2 Questions

[Anonymous]

I have 2 questions about my credit score. I have only had credit for about 6 months. I have a mastercard and 2 store cards. My scores are 659 Trans and 653 Equifax. My first question is can too many cards hurt your score even if you only have a balance on 1 or 2 cards at a time. My second question is how much could my score go up if i get my mother, who has a great credit score, to add me as an authorized user on her credit cards that have a high limit and are rarely used. She has had the cards for quite a few years. Any help would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I think that it doesn't matter if you are an authorized user anymore.  I beleive the "new FICO 08" is not allowing that as a "crutch" so to speak.

[braznyc]

Ditto the poster above. I read that AU will not count anymore, but joint accounts are different.

[Junejer]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have 2 questions about my credit score. I have only had credit for about 6 months. I have a mastercard and 2 store cards. My scores are 659 Trans and 653 Equifax. My first question is can too many cards hurt your score even if you only have a balance on 1 or 2 cards at a time. My second question is how much could my score go up if i get my mother, who has a great credit score, to add me as an authorized user on her credit cards that have a high limit and are rarely used. She has had the cards for quite a few years. Any help would be appreciated.

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Hi scredit and welcome to the forums. FICO looks at individual card utilization as well as overall utilization. Ideally, you want both "forms" between 1-9% utilization for maximum scoring. Too many accounts with balances is a common CRA comment when 1/2 or more of your open accounts have balances.

IMO, it would be a short-term fix to be added as AU. Whenever FICO '08 kicks in (it's on hold indefinitely), that benefit will go away. But, to answer your question, yes it would help your scores until FICO '08 happens.

[braznyc]

Yes the Fico 08 is on hold (per some indefinitely) but my opinion is credit should be thought of in the long-term. If it were me with parents who are willing to either open an account for me or with me, I'd take the joint over the AU, because at any time the fico 08 could kick in, and then all the effort you've spent for short-term return would have been moot, but of course this is my thinking.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have 2 questions about my credit score. I have only had credit for about 6 months. I have a mastercard and 2 store cards. My scores are 659 Trans and 653 Equifax. My first question is can too many cards hurt your score even if you only have a balance on 1 or 2 cards at a time. My second question is how much could my score go up if i get my mother, who has a great credit score, to add me as an authorized user on her credit cards that have a high limit and are rarely used. She has had the cards for quite a few years. Any help would be appreciated.

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Hi, welcome to the forums!

FICO 08 has not yet started, and seems to be on some sort of indefinite hold, so the AU status will help you for the time being. Just don't get too attached to the new higher scores, though, as they will drop back down once AU history is no longer counted. I wouldn't try to guess at the score gain. I think mine went up around 14 points when I added on to my husband's card, but that was mainly to gain his history. YMMV.

Are you getting any comments on your FICO score reports about too many accounts with balances? I don't know if they nail those with really short credit history on this or not, although they certainly do with people who've had credit for a while. Generally you will find that you do better to have fewer than half of your cards reporting balances.

If you add on as an AU, use a bank/ major card (Visa, MC, Discover, AmEx) rather than another store card. You get more points for majors than for store cards. And at some point, having an installment account (a loan) will help you as well, but don't go borrowing money just to make FICO scores happy. If the time comes for you to get a loan, get one from a credit union or bank, rather than from a consumer finance agency. This means don't get a three-month loan from a furniture store, or a personal loan from a business with "finance" in its name, like Citifinancial, Wells Fargo Finance, and so forth. The presence of these on your reports is regarded (incorrectly, IMHO) as a mark of desperation, and your scores will be hurt by them.

If you haven't done so yet, please read Credit Scoring 101, which is a good intro to a lot of this. It is stickied at the top of most of these forums.

[Anonymous]

I was added as an AU to 2 CCs over the weekend. They just asked for a name. I asked if they needed a SSN and they said no. They have ways of finding out who I was. Is that possible? We don't live at the same address.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I was added as an AU to 2 CCs over the weekend. They just asked for a name. I asked if they needed a SSN and they said no. They have ways of finding out who I was. Is that possible? We don't live at the same address.

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Creepy, isn't it? I have no idea how they do that. Sometimes I want to know, and other times, I really, really don't.

[Anonymous]

Stomper - after you were added as an AU, how long did it take before you saw the bump (albeit temporary) in your score? and do you still have the score, or did FICO 08 bite you?

Message Edited by jzralnc on 03-26-2008 02:22 PM