@Anonymous wrote:
Now:
1) Would the Business CC go into my private CH and go into my utilization?
2) Can I let a card report $0 w/o them cancelling the card sooner or later? Would they ever increase SL w/o me using it?
3) Does getting a 3rd CC get me a stronger score in a year? I am anxious to do to much at a time (1 new mortgage, 3 new CC, thin file) and I would not need it anyway.
1) I don't have a solid answer to this question. Wait for someone with Business credit experience to respond, or post this question in the Business credit sub-forum: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Business-Credit/bd-p/businesscredit
2) You can let cards report a $0 balance to the bureaus -- but you do need to show some usage/activity to keep the cards open and allow for limit increases. Many creditors will either close the account or decrease the credit limit after 6 consecutive months of non-use. We recommend running a charge through each card at least once every 3 months.
Typically, the more often you use the card, the better your chances for limit increases (this does not necessarily mean high dollar usage, just consistant use).
If, however, you just want to keep a card open and are not too concerned with increasing the limit, you can simply charge something small every few months and pay it off before the statement closing date. This will allow you to show activity on the card while still reporting a $0 balance to the credit bureaus. Creditors report whatever your balance is on the Statement Closing Date, and that balance is to be paid by the Due Date (~25 days later). So, you can use your cards as much (or as little) as you wish, then pay it before the Statement Closing Date to report a $0 balance to the bureaus.
3) Yes. 3 CCs and 1 installment loan yields optimal FICO scoring. You can obtain all of that now then garden for a year to let everything age -- it's not too ambitious since your primary focus is building your profile.
After your 1 year gardening period, if you decide to apply for more peronal credit cards, it would be best to space out your apps to 1 every 6 months so you limit: (1) number of inquries and (2) how much your Average Age of Accounts (AAoA) is reduced due to new accounts.
