Thanks again for the input everyone. I just graduated college last spring so I was fortunate to land a job right away. Entry level operations, 40k , up for review in September. Didn't really understand the importance of credit until I got to college. Lol can you explain the shopping cart trick?
TU FICO: 723 (6/24/13)LOL!
I requested a CLI on my Express Next Store Card this morning and they approved me to $550. I was at $250. I guess thats better than nothing. I need to start getting my cards up to a $2000.00 average CL. I know it wont happen with FPB in this lifetime. I hope BOA will give me a huge CLI at the end of the year. I would rather not provoke another inquiry from them to bump my deposit on my secured Bankamericard. Any thoughts?
Wait until it graduates you might be pleasantly surprised.
@baseball1313 wrote:I just received a letter from american express saying I'm pre-selected to apply for AMEX Green.. My FICO Transunion is 698, Experian Plus is 639, Equifax is 638.I have about 68,000 in Student Loan Debt. I have a paid CO from Verizon for Final Bill discrepancy. That became a paid CO in June 2012. I have a a few lates with Chase and FPB from back in 2006, 2007 and one 30 day in 2010 with Express Charge. I've been vehemently working to have the CO taken off for the past 10 months and have had no success. I send a letter a week to Verizon. The other lates I've given up on becuase they either say they wont remove or don't respond to letters. The Chase was closed and will fall off next year and the FPB (oldest account 7.4 years) will have the late fall off next year as well. I also opened up a secured BOA card in December 12' for $400.00. I havent missed a payment. Plan to go unsecured in September 2013.
With that being said I was kind of surprised AMEX reached out to me. I applied online with the code provided in the letter, and within 15 seconds I was approved for the AMEX Green. Does that sound surprising to anyone?
On a side note, First Premier Bank is the WORST company to deal with once you have graduated from bad credit and are looking to get CLI's. The only thing they did was lower my interest rate to 11.9% . They charge 6.00 monthly servicing fees, annual fee, and the BEST is the 25% CLI fee. They only give CLI's once a year, and $200 is their MAX. What a joke. I've been a customer for 7.4 years and they wont budge on CLI fee or caps on CLI. I havent missed a payment in 6 years!!! The only reason I keep the account is because they are my oldest account and keep my average at a decent number. Otherwise, I'd dump them. They have no plan for customers who build their credit over time.
As of right now, I have a BOA secured( $400), A FPB ( $550), A Express Charge ($250), and now an AMEX Green (not sure of the limit yet). Any advice on where to go next? Maybe sit and garden for a while? let my BOA unsecure before applying somewhere else? I have 3 inquiries on my report as of now. Verizon, BOA and AMEX.
I'd garden and build a solid pattern with AMEX before apping again. The best of luck to you.
So my AMEX green arrived today. Can't help but be giddy after opening the envelope and seeing the card. But then I see that I have another envelope that looks exactly the same as the offer I recieved last week for the Green Card. I opened it up and it reads, "you've been selected to apply for the American Express Gold Card." Now I'm confused. Why the hell are they sending me an offer for the Gold before I activated my Green? lol .. any ideas? Oh yea and I checked my Equifax Score on Myfico.com and it increased from 638 to 686! I'm on my way..
I agree with the others regarding closing FPB. It has served its purpose for you. I don't think it's worth keeping just for the aaoa alone since it will stay on your cr for 10 yrs. The only thing you have to be concerned with is the effect on the util. Try to use the shopping cart trick to get some GE cards, which will help w the util. I just don't think it's worth paying all those fees just for the aaoa.
Before I close my FPB card, What is this "shopping cart trick" everyone is refering to? If I dump my FPB I lose $550 of my available credit. That leaves me with $400 on my BankAmericard, $550 on my Express Store Charge Card and my NPSL on the AMEX Green. I honestly dont need the FPB card (or the fees that go along with it.) I just dont want my score to drop because I closed my oldest account by far.
