Which CC to pay

[Anonymous]

I'm looking to buy a motorcycle through HD Finance in the coming months, I was approved this last March at a high percentage rate and said no and started doing some research. I know that as of now I'm at a Tier 3 (6 ?? - 699) and I'm trying to get to a Tier 2 (700 -750 FICo) atleast before buying. My actual EQ is 674 and my TU is 676 so I'm not far off.. Here's my ?? According to my MYFICO credit report and score on 10/3/2010 I'm at 30% utilization on revolving credit. One credit card is closed but a balance is owed, and its the one throwing my UT out of whack.. Would I be better off paying it down quickly or pay it down at a normal rate and getting the others to a lower UT level. Which will help raise my score quicker, or will it really matter??

[AndySoCal]

If either card is over the credit limit pay it down to below the credit limit first.  I would alos look at the screo factors that are hurting your score and see if you can address that reason.

[LIGHTNIN]

Welcome to the forums

Hi martinc,  IMHO, I would throw more $$ at the CC with the higher %rate.

hd finance..thats thu harley davidson?   Have you tried a bank for a loan? or better yet a CU?

What are the balances,credit limits and percentage rate for each CC?

The closed CC...What happened? Did the CCC close it? Is it a CO?

Do you have any negative items on your CR, that you can work on?  Like a collection or late payments

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, HD Finance is Harley Davidson Financing aka EagleMark Bank.

I opened a CU account both savings and checking approximately two months ago and plan on checking with them on interest rates along with HD Finance.. Just looking at my options..

The "closed" credit card I closed almost a year ago, no lates ever, never over limit. Due to the new credit reform bs, they were jacking up interest rates, fees etc etc, so I "opted out" closed the account and been paying it down religiously every month.. Always 3-4 times the minimum payment...

The one negative I had I paid off several months back, a collections from SPRINT on a disputed ending cell phone bill, before switching providers..

Here's the credit cards I have, balances due and interest rates.. Keep in mind on several the rates are high now but its intirely due to the new Credit Card reform, all started at 14.9% or lower BEFORE the new laws took affect.

Citi Bank - 5100 CL, 500.00 BAL,         29.99% 

AMEX One- 2300 CL, 861.00 BAL,      14.49%

Home Depot- 1000 CL, 89.00 BAL      21%    This is a new balance from last week, just used it to keep it active

Orchard/HSBC- 2900 CL, 497 BAL     19%    this is the closed acct. and was first to jack up rates

Juniper/Barclays- 2700CL,160BAL     14.9%

HSBC/Suzuki-9000CL,3900 BAL        17.9%    this is current motorcycle, I closed account and opted out to lock in interest rate.. payment paid/made has always been $200 even if minimum was less..

Balances are current as of 10/29/2010.. I made several payments early . I'm just trying to jumpstart a upward swing in my credit score...

[RobertEG]

Youi are paying about the same monthly interest out of pocket on both the CITI and AMEX cards.  CITI has higher APR, but lower balance.

AMEX has lower APR but higher balance.

From a FICO perspective, it is quite different.  CITI is under 10% util, and AMEX is over 37% util.

Who you individually  pay wont, of course,  affect your overall % util.

The AMEX is hurting the most in indiv card util.

My advice, pay the AMEX first, and get its % util under at least 20%.

[Anonymous]

Thats one I'm working on getting balance down on. BTW, I stopped in my CU today and checked rates on Auto Loans and explained to my CSR what I'm trying to do. I was informed i'm "B paper" right now and if I can hit the magic 700 club I'll move to "A paper". With current score I can buy thru the CU at 5.% , if I hit the 700 Club it'll be 4.50-4.75%. Harley Davidson/Eagle Mark is at 10% right now... Just goes to show that a little persistence,research and patience pays off.. Also found out that at 700Club I'd qualify for their 6.9% fixed Platnium Credit Card...