@folks19 wrote:Ok, wow, @Anonymous, that was very helpful! I never knew a lot that. What credit card do you reccomend I get now? I have a 1 discover card and my CB loan, which I've made 1 payment so far. My Experian FICO score is about 670. Do you think I should apply for a new card now or wait? If yes, what card should I get?
Also, just to mention, I had checked for pre qualify on capital one, and it said they nothing to offer at this time, while an the same time, when I checked on amex, I was pre qualified for the the blue cash everyday, the gold, and the green... wired. So I'm a bit afraid to apply.
If you prequalified with Amex for the BCE, and you have a 670 EX8. You should be good. Amex tends to like thin files. What they are weary of is dirty files, with negatives. You will see better scores boosts when you begin to have more of a credit mix. Honestly 1 INQ will not kill you if denied, other than a slight sting to your ego. What will happen if approved, is start to have the better credit mix. You have your credit builder loan which is good, while it's open. You have 1 card, but 3 is where you start to see the most influence over your scores. Capital one will pull all 3 CRA, which is 3 INQ for one card. That hurts more.
Exactly a year ago, my 18yo (at that time) applied for the Amex BCE with only a $6k income, and she was accepted with a $2000 starting credit limit. At that time, she only had a Disco Chrome Student card that was opened 4 months prior and no loans. However, she was an authorized user (AU) on several of our cards so she had a bit of an edge on her scores.
Normally, I would have said go for it, but with the current environment we are in it may be best for you to wait it out a few more months. If you have an immediate need, a single HP won't be disatrous so you might give it a shot.
Good luck on whatever decision you make, @folks19 !
Her score on Experian Fico 8 (which is pretty much the only bureau Amex does the HP on) was 787 at the time of application. That was what I call an "inflated" score because of the AU accounts she was listed on pulled it up so high. Her "real" score didn't report until 6 months after opening her first credit account, the Disco card in February. The "real" EX 8 score dropped to 710 in August (which also happened to be when her Amex reported for the first time).
Also, even though my now 19yo has great scores and her income has increased a bit, Amex has not been very forthcoming with the CLI's (credit limit increase). That may be because of her age, her income level, or both. She was only recently able to get a $600 increase (went from $2,000 to $2,600), while her older college student sister immediately got the 3x CLI after 60 days (applied for Amex BCE at the same time but with higher income).
I went back to check her older sister's EX credit reports for comparison. Their scores were almost exactly the same until her sister got some student loans for med school that reported in August last year. Those loans may have actually boosted the older sister's scores (neither had any loans prior to that, and no loans on a report actually causes a penalty in points). The older sister's first Amex report to EX also occured the same month (August) but it included that 3x CLI which heavily reduced the utilization % well below 1% total UTI.
Her score went from the "inflated" 787 to the "real" 752 after the 6 months from opening her first credit account (also Disco student Chrome).
I've noticed that my DD's scores to be significantly higher than many young profiles that should have been similar, and the only real advantage I think my girls have is that we have them as AU on 4 of our cards (which are always at $0). Maybe that is something you can look into to help boost your scores, get added as an AU on a decently aged card that is used very seldom?