Thinking of opening a new BoA account

[steveiyo]

Hey guys, new member here, I was wondering if I could get some advice from you fico veterans about a applying for a new card.

Currently my scores are TU 712 / 5 inquiries, EX 717 / 3 inquiries, and EQ 736 / 1 inquiry

I had applied for a few credit cards in the past when I responded to offers from Amex and Chase, though I wasn't too keen on credit scores and how they worked back then, I assume I was declined because my utilization was really high at the time and it might have seemed like I was desperate for credit. I've also had one hard inquiry due to applying for an auto loan, but that explains the inquiries. I wasn't aware of the option to recon, and it's been a few months so I'm probably not going to give that a shot. I was looking at the Bankamericard Visa, not the Visa signature since I've heard it does not report CL's, and currently I only have one card with a 700 CL that I had opened a few years ago, when I was 19. My current AAoA is 2 years, according to Fico. So my main question is, Have any of you been in a similar boat? I'm scared of applying for new credit with 5 inquiries on my TU, but I want to expand my credit line and increase my scores, I may also be making a large purchase I the future. I've never missed a payment, I have one auto loan I've always paid on time, and my current utilization is at 28%, which I will wipe down to about 0-5% next month. I'm not looking for a fancy rewards card or anything like that, and I doubt I'll get a high starting CL if I'm even approved for this card, any suggestions on other cards would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your time, this forum has been a really huge help and I've found this community to be extremely helpful, I've searched around for a similar question to mine, but I was hoping for a more specific answer or people who have been in a similar situation as me, sorry if this has been asked a million times! 

[jsickz32]

The bofa basic cc is the easiest to get. But i think if you lower your utl you can get their cash rewards card

[steveiyo]

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for, like I said just need a basic card, even though the cash rewards sounds tempting I don't think having a card that doesn't report my CL will help me much 

[jsickz32]

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@steveiyo wrote:

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for, like I said just need a basic card, even though the cash rewards sounds tempting I don't think having a card that doesn't report my CL will help me much 

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i have a cash rewards with a 5.7k cl and it reports because its not a visa signature

[steveiyo]

Hm that's interesting, do the BoA cash rewards cards start out as just a regular visa? The pictures on thier website only show signature editions of the card for cash rewards, so I thought they just give you the signature version right off the bat

[jsickz32]

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@steveiyo wrote:

Hm that's interesting, do the BoA cash rewards cards start out as just a regular visa? The pictures on thier website only show signature editions of the card for cash rewards, so I thought they just give you the signature version right off the bat

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its only a visa signature if you are approved for more than 5k cl. i was approved for 3k at first and then 3 months later i got a cli to 5.7k. even if you are approved for their visa signature at first, you can call and have it convert it to a regular visa

[steveiyo]

Oh I see! that makes more sense, I think I'll wait another month and lower my util and apply for the cash rewards card, thanks alot!

[HiLine]

28% is not bad. 700 is a good score; you should be able to get the 1-2-3 Bankamericard cash rewards card from Bank of America. Like other have said, you don't have to worry about getting the Visa Signature card since you could request a regular Visa upon approval. If you like to travel, you can also try the Bankamericard Travel Rewards. Currently both these cards are running a promotion of $100 after $500 in spending. 

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/cash-back-credit-card.go
https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/bankamericard-travel-rewards-credit-card.go

Even better if you're already a BoA customer.

[steveiyo]

Yeah, I think I'll apply for one of the cash rewards cards, I like the 1-2-3 rewards they offer. If i apply online and i don't get an instant decision should I try calling through the backdoor number? Or should i just wait for a written response?