Hi & welcome to the forums!
Your first priority should be reducing that Kay Jewelers balance as quickly as possible because right now, your scores are suffering due to high utilization penalties.
Your aggregate util (total balance / total credit limit) is 68.6%. That's high (ideal for scoring is below 8.9%) and costing you 30+ points. Additionally, your individual utilization is 80% (ideal is less than 28.9%) and costing you even more points.
High util can also keep you from being approved for new credit or, if approved, result in low starting limits because it makes you appear to be a high risk borrower - especially when combined with a thin / limited credit history. It can also result in adverse actions by creditors, such as limit decreases / balance chasing.
I suggest you focus on paying down that debt before seeking any new credit. As you pay down, you'll see your scores increase when you cross known util thresholds below where you currently stand (88.9%, 68.9%, 48.9%, 28.9%, and 8.9%).
And congrats on getting that negative removed.. are your reports now clean / free of all derogatories? If not, what other negatives are reporting?
Your first priority should be reducing that Kay Jewelers balance as quickly as possible because right now, your scores are suffering due to high utilization penalties.
Your aggregate util (total balance / total credit limit) is 68.6%. That's high (ideal for scoring is below 8.9%) and costing you 30+ points. Additionally, your individual utilization is 80% (ideal is less than 28.9%) and costing you even more points.
High util can also keep you from being approved for new credit or, if approved, result in low starting limits because it makes you appear to be a high risk borrower - especially when combined with a thin / limited credit history. It can also result in adverse actions by creditors, such as limit decreases / balance chasing.
I suggest you focus on paying down that debt before seeking any new credit. As you pay down, you'll see your scores increase when you cross known util thresholds below where you currently stand (88.9%, 68.9%, 48.9%, 28.9%, and 8.9%).
And congrats on getting that negative removed.. are your reports now clean / free of all derogatories? If not, what other negatives are reporting?
@Anonymous wrote:
I'm fairly new on here but I'd like to understand how to build a stronger credit score as quickly as possible. Based off of creditscoredcard.com (experian) I'm a 664.
I currently have 2 credit cards
OpenSky : CL $500
$0 balance - opened 1 yr & 3 months ago
Genesis (kay jewelers) : CL $3,000
$2,400 balance - opened 3 months ago
Total of 5 hard inquires but will all be removed this year. I've already paid and got removed a derogatory mark which is a plus , so it is now removed from my credit report !
I really want to improve my score , what's the next suggestion? I planned to apply for the Capital One platinum card. Is that a good option or should I wait to apply for more credit.
1. Wait until you have the Genesis balance paid down to $300 or so.
2. Then tell us what your FICO scores are, and what kind of credit card you would like to have, and we can give you suggestions.
