NASA Federal CC balance transfer

[dunsplus]

Hello all

i need some advice I just got the NFCU With it I have option of doing a BT for 8.99% for life of the transfer. I have several other cards that are carrying balances at a much higher rate 23% avg.

i was thinking of using the BT offer to pay off as much of these other cards as possible, with this all my other Crads would be at 10% utilization max. However my NFCU card would end up at 95% utilization.I think having only 1 card with high utilization would be better than several cards at above 30% utilization and much higher interest.

Only issue I’m hesitant is because I would like to also keep my NFCU with a low Utilization so I could get CLI in the future.Since this card gave me my highest Starting credit limit I figure their credit limit increases would also be high.

So I’m stuck should I keep this card with low utilization for future higher credit limit increases or use this  card to payoff much higher interest cards and sacrafice future CLI.

TIA

P.S I’m not planning to get any new cards for a while as I have recently been approved for 4 cards in a few months.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Just because you were given a high sl from Navy doesn't mean all future cli will be high. Everything is determined by your dti, income, internal score, overall profile etc. Carrying high uti on a Navy card wont stop you from getting future cli, just be sure to pay more than your minimum and attack it you should get rewarded if you are elible in the future.

[FinStar]

OP, can you clarify? The title of the thread makes reference to NASA FCU, but the rest of the thread mentions NFCU which is more commonly known around here as Navy FCU. Are we talking about 1 lender or 2 with regard to the BT?

[dunsplus]

sorry my bad its Nasa i thought NFCU was short version of it forgot about Navy.
its Nasa

[dunsplus]

didnt know having a high balance wont affect me on cli. thats very helpful appreciate it and will most definitely pay more than minimum.

[FinStar]

Actually, NASA is a little more conservative than Navy. That being said, your scores would definitely experience some impact for having the BT carried on NASA if your utilization increases to 95%.

Granted FICO has no memory and those dings would diminish over time as your utilization moves across different thresholds absent any other factors that would impact your credit profile as a whole. Of course, the $$ savings definitely outweigh the short term utilization impacts.

[dunsplus]

very true and like i stated having only 1 card with high utilization vs 4-5 with high utilization would be better i think.

[CreditCuriosity]

Saving money is always greater than FICO scores IMO.. As FICO has no memory if you can save 1000's I say heck with Scores and save the cash as FICO as mentioned has no memory as @FinStar eluded to, but cash certainly does

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t max out a credit card. It makes lenders nervous. The thresholds for utilization in FICO scoring are 28.9%, 48.9%, 68.9%, and 88.9% and your FICO penalty is determined by the highest individual and the average overall which has the same thresholds plus one at 8.9%. I personally would run up no higher than 80% if you want to steer clear of possible AA from other lenders in the form of CLDs.

[CreditCuriosity]

Alot of people worry about AA, I worry about cash as credit is just a tool if used correctly can save people alot of money which is why i wouldnt think twice if i had go to 95 util... so i lose a few lenders big deal, but could save alot of money which is a big deal.  FICO has no memory, if a few lenders get their feelings hurt so be it.   Before I knew of this forum i would go over the CL all the time and guess what, nothing happened other then when I got into other financial issues.  Just my humble opinion