NFCU Loan consolidation APPROVAL

[CreditTara16]

Hello all,

I pulled the trigger and applied for a NFCU consolidation loan. With a EQ credit score of 731 I was approved for 16,000 at 17.85% (48 months). I would like to consolidate my AMEX and Discover cards both have an interest of 20.24%. I plan on paying the personal loan off within 6 months to a year. I was hoping that NFCU would give me a lower interest rate. Is a savings of approx.. 2.39% worth it? Aside from only have one bill to pay instead of two? Also, which weighs heavier credit score wise: installment loans or credit card debt? 

Thoughts???

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on your approval.

Without knowing exactly what your situation is, I'd say:

* removing the CC debt (this reducing util%, perhaps dramatically) will help your scores;

* starting a new account will hurt your score;

* reducing age of youngest accounts will hurt your score;

* adding a loan far from paid off will hurt your score;

So three obvious minuses & one obvious plus. Yet the net result should be a nice overall improvement to your FICO scores because the minuses are smallish while the one plus is large. Again, it depends exactly how much you would be improving your util%.

[CreditTara16]

Thank you for replying and thank you for your wisdom! It is greatly appreciated! I researched the forum a bit more and decided to shop around a bit. I applied for a loan with LightStream and was given a 10.39% interest rate so I am going for the offer. I have already cut the cards and I do not plan on using them.

[Anonymous]

---

@CreditTara16 wrote:

... I applied for a loan with LightStream and was given a 10.39% interest rate ...

---

Good for you. Much easier decision now. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

What were your loan DPs with Lightstream? I've been considering them for awhile now. Did you have to provide documentation? POI? Which bureau did they pull?
Thanks