What next?

[Anonymous]

I started my credit journey about 6 months ago with the Discover It Secured Card. I now have the following cards:

Discover It Secured - $1,000 CL (Started at 200, just submitted to be upped to 1000 and money was taken out of my account)

CreditOne Bank - $400 CL

Bank Of America 99/500

Citi Secured $200

I accidentally let my balances report rather than paying them down, so this month my scores are 588 EQ/595 TU/617 EX. I just double checked in the simulator on here. If my new 0 balances report, my scores will be 694 EQ/710 TU/707 EX. How accurate is this? 

Either way, I'm looking to get an AMEX and close down this crappy CreditOne card. Would those new scores be good enough?

[Anonymous]

I would bet the simulator is off a bit as 100 pt jumps seem a little high for a single month. Get the balances down to zero except for one card at $5 or so and you will get a good jump.

With four cards total the Credit One really isn't needed except for utilization padding. Nothing wrong with keeping it open but make sure to immediately push through payments for any charges and also cancel before the next annual fees kick in.

An installment loan of some type will give a decent boost provided you don't have one already. Apparently Alliant is stopping the SSL loans so maybe something like Selflender or a local CU. Just make sure the local actually reports to all three CRA's.

I'm new to Amex myself and absolutely love them so far. Their pre-approval page is actually solid so check it every few weeks.

This early in your credit journey the Cap1 Platinum Preferred or Quicksilver One may be a good option.

Good luck in your credit journey.

[Anonymous]

The simulators can be really accurate or really inaccurate.  If you're rebuilding, you definitely never want to pay interest so make sure to pay everything down and practice the AZEO Method (see my 11 rules signature link on details).

Looks like you're 4/24 (4 accounts within 24 months) so I'd personally not do anything but watch for Chase prequalified offers on their website to get in with them.

If the Credit One card doesn't have a monthly fee, keep it open until just before your annual fee is due because FICO likes seeing 5+ credit cards aged at least 2 years, but since it has an annual fee I'd close it before that posts.  If it has a monthly fee, close it right away.

[Anonymous]

I do have a paid $1100 or $1200 SelfLender loan. Forgot to list that. And initially when I opened it I didn't actually receive the card, so they waived the fee. I reopened the account and the fee never posted. So I'll keep it for another year.

Another note -- I talked to a BofA credit analyst about graduating my card early. They said they love my payment history but I have to wait until the account is 5 months old, otherwise the computer auto-rejects and doesn't give them the option to approve it. I put about $1,000 through the card each month and let about 20-30 report (usually).

[HeavenOhio]

Definitely get your balances in order and see what your scores are before applying for anything. Note too that all cards reporting a balance of zero will ding you. As ABCD says, see AZEO in his sig.

AMEX is likely to want to see a score in the high 600s.