Amex PL Offer Questions

[WP2020]

@SoCalGardener @cashorcharge @FinStar 

Thanks guys, yes I verified with Amex and I can EITHER have them pay cc OR send me the funds. They give me both options but just one of them.

@stw715 Thanks for your DP and info. though my signature is a little outdated its still similar and your point about lowering everything evenly still applies and makes alot of sense.

I am still confused about if my scores will shoot up or not. I know every file is different but I have a clean file with 25 years perfect payment history, so I would hope for a big boost. In a current thread by @Anonymous he asks a similar questions and people like @Yasselife thought his score would go to the moon if file was clean. Also, @Flooded_Genesis did a PL to pay cc debt and said.... TU is up 40 points, EX is up 33. 

Also, @brk1971 Thx very much for all your input and DP. I see some excellent points and details. There are some mixed thoughts here if my score will go higher or not, I just really hope it does. Since Im currently around 720 any additional 20 to 40 points could be significant for me. I would really LOVE to know this before I apply since I wouldnt want to take the PL if it wont raise my score at least 20 to 40 points and even less if it will lower it.

[SoCalGardener]

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@WP2020 wrote:

@SoCalGardener @cashorcharge @FinStar 

Thanks guys, yes I verified with Amex and I can EITHER have them pay cc OR send me the funds. They give me both options but just one of them.

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You're welcome! Yeah, like I said, I didn't actually *know* it, but it just seemed like one or the other would be how it works.

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@WP2020 wrote:

I am still confused about if my scores will shoot up or not. I know every file is different but I have a clean file with 25 years perfect payment history, so I would hope for a big boost. In a current thread by @Anonymous he asks a similar questions and people like @Yasselife thought his score would go to the moon if file was clean. Also, @Flooded_Genesis did a PL to pay cc debt and said.... TU is up 40 points, EX is up 33. 

I think the key thing is that it will go up, but not immediately and, in fact, will probably drop at first. Just be prepared for that and have patience while everything updates. Ultimately, your score should increase from where it is now (assuming you don't run up other balances), but you have to allow time for everything to process and be reported/updated. Don't get scared or sick if you see a dip! It will be temporary. Keep that in mind and ride it out--that's what I do.

[brk1971]

Perhaps your loan terms are different than mine were. On the selection page, I chose from list bullet selections for either CC payment or DD, but it very clearly had the option to enter multiple CC accounts with different amounts and in clear wording said that the balance would be direct deposited.

In the end, I chose to just DD it all, and then push it to my accounts (and was pretty shocked at how fast it was in my checking account).  

[FinStar]

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@WP2020 wrote:

There are some mixed thoughts here if my score will go higher or not, I just really hope it does. Since Im currently around 720 any additional 20 to 40 points could be significant for me. I would really LOVE to know this before I apply since I wouldnt want to take the PL if it wont raise my score at least 20 to 40 points and even less if it will lower it.

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As has been mentioned upthread, there's no magic 8-ball to make such a specific assessment on whether there'll be an immediate gain of 20-40 points boost or not.  Additionally, the individuals you mentioned have vastly different profiles from yours when it comes to comparisons.  

Over time, it's possible you'll see some scoring improvements, but don't expect instant results, though.  Could it happen? Possibly. This will have to be something you need to decide and see if taking the PL can provide the expected results.

[stw715]

Op, what were your scores immediately prior to those high utilizations? It may offer you some insight whether your score would go up/down and approximately how much. Just as a example, if your score was 740 and dropped to 720 just with high util then it's would be hard to expect 40 point bump, if it was 780? Then it's much more reasonable to expect a 40 point bump.

[Anonymous]

Yes, IMHO your score will increase nicely because of the decrease in utilization.  Based on my own personal experience having consolidated revolving debt into installment debt several times, I have found that installment loan utilization is a very small factor in FICO scoring, so despite some of what you have been told on this thread, I am quite sure that your score will most certainly rise significantly as a result of moving the debt from revolving to installment even though the installment loan will be at 100% utilization.  Since you already have a lot of accounts your AAoA shouldn't be affected much by the new tradeline, most likely this factor will result in zero change to your score in my opinion based on my personal experience.    I can confirm having just taken a PL with Amex that there will be no hard inquiry even when you accept the loan so no issues there.  As for people saying your score will decrease at first I highly doubt that, since most likely the paid off credit cards will report long before the personal loan hits your credit which may take a month or two, and I honestly don't think the 19k personal loan will cause any issue with your score even if it were to report immediately (which it won't).  Plus your account mix will improve as well so that's a plus.  I honestly don't see any reason to believe your score will decrease at all.  Most importantly you should be saving money on interest by doing this which will help you eliminate the debt sooner which should be the primary goal, remember that credit scores are a means to an end, the end being minimizing your cost of borrowing money to meet your needs.          

[WP2020]

Hey @SoCalGardener just to clarify, Im not in a hurry for the scores to go up and can understand that everything has to post first. I just wanted to know that eventually it will end up going up instead of down.

Thanks @brk1971 yes thx for your DP, I think I would just end up choosing Direct Deposit to make it simple.

Sure @FinStar, it makes sense I can see it all depends on the individual profile. I would hope my scores rise but can understand now that there are too many variables to be sure.

Hey @stw715 thx for your input. I have had high util. now for a few years but my scores were for decades around 805 and above until I decided to get many new credit cards, 0% apr offers and went into debt on purpose to open a new business. I have kept my debt on and off with mostly 0%BT offers. My is 100% clean from the very beginning and have NO other debt such as mortgages, auto loans etc.

[WP2020]

@Anonymous Thx for your reply and DP, in honesty that is pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear. I thought it would be just like you mentioned but wanted to know others thoughts and experiences. Though I know every file is different I think/hope my results will be similar to yours. I think it would help MANY lurkers here to know this could be OR IS a perfect way to raise your scores by lowering your revolver util.

I also agree, that if anything my scores would initially raise since I would immediatelly make my cc payments that will posts right away and perhaps my Amex PL loan will take a month or two. That would actually give me even a momentary higher score than once the PL posts. You are also right to remind everyone, that this Amex PL is only a SP and that I will also get a few points for credit mix as I have never had a utilization loan. Many thanks for all your thoughts and explanations.

[WP2020]

Hi, I just wanted to update everyone who helped out, specially @Anonymous , @FinStar , @stw715 , and @brk1971 with their knowledge and input. A big THANKS.

I ended up taking the 19K Amex loan and paid down alot of my credit card debt. My util, went from 44% down to 21% and my scores went up +51 in about 2 months, from 720 to 771 now. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone who can to shift the debt to an installment loan in a similar situation.

I have also had CLIs on a few cards raising my TCL by 14K. I am extremely happy I went this route, at least for me the +51 score raise is just AMAZING. I might do a new thread with all the exact DPs step by step cause I cant believe how great this worked out.