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Some credit help

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Strateegee
Member

Some credit help

Hello All!

 

I think I know the answer here but I'd figured I'd ask to see if someone with more expierience has some better insight. 

 

So I have 8 Credit Cards

Cap 1 QS 200 owed / 1500 CL

Cap 1 Plat 75 owed 1000 CL

Macy's 220 owed 1500 CL

Discover (Secured) 185 owed 1000 CL

Credit One 450 owed 800 CL

First Priemier Credit Card 600 owed 700 CL

Amazon 0 owed 600 CL

Wal-Mart 0 owed 800 CL

 

I recently got my work bonus and want to use some to pay off these cards, my question is, should I close the First Primier and Credit One? I have had the Credit One card opened for 3 years and the First Primier for only 2 months, I applied and got it for an unexpected expense for my cat, luckily he is okay now and the card was good for what I needed it for (tried to get personal loan, but was denied). Should I pay off the cards and hold them? The only issue with that is, they charge a monthly fee of 8.95 to just have the card so I would be paying that monthly, for no reason. I'm wondering if it will really hurt my utilization that much? 

 

Any thoughts would be great. I do have some old student loan collections, and 2 missed car payments on my auto loan. Discover FICO reports a score of 689. Wondering if it would change dramatically if I paid them off and closed them. 1 being old(er) and 1 being very new. 

 

Thanks in Advance!

Message 1 of 5
4 REPLIES 4
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Some credit help

The advice on the forums is usually to close Credit One and First Premier when possible. I don't have any experience with either one, but if you search the forums you will see those are predatory cards that you want to get rid of as quickly as possible, so that would be an excellent place to start.

 

You have other cards with benefits (i.e, cash back from Quicksilver, rotating categories with Discover), so Credit One and First Premier are really just dead weight.

 

If you list information such as how long you have had the cards, others may be able to help as well. For example, my first thought is - with your Discover FICO score and a good history with the Walmart card, to call Credit Solutions and request an increase. 

 

If your Capital One cards are eligible, you may also want to consider an account combination. This involves combining the two accounts into one in order to create a single account with a higher credit limit. I would recommend requesting a CLI on each card before combining them into one if they are eligible for a CLI, however.

 

If you decide not to do an account combination, I would recommend PC'ing the platinum card to a Quicksilver card. You can request this product change (PC) via chat within your Capital One online account.

 

Closing the two accounts listed above will not affect your AAoA for 10 years, so it would be beneficial to close them. It also should not change your FICO score significantly since your overall utilization does not appear high.

 

Individual utilization appears high on the Credit One and First Premier cards, however, so this is yet another reason to pay them off and then close them.

 

How recent are your collections and late car payments? This will also impact what is possible with your exisiting cards.

 

If your negatives are not too recent, I'd recommend applying for the Barclay Rewards card based on the TU FICO score you have listed, as I believe your chances for success in getting the card would be solid.

 

Best of luck! Smiley Happy

Message 2 of 5
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Some credit help

Best of luck!

Message 3 of 5
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Some credit help

I would at least pay down Credit One and First Premier, closing them is debatable, there are pros and cons to closing them/keeping them open.  But their monthly fees can be a pain.  Not sure if they are paid off and closed if they count as an account with no balance in that "have a balance in less than 50%" category or if only open accounts count for that. But Credit One puts their fee after the statement so it is impossible to have a 0 balance with them as long as the card is active.

Message 4 of 5
woodyman100
Valued Contributor

Re: Some credit help

Unless you're in dire straights with money, I would suggest putting the bonus in a savings account.

You had to resort to First Premier because of your cat. A small back up/opportunity



fund for emergencies is better than credit any day.Pay the other items off as quick as you can and get rid of First Premier, but having a stack of cash to the side is very comforting.

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