Applying for credit card is shown to help my score in simulation?!?!

[CooperRoad]

Hello All,

My credit is currently 740.  I have one Sears card that was converted to a Sears Mastercard years ago.  That is the only credit card that I have.  I have a mortgage account and student loan account on my credit report.  I've been looking into getting a new credit card that offers a lower APR, cash back, and better perks.  My FICO simulator is saying that if I apply and receive a new credit card in the amount of 3000-5000 my score range will be between 740-770.  Can this be possible?  Everything I've read has shown that a "hard inquiry" will be made on my credit that will actually lower my score. I've worked really hard over the past five years to raise my score from an abysmal 525.  I want to be sure that by applying for a new credit card I don't significantly hurt my score. I utilized the search feature, but was unable to find a a thread that successfully dealt with a situation like this.  I'm sure they're out there though.  If this is a repost I sincerely apologize 

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, welcome to the forums!

In this case, the sim is probably right.

The scoring formula "likes" for you to have several open revolving credit accounts. When my young adult kids only had one or two accounts, their scores went up immediately as they added. I *think* this happened for up to the third card.

Even after three cards, there can be an initial ding, but scores recover as the new card starts adding months of good history to your reports.

Is this "credit" score a FICO? If so, which one --EQ or TU? (can't get EX any more.) Do realize that you have three different FICO scores, one from each bureau. Plus there are innumerable garbage FAKO scores sold to the unwary.

You might want to check out the Credit Cards board for good possibilities. (brace yourself first, it gets wild over there)

If you haven't already, please read Understanding Your FICO ® Score and Credit Scoring 101 (at least the first post.)

These will give you the background knowledge you need to understand what you read here on the forums.