Try to build QS1 but have Care Credit w balance

[Anonymous]

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@cuthatcard wrote:

Now, I have a balance (17% of the initial $ 9,600.00 of Care Credit) showing, I want to be able to make the best decision in making scores and QS1 grow over the next 3-6 months whereas the QS will be able to be eligible for a CLI !
I plan on paying down the, no interest Care Credit line, but I guess my question is : I then will have 2 CC 's showing balances on the their next statements, if I put $ on QS1 !

As I read here, the best way for score increase in to have only 1...card ( account) show a balance, for better points !

My question is 2 fold, in order for QS1 to grow , do I , now, begin using it ( even though Care Credit showed a balance due) or, wait until Care Credit it below 9% or pd off, then use QS1 and show a small amount at the statement?

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If you are using the Capital One card and paying it in full, it will never report a balance.  If you spend $49.82 on the card one day, when that transaction posts to your account in a couple of days pay $49.82.  Your balance will always stay at 0 and will always report as 0 meaning that your Care Credit account will be the only account reporting a balance.  Once you pay off Care Credit, you can start letting a small balance report on your CO account if you still want 1 of your 2 accounts to report a balance for maximum FICO scoring benefit.

You can use your Capital One card as much as you want; you can run it up to 100% each month (in fact, that would actually help your CLI goal) completely maxing it out as long as you pay it off every month.  To increase your chances of a favorable CLI result (both getting one and the amount you receive) you want to use the card as much as possible, that is swipe it as often as you can and for the most dollars you can put through it.  When I'm going for a CLI on a card, for the cycle before I request the increase I usually swipe the card at least 1 time per day for the entire month (30+ swipes) and I put at least $1500 through the card, but sometimes $3k - $4k.  I always PIF though and show a 0 balance (utilization) on the card prior to requesting the increase.  The more usage the card sees, the greater your chances are of a favorable CLI result. 

If you goal is to build the Capital One card, focus on that and register as much usage as possible.  The Care Credit account will have no bearing at all on what you do with the CO.  The only thing that could have an adverse impact is if you ran the Care Credit usage up really high; if Capital One saw that it could make them more hesitant to grant you a CLI.  You don't have that problem, however, as your utilization on that account is already good and I assume only dropping.

[zerofire]

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@cuthatcard wrote:
@Anonymous

Sorry for not being clear..

I had not applied for any CC when I applied for and received the Care Credit line in anticipation of my wife's dental and cancer issues. Then, as my profile became more "attractive ", meaning I had a baddie fall off and the Care Credit line made my score go up into the 700's ( except EQ) , I applied for the QS1, via the pre-equal.

Now, I have a balance (17% of the initial $ 9,600.00 of Care Credit) showing, I want to be able to make the best decision in making scores and QS1 grow over the next 3-6 months whereas the QS will be able to be eligible for a CLI !
I plan on paying down the, no interest Care Credit line, but I guess my question is : I then will have 2 CC 's showing balances on the their next statements, if I put $ on QS1 !

As I read here, the best way for score increase in to have only 1...card ( account) show a balance, for better points !

My question is 2 fold, in order for QS1 to grow , do I , now, begin using it ( even though Care Credit showed a balance due) or, wait until Care Credit it below 9% or pd off, then use QS1 and show a small amount at the statement?

I'm not interested in growing Care Credit, it's high enough for my needs. I need for QS1 to grow over the next few months.

Hope I was more clear !

Best plan ??

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Just because such and such is common advice does not mean that it should be used as a final answer to your credit problems. Now you can have balances report on your report and they are not sticky. The trick you heard about only having one card report should only be done to prepare for doing applications. In your case you only have two accounts so having both report will not even matter. I just did a spree with 5 accounts and all of them reported what I spent. Ended up getting either all or 4/5(still waiting for a proper answer on one). Now Capital One likes to see usage and the heavier the better for them so start charging your everyday expenses to the QS1. Don't go overboard buying everything in the store though since you do have to pay it off. In time you will get auto CLI's and can request some CLI's manually. Lastly as your score went past 700 you might have been better off with a regular Quicksilver as that has the same rewards and no annual fee. You might want to ask Capital One to PC you over.

[Anonymous]

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@zerofire wrote:

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The trick you heard about only having one card report should only be done to prepare for doing applications.

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Not necessarily.  Even if the OP isn't planning on apping, having those extra 15-25 points could result in a more favorable CLI result on his CO card.  For one of those "on the cusp" type scores, 15-25 points can make a difference depending on the situation and what is being considered.  Many times as well when going for a CLI the creditor goes off of old information.  Sometimes they can go months without giving you a SP, and in that case they could still be using a score and info from a previous month even though in the month you decided to inquire you executed the utilization "trick."  Outside of those real world examples, some people simply like the feeling of having their score 15-25 points higher, even if they aren't planning on apping. 

[Anonymous]

For the score boost of only having 1 card report, you need to have 3 cards. The boost actually comes from having less than half of your cards reporting  a balance. If you only have 2 cards, you only have the option of 0 cards or half of the cards (not less than half) reporting, so you can't get the max boost. So I would say get a 3rd card as soon as your profile supports it.

I also agree the above is only necessary when you are planning to app for a card or a CLI.

Again, you can use the Cap1 card and pay it off a few days before the statement cut date and it will report 0 balance. The statement balance is almost always the balance reported to the CRAs monthly. Some people report paying off every few days, as soon as a purchase shows up. This is extreme overkill IMO. Just pay off each payday, or once a month, whatever works for you.

I also agree to run as much as you can through the Cap1. When my QS began as a Plat, it was only $300. I maxed it out and paid it off several times a month for that 1st 5 months. When I get my steps increase (I hadn't found myfico yet so I didn't know I could request sooner) I was upped to 3.3k. That's an 11x increase. 

[cuthatcard]

My "goal"..is to have only 3 cards even though I do have the Care Credit.

I am trying to get my scores (as you can see) and my profile, to be appealing to another issuer such as Disco, CHASE etc...

This is why I'm asking for these data points in order to get to this 3rd card, to bring my total to 3, to then have all inquiries within 1 month (or so), then build !

At 761 w/TU, 717w/EX and EQ setting around 664 ( yesterday on CCT ), some age on old installments, age on old, closed CC's, and 1 baddie on EQ that's holding me back there . ( pd 8K judgement that EQ will not update-in dispute- 6 yrs old) .
My aged accounts run anywhere from 10-28 yrs with no bad info on them.

Just want to treat this QS1, right, for CLI and open myself up for 1...more upper tier type card. ( Want too, anyway !)

[Anonymous]

Slightly off topic here, but why is there roughly a 100 points between your lowest FICO 08 score and your highest?  What negative info is present on your report from the bureau with the lowest score (or not present on the bureau with the highest)?  It's rare to see scores that far apart, so I'm just curious as to the reason.

[Gollum]

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@cuthatcard wrote:
My "goal"..is to have only 3 cards even though I do have the Care Credit.

I am trying to get my scores (as you can see) and my profile, to be appealing to another issuer such as Disco, CHASE etc...

This is why I'm asking for these data points in order to get to this 3rd card, to bring my total to 3, to then have all inquiries within 1 month (or so), then build !

At 761 w/TU, 717w/EX and EQ setting around 664 ( yesterday on CCT ), some age on old installments, age on old, closed CC's, and 1 baddie on EQ that's holding me back there . ( pd 8K judgement that EQ will not update-in dispute- 6 yrs old) .
My aged accounts run anywhere from 10-28 yrs with no bad info on them.

Just want to treat this QS1, right, for CLI and open myself up for 1...more upper tier type card. ( Want too, anyway !)

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Keep paying your bills on time.  That's the best way to eventually make yourself more "appealing" to another lender.

[cuthatcard]

@BrutalBodyShots

The only...only difference in the reports is :

EQ is showing a 6 yr old...unpaid. ..judgement of which ..."Was paid... and deleted by both..TU and EX " !

Nothing else, no other TL'S, nothing else hidden...I have a dispute in with EQ about this. Again. ...I pd 8k, cash for the entire amount back in April. They will not show it updated to "satisfied ' !

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Slightly off topic here, but why is there roughly a 100 points between your lowest FICO 08 score and your highest?  What negative info is present on your report from the bureau with the lowest score (or not present on the bureau with the highest)?  It's rare to see scores that far apart, so I'm just curious as to the reason.

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It's in the OP signature, and was in the opening post.

And I have to take issue with your projection that OP (or anyone else) will get 15 to 20 extra points from having one card of two report a balance. Particularly since OP has a baddie on EQ, that technique is unlikely to work on EQ. Each file is different, and juggling two cards like this runs the risk that both will report zero, and then the score takes a dive. Granted it is a while yet before CC goes to zero, but the concept of "all cards at zero but one" gets spouted all over here, to excess, over-promising results to "maximize score".

Your reference to Pay In Full as "pay a few days after each charge" is not the common meaning of PIF. PIF means paying the entire statement balance on one statement by the payment due date, usually 20-25 days after that statement date, so that one does not incur any interest cost. What you are referring to is "pay multiple times per month", a different set of actions with a different intended reporting result, and more effort required.

[Anonymous]

It's easy enough for the OP to test; it can literally be done with 2 cards in under a month.  He can let both cards report, 1 card report, 0 cards report and pull his FICO 08's the day after each time to see the result.  Simple enough.  All profiles are different, so it would be up to him to test this out.  Could be 0 points difference from one option to the next.  Could be 10.  Could be 25.  No way to know for sure unless he tries it, and why not try it as it doesn't cost anything and can be done very quickly all inside of 1 cycle as there are only 2 pieces of data being used (minimal variables).