New to Credit

[Anonymous]

Hello, So i'm trying to build my credit. I have 2 CC which one is from BOA and the other is the Best Buy Visa Gold which is through Citi bank. My bank of america I have had for 8 months maybe more with a credit limit of $500, this was my first Credit Card. I applied for the Best Buy one a couple of days ago and was approved for $1000. At this point what are good Credit cards to apply for to help build my credit. My current scores on Credit Karma are both around 670ish and on my Bank of America says 704. I was pre-approved for AMEX and also other offers on credit karma. Any tips and ways to build my credit will be very helpful as i'm barely starting to build credit. 

[K-in-Boston]

Letting us know what you spend money on and what kind of rewards you prefer (like cash back or travel) will help tremedously with suggestions.  The Bank of America score is your true FICO 08 score from TransUnion.  The Credit Karma scores are Vantage 3.0 scores that aren't used by any major lenders and can vary drastically from true FICO 08 scores used by most lenders.  Credit Karma approval odds are purely marketing; they tell me I could barely get approved for a secured card and I have no problems getting approved.  On the other hand, there are cards with higher requirements that will often come up as good odds on there for those with less than stellar credit, and they are disappointed when they are denied.  If you are OK with taking a hard pull, you could ask for a credit line increase on the Bank of America.  If you do, don't lowball - shoot for the moon and they will counter-offer.

[Anonymous]

First off thank you for replying and explaining to me the Fico scores and how credit karma is with the approvals. I'm 20 years old turning 21 next year, I go to college and work. I spend a money on gas,food ,grocceries and I do tend to travel a lot. I also like to shop electronics that's why I applied for the best buy card to buy a camera I've been wanting but even tho I had the money to purchase it, I still applied. I will ask my bank of america for a credit increase as well because when I first opened it then asked for a $100 deposit but I always pay way more the mininum payment and have like $60 in cash back that I haven't redemed. Thank you once again!

[Anonymous]

---

K-in-Boston wrote:

Letting us know what you spend money on and what kind of rewards you prefer (like cash back or travel) will help tremedously with suggestions.  The Bank of America score is your true FICO 08 score from TransUnion.  The Credit Karma scores are Vantage 3.0 scores that aren't used by any major lenders and can vary drastically from true FICO 08 scores used by most lenders.  Credit Karma approval odds are purely marketing; they tell me I could barely get approved for a secured card and I have no problems getting approved.  On the other hand, there are cards with higher requirements that will often come up as good odds on there for those with less than stellar credit, and they are disappointed when they are denied.  If you are OK with taking a hard pull, you could ask for a credit line increase on the Bank of America.  If you do, don't lowball - shoot for the moon and they will counter-offer.

---

First off thank you for replying and explaining to me the Fico scores and how credit karma is with the approvals. I'm 20 years old turning 21 next year, I go to college and work. I spend a money on gas,food ,grocceries and I do tend to travel a lot. I also like to shop electronics that's why I applied for the best buy card to buy a camera I've been wanting but even tho I had the money to purchase it, I still applied. I will ask my bank of america for a credit increase as well because when I first opened it then asked for a $100 deposit but I always pay way more the mininum payment and have like $60 in cash back that I haven't redemed. Thank you once again!

[Anonymous]

First off thank you for replying and explaining to me the Fico scores and how credit karma is with the approvals. I'm 20 years old turning 21 next year, I go to college and work. I spend a money on gas,food ,grocceries and I do tend to travel a lot. I also like to shop electronics that's why I applied for the best buy card to buy a camera I've been wanting but even tho I had the money to purchase it, I still applied. I will ask my bank of america for a credit increase as well because when I first opened it then asked for a $100 deposit but I always pay way more the mininum payment and have like $60 in cash back that I haven't redemed. Thank you once again!