE MONEY YOU MAKE AND PUT OUT AND WHAT AND HOW THAT IS THE MAIN THING WITH CREDIT HOW YOU MANAGE THE MONEY EVEN IF ITS SMALL MONEY IF YOU PROVIDE A LARGER AMOUNT OF STABILITY LIMITED CONSISTENT INCREASE AND THEN ARE ABLE TO SHOW THAT THE HISTORY IN THE ABILITY TO KEEP IT THAT WAY FOR A LARGER GAP OF TIME IS WHAT GETS PEOPLE TO THE INCREASES IN ANYTHING TO DO WITH MONEY AND CREDIT AS I HAVE SEEN.
@ready13 wrote:I DISAGREE COMPLETELLY I WAS TRYING TO DO THE SAME THING FOR A WHILE THINKING IF I WAS PAYING IT OFF THEN I COULDNT GET INTO ANY TROUBLE OR OTHER ISSUE WITH THAT SINCE I DIDNT HAVE ANY CREDIT BEFORE AND DIDNT GET HOW ANY OF IT WORKS. I WOULD ALSO GET PARANOID ABOUT HOW TO PAY OFF THE MONEY I WAS PUTTING INTO THE CREDIT LINE AND HAVING THERE SO I WOULD END UP PAYING IT OFF THINKING ABOUT THE INTEREST NEVER ABOUT RAISING THE SCORE ASSUMING THAT IF I JUST PAID OFF THE MONEY USED EVERY MONTH THAT IN A YEAR OR MORE I WOULD GET SOME KIND OF CREDIT BECAUSE I ASSUMED IT TOOK THAT LONG TO EVEN RAISE A CREDIT SCORE AT ALL!!!! OH BROTHER THATS HOW MUCH I KNEW GOING INTO THIS BECAUSE I WAS NOT TOLD ANYTHING ABOUT CREDIT WHEN ASKING AND I ASKED EVERYONE I KNEW ABOUT IT!!! THE FACT IS VERY LITTLE PEOPLE HAVE GOOD CREDIT THEY WERE HONEST ABOUT NOT HAVING MUCH OF A CLUE HOW TO DO IT BECAUSE THEY DIDNT EVER FIGURE IT OUT AND DID THE FINANCE THEY WORKED WITH AND NEED TO PUT ON CREDIT WHICH TO ME IS AWEFUL!!! SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE AND TRYING TO BE EXTRA EXTRA CAREFUL NOT WANTING TO END UP HOW THE THINGS THEY SEE AROUND THEM HAVE BEEN. MY DAD HAS GREAT CREDIT DID ALL HIS WORKING LIFE SINCE HE GOT CREDIT ETC ETC.,. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT IT HE SAYS TO PUT MONEY IN BANK FOR BALANCE TAKEN OUT ON CREDIT CARD AND THEN TRANSFER OR SEND CHECK BY MAIL SO THIS COMING TWO MONTHS AFTER MY CREDIT RAISE THAT IM DUE FOR AGAIN THEN ILL ATTEMPT THIS METHOD BECAUSE IT JUST MAY BE WHAT WORKS. i DONT WANT TO WAIT A YEAR TO RAISE SO I HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY DILLIGENT IN MY ATTEMPTS AT FIGURING APPLYING AND EXECUTING MY GRADUAL CREDIT RAISE THAT HAS GONE FROM THE ENDS OF 400'S TO NOW 620+ IN ABOUT 8 MONTHS I DONT KNOW IF THAT IS GOOD OR NOT OR WHAT BUT I KNOW I THOUGHT I WAS GETTING INTO MAYBE A LIGHTER 500 IF AT ALL BY END OF THE YEAR IN ANOTHER 4 MONTHS!!! MY 622 IS THE BEST THING TO HIT EVER AND IN JUNE I MANAGED TO PAY OFF MY BALANCE IN FULL AND RAISE AGAIN MY LINE A BIT SO I GOT UPTO A GOOD 660-680 AND THEN SAW THE DROP IN JULY DUE TO TOO HIGH REVOLVING CREDIT USAGE SO MIXING IT UP TO SEE WHAT WORKS AND HOW TO GET IT HOW I WANT IT AS LONG AS IT IS A CONSISTENT STEADY CLIMB UP IS ALL IM REALLY WANTING TO SEE IN THE FUTURE I CANT GO WRONG THIS WAY BECAUSE IM REALLY LEARNING ALONG THE WAY IN A MORE SAFE MANNER THAN THE REST OF WHO I HAVE DISCUSSED WITH..
I read your first post and will not even bother reading the others. Too difficult on the eyes. Punctuation and paragraphs would be nice. CAPS could go too.