Introduction and Advice Needed - NFCU

[Anonymous]

Hi!  I'm new to the forums.  Just joined NFCU the other day, and applied for a car loan the same day.  They just emailed me to verify my income, and from what I have read (many hours of reading!) I hear that is a good sign.  I am trying to raise my credit score.  It was 661 a few weeks ago but due to a lot of inquiries trying to secure an auto loan from numerous sources, it fell 40 points. 

Anyways, if all goes well with the car loan, I am going to apply for a NAVcheck, the nRewards Visa, and Mastercard. Are there particular cards that I should focus on applying for? and for an income of $44000, what should my credit to income ratio be in order to start seeing an improvement in my credit score?

As of right now I do not have a lot of revolving credit, just a capital 1 card that has $1000 CL, which is PIF each month.  I am probably going to close that account if I can get a card or two from NFCU. 

This forum has been a wealth of information, and I thank you for all the hours of education I have attained here!

Message Edited by jayzbel2 on 05-04-2009 08:05 AM

[Anonymous]

NFCU deposit accounts don't have great rates, but they are well known for being good their members in the credit dept.

Unless your CapOne has an Annual Fee that you object to, I would keep it as it will be your oldest CC account.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice on keeping the cap1 open.  I am still pending on the loan application for the car, so we shall see.

[FretlessMayhem]

Welcome to the forums!

NFCU is a great CU, and will definitely be good to you. Something stuck out to me about your post. I don't think that any number of inquiries would drop your score 40 points. Is it possible your util went up perhaps? 

I think 660 is the number NFCU typically shoots for. 

[Anonymous]

I was under the impression that the score went down because of all the inquiries, there were 15 within a month because the car dealership kept shopping around. I should have joined NFCU 4 weeks ago! I have been current on my Capital one payments though. I am paying the rest on the balance off this Friday. So hopefully that boosts the score back up.

[haulingthescoreup]

Those car inqs all within a limited period are "de-duped" (de-duplicated) --in other words, they display, but they're counted as one per CRA. Same thing happens with mortgages.

And even if you had 15 CC inqs (and got denied for all), you wouldn't have that big of a score drop. After a certain number, additional inqs don't count. You've gotten as bad as you can get.

I'd print out the reports for both the before and after scores and go through with a yellow highlighter. Something else is going on.

[Anonymous]

I signed up for Score watch tonight, and it showed a column for inquiries that hurt my credit score, and inquiries that did not.  There were 24 inquiries total, 14 of which were in the "could hurt score" section.

It also however told me that if I paid my card in full within a month my score could possible jump up between 690-728.  So I scheduled a payment for the full amount owed tonight, coming out of the bank Friday.

Still waiting on the loan, they already checked the credit score 2 days ago, and I guess since they asked for income verification yesterday the score did not hurt the application too much (hoping!)   I had to create a 6 digit number in The Work Number and send it to them.

[Anonymous]

jayzbel2,   Welcome to forum and member of NFCU.

I suggest you to apply for Cash Rewards Card instead nRewards Card. 

I have nReward card and I do not like this card any more.  This card's rewards program is not good.  It has expiration date (in 4 yrs) and it takes more points than used to be to get your rewards (Gift Card, Merchandise).  So, I use this card once a month with $1 purchase to just keep it open and active.

I just got Cash Rewards Card.  It's reward points will not expires and you will earn the cash back.  To me this is way better than nRewards Card.  Go to NFCU web site and read more about Cash Rewards Card before you make your decision.

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

I will check that one out.  Thanks for the recommendation!

[Anonymous]

NFCU's Cash Rewards is issued at a 1% higher rate than their Platinum card (no rewards).  It is a good card if you never ever carry a balance for any extended period of time.  I have Pat versions of both the MC and Visa (was going for rate)

USAA (if you are eligable) does have rewards cards (choice of points or cash - I took points) and gave me a better rate by 2% than NFCU. The limits aren't as high on each card but still generous (10K vs 14K).

When speaking with NFCU last week - the rep told me that at 13 months there is automatic review for a rate decrease - and at 12 months  a CL review.  One is eligable after 6 months but it is a hard if it goes to committee and their is no way to stop the process (I personlly did not want to risk another INQ - so I declined) and he was somewhat 'surprised' by my starting limits and thought it would be declined.

HTH

Scarlet