Subprime vs. Prime

[Anonymous]

Even though you have scores that will get approval-

I would get that UTL under 50% - this way you will get better terms.

[Anonymous]

Agreed, get util down as low as possible.

[Anonymous]

When you say "get util down as much as possible," how would one go about doing that?

For example, one of my CC's statement dates ends on the 28th (roughly). Supposedly, my CC reports to the bureaus on the 30th of each month. If I were to pay in full by the 28th, and not use the card for two (three) more days, my util would be 0%. Correct? But isn't it recommended to have a small balance on the card anyways? How much is enough?

[haulingthescoreup]

Ideal for reporting is under 10% (1-9%). Check your credit reports for the date when they typically post your new balances. Pay your cards down to 1-9% about 5 days before they report, and let them post (check your reports for the new balance if you're an addicted frequent puller like the rest of us.!) Then PIF (pay in full), and start it all over again. Or if you have a lot of cards, alternate them and just let several report each month, always at 9% or less, and the rest are PIF'd and "resting".

I've read that there's another boost for under 5%, but if so, I don't know how dramatic it is. But wow--if you went from 75% to 9%, you should get a huge bump, if there isn't a lot of other stuff going on as well. You'll need to post back in a month with the before-and-afters!

[smallfry]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Ideal for reporting is under 10% (1-9%). Check your credit reports for the date when they typically post your new balances. Pay your cards down to 1-9% about 5 days before they report, and let them post (check your reports for the new balance if you're an addicted frequent puller like the rest of us.!) Then PIF (pay in full), and start it all over again. Or if you have a lot of cards, alternate them and just let several report each month, always at 9% or less, and the rest are PIF'd and "resting".

I've read that there's another boost for under 5%, but if so, I don't know how dramatic it is. But wow--if you went from 75% to 9%, you should get a huge bump, if there isn't a lot of other stuff going on as well. You'll need to post back in a month with the before-and-afters!

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I don't know about a huge bump. I went from 682-715 when I took utilization from 56% to under 10%.

[CreditDrama85]

subprime and prime are up to the consumer i guess. i personally am tired of capital one being called subprime. i have high and low cls with cap 1 but all have decent rates.

it is the interest rate NOT the cl that determines whether a product is subprime or prime!

[haulingthescoreup]

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smallfry wrote: I don't know about a huge bump. I went from 682-715 when I took utilization from 56% to under 10%.

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Huge-ish? ;-) That's true, if you're already starting from the high 600's, it probably won't be that dramatic.

[Anonymous]

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@smallfry wrote:

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Ideal for reporting is under 10% (1-9%). Check your credit reports for the date when they typically post your new balances. Pay your cards down to 1-9% about 5 days before they report, and let them post (check your reports for the new balance if you're an addicted frequent puller like the rest of us.!) Then PIF (pay in full), and start it all over again. Or if you have a lot of cards, alternate them and just let several report each month, always at 9% or less, and the rest are PIF'd and "resting".

I've read that there's another boost for under 5%, but if so, I don't know how dramatic it is. But wow--if you went from 75% to 9%, you should get a huge bump, if there isn't a lot of other stuff going on as well. You'll need to post back in a month with the before-and-afters!

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I don't know about a huge bump. I went from 682-715 when I took utilization from 56% to under 10%.

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You are lookig at a 30+ point score increas which IMHO is huge especially seeing your prior scores. The only other thing that would result in that big of a jump is removing several lates or a collection account. 

That jump took you from the beginning of good credit to 5 points away from the begining of excellent.

Message Edited by Brammy on 10-06-2007 04:20 PM

[Anonymous]

But essentially, in the realm of FICO score calculations, having a subprime or prime card will not have any difference in scoring, correct?

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

But essentially, in the realm of FICO score calculations, having a subprime or prime card will not have any difference in scoring, correct?

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That's what I see from the "here's where you can do better" advice that comes with a FICO score. For FICO, it looks like credit is credit is credit.

I've had comments with FAKO scores tell me that I need ritzier cards, but I ignore them. It's hard to untangle all the advice sometimes!