Hello, credit enthusiasts! I am excited to join this forum as I am new to tracking my credit scores and trying to make an active effort to improve them, and this has become a recent minor obsession of mine. I am hopeful that the kind members of this forum can be of some assistance in navigating my situation.
My Equifax FICO score is currently a 676 while my Experian FICO score is 682 with boosts. I also have a TransUnion FICO score of 680. My Vantage scores are all much better and fall around 730ish, but I know they mean nothing to 90% of lenders and only serve to raise my self-esteem.
I currently have the Amazon Prime Visa Chase card with a $14200 credit limit, which I’ve had since 2015. Additionally, I have the TJ Maxx MasterCard with a $2000 limit that I opened about five months ago. That is the only hard inquiry on my reports. I've had multiple store cards closed by grantor due to lack of use as well as a Wells Fargo card. My average age of accounts is 7 years and 10 months.
All of my accounts have been paid on time with the exception of a Target card that had a charge off of $11 in 2017, leading to a “serious delinquency” on my reports. I had a dispute with Experian and the result was that this will fall off that report in April 2024 one month early, but it will otherwise fall off in May. Is that the case (it being 7 years in May)?
I also recently called Target card services and paid the $11, but this may not reflect on my reports until end of December. It appears that account already reported in November right before I called, although my Equifax score via MyFico did go up 23 points recently, and while it doesn’t tell me a reason, I can only assume this is why.
I recently had my Amazon credit limit increased upon request by $2200 from $11000, which helped my score recover a bit after losing my Wells Fargo card with a $5000 limit. In addition to requesting another CLI from Amazon after six months have passed since my last request, I also plan to request a CLI on my TJ Maxx card in a couple weeks, which will mark six months from when I opened it.
I aspire to have more than two cards, boost my total credit limit, and improve my scores.
I have had an account with PNC Bank for 15 years but have never use their credit products. I am considering asking them for a credit card as my next move due to my long relationship with them and am hoping for the Cash Unlimited card with the Cash Rewards card as my second choice. I make over $80K with minimal bills and put 20% of my salary into my 401K, and I have five figure savings with PNC. I still have a smaller amount of savings in a CD with Wells Fargo.
Discover will only pre-approve me for secured cards, and Amex isn’t offering me anything without an annual fee. I was able to get pre-approved for the Quicksilver Rewards and SavorOne Rewards cards through Capitol One, both of which I am considering.
Additionally, I am considering either the Sephora Visa or just their ordinary store card.
My question pertains to the timing and order of my next moves. I am thinking that I will first talk to PNC about a credit card, yet while I can leverage my relationship with them, I feel I might have a better chance of approval and also get a higher credit limit if I wait until my score has recovered a bit from paying my charge off with Target. As mentioned, I should also have that “serious delinquency” off all my reports by May.
Please let me know your thoughts on how long I should wait as well as any suggestions you have on the next cards I should pursue and when. Thank you so much for taking the time to address my questions!
@Larzipan wrote:Hello, credit enthusiasts! I am excited to join this forum as I am new to tracking my credit scores and trying to make an active effort to improve them, and this has become a recent minor obsession of mine. I am hopeful that the kind members of this forum can be of some assistance in navigating my situation.
My Equifax FICO score is currently a 676 while my Experian FICO score is 682 with boosts. I also have a TransUnion FICO score of 680. My Vantage scores are all much better and fall around 730ish, but I know they mean nothing to 90% of lenders and only serve to raise my self-esteem.
I currently have the Amazon Prime Visa Chase card with a $14200 credit limit, which I’ve had since 2015. Additionally, I have the TJ Maxx MasterCard with a $2000 limit that I opened about five months ago. That is the only hard inquiry on my reports. I've had multiple store cards closed by grantor due to lack of use as well as a Wells Fargo card. My average age of accounts is 7 years and 10 months.
All of my accounts have been paid on time with the exception of a Target card that had a charge off of $11 in 2017, leading to a “serious delinquency” on my reports. I had a dispute with Experian and the result was that this will fall off that report in April 2024 one month early, but it will otherwise fall off in May. Is that the case (it being 7 years in May)?
I also recently called Target card services and paid the $11, but this may not reflect on my reports until end of December. It appears that account already reported in November right before I called, although my Equifax score via MyFico did go up 23 points recently, and while it doesn’t tell me a reason, I can only assume this is why.
I recently had my Amazon credit limit increased upon request by $2200 from $11000, which helped my score recover a bit after losing my Wells Fargo card with a $5000 limit. In addition to requesting another CLI from Amazon after six months have passed since my last request, I also plan to request a CLI on my TJ Maxx card in a couple weeks, which will mark six months from when I opened it.
I aspire to have more than two cards, boost my total credit limit, and improve my scores.
I have had an account with PNC Bank for 15 years but have never use their credit products. I am considering asking them for a credit card as my next move due to my long relationship with them and am hoping for the Cash Unlimited card with the Cash Rewards card as my second choice. I make over $80K with minimal bills and put 20% of my salary into my 401K, and I have five figure savings with PNC. I still have a smaller amount of savings in a CD with Wells Fargo.
Discover will only pre-approve me for secured cards, and Amex isn’t offering me anything without an annual fee. I was able to get pre-approved for the Quicksilver Rewards and SavorOne Rewards cards through Capitol One, both of which I am considering.
Additionally, I am considering either the Sephora Visa or just their ordinary store card.
My question pertains to the timing and order of my next moves. I am thinking that I will first talk to PNC about a credit card, yet while I can leverage my relationship with them, I feel I might have a better chance of approval and also get a higher credit limit if I wait until my score has recovered a bit from paying my charge off with Target. As mentioned, I should also have that “serious delinquency” off all my reports by May.
Please let me know your thoughts on how long I should wait as well as any suggestions you have on the next cards I should pursue and when. Thank you so much for taking the time to address my questions!
I think you should refrain from applying for any store cards.
I think you would be well advised to wait until your scores are over 700.
Thank you so much for the advice! I am hopeful to get my scores over 700 when my charge off falls off in May. Do you think that will be the case, considering that will be 7 years?
@Kforce wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:I think you should refrain from applying for any store cards.
I think you would be well advised to wait until your scores are over 700.
^^^^ This +
Wait for the charge off to be gone.
I believe with your age of accounts, income, and the charge off gone,
you will see mid 700 scores.
I appreciate your input! I'm really hoping to see the mid 700s once my charge off is gone, so it's wonderful to hear that validated. While I would love to add more cards sooner, I understand it may be best to be patient and wait until I get get a better score and therefore better cards. Still, because of my existing relationship with PNC, I am planning to at least call them to see what they can offer me.
@Larzipan wrote:Thank you so much for the advice! I am hopeful to get my scores over 700 when my charge off falls off in May. Do you think that will be the case, considering that will be 7 years?
I think they may get to 700 before then.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Larzipan wrote:Thank you so much for the advice! I am hopeful to get my scores over 700 when my charge off falls off in May. Do you think that will be the case, considering that will be 7 years?
I think they may get to 700 before then.
That's really encouraging! I am definitely hoping to see better scores sooner if that is a possibility.
@JoeRockhead wrote:As mentioned I would stay away from any store cards.
As far as PNC goes I'd strongly recommend you wait until the CO comes off your reports. While you have a good banking relationship with them, they can also be rather conservative when it comes to credit card approvals, often looking for minimum scores of 700+ with their lesser cards, and 750+ for their upper tier cards such as the ones you mentioned.
They primarily pull EX and TU. The good news is that if your CO is set to drop off in May, you can ask for EE (early exclusion) for the information being "too old to report" from TU now and you can request the same from EX in March .
As far as the others you mentioned, Cap 1 would be last on my list. As Forest Gump said, "you never know what you're going to get" with them.... could be great, could be a bucket.
Once your reports are clean and your scores are in the very good to excellent range it's going to open doors to much better cards and options with most any lender out there.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! I have heard about PNC cards being hard to get and realize I don't have the best chances for the ones I want right now. I definitely don't want to end up in a bucket with low credit limits through Capitol One, so it does seem best to wait until I can get into a higher bucket with them if I do want their cards.
I did recently receive an offer in the mail for a Citi Custom Cash Card. I am considering applying for it before I go after PNC. Does anyone have input on that card and the timing of when I should add it if it would be recommended?