Should I BT or Open New Account?

[10022016]

I want to buy a very expensive cell phone, but I don't want to spend cash because I have a very good credit score. I have two options I believe: either to do a BT to my checking account for a 3% fee from an existing credit card or to finance (open a new account) with whatever financial institute that Samsung has to offer with 36 months, 0% interest. I have no hard inquiries on my credit reports. I'm not sure if I open an account with Samsung (whatever financial institute they use) would hurt my scores instead of a real credit card?

[simplynoir]

Samsung financing is run through TD Bank and since it's a revolving line of credit it's treated like a card similar to Dell's financing. Since it will be a new account to go with presumably a hard pull you will take a hit to your scores temporarily til the HP and new account age

In terms of money I would go the Samsung financing route since you just have to pay a set monthly payment. You have the scores to absorb the hit and in time they will recover back to where they were before. Scores can recover, money saved is always good

[Anonymous]

I would definitely avoid the 3% fee. Good credit is only a benefit to you if you use it, in this case it is worth using to get the 0% financing option.

Looking at your signature, you have some options if you don't want to open a new account. You could use PayPal Credit to get 6 months at no interest or purchase on Amazon using your Amazon store card and get, I believe, 12 months no interest. PayPal Credit also runs 12 or 24 month 0% financing offers for eBay purchases from time to time, the last one just ended 9/20/21 so there will likely be another one coming up if you can wait.

Or you could purchase from a site that uses Affirm. It would be a new account, but there would be no hard pull. Affirm does code as a CFA, so if you have no prior CFA accounts that may cause an additional hit to your credit score.

[Kforce]

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@simplynoir wrote:

Samsung financing is run through TD Bank and since it's a revolving line of credit it's treated like a card similar to Dell's financing. Since it will be a new account to go with presumably a hard pull you will take a hit to your scores temporarily til the HP and new account age

In terms of money I would go the Samsung financing route since you just have to pay a set monthly payment. You have the scores to absorb the hit and in time they will recover back to where they were before. Scores can recover, money saved is always good

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+ 1

Samsung financing through TD Bank (36/mo @ 0%) is the way to go.

[SoonerSoldier33]

Finances over FICO. You'll take a temporary score hit for a new account and possibly for the utilization depending on how big a SL you get, but Samsung uses TD Bank to underwrite their financing, and it's a revolving line that's counted as a store card. At 36 months 0% APR, I'd go for it, save yourself the BT fee, and pay it off as you are able. If you're not planning a big credit move in the near future, this is the way IMHO.  

[10022016]

So I am too risking that the SL will be much less than the cost of the phone making the hard pull pointless?

[FinStar]

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@10022016 wrote:

So I am too risking that the SL will be much less than the cost of the phone making the hard pull pointless?

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What is the approximate cost of the device?

TD Bank (retail side) tends to be somewhat conservative on their UW, but it depends on what your income and overall profile looks like. Only way to know is when/if you decide to apply.

Another option. If your signature is still up-to-date, you can always check with Discover to see if they have any available purchase promotions on your card (typically 12 months max).  Unfortunately, your limits aren't displayed so hard to say if that's a viable alternative.

[NRB525]

Who is your cellphone provider? Do they have an easy finance option to get a new device? That's how I "buy" my iPhones, through AT&T, and the monthly payments just get included in my cell bill. 

[10022016]

Can someone further elaborate on the following comment I found online? And what is TD Bank? 

"Be careful - Samsung Financing aka TD Bank is considered a CFA (Consumer Finance Account) which is cancer to your Credit Report. Govern your options very very accordingly..."

Edit: I've found some information on CFA on this thread :https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/How-bad-are-consumer-finance-accounts-re...

[10022016]

I have no idea why a moderator merged the above message as someone else may want to search the same exact title.