@hzynneb I haven't heard about getting it then paying it off right away leaving a small balance?!? But would I be correct in assuming you would leave 100 and pay that off the remaining of the term?! I know a lot of places like to see 6 months or 1 year history but I'm unsure about doing it that route?!
Is that auto loan open? If yes, that is your installment loan. Getting another installment loan will be redundant to your needs.
DCU may shorten your loan term.
PenFed should allow you to pay ahead without shortening the loan term.
I would recommend reading the below to ensure you are familiar with the technique.
From CreditGuyInDixie
@hzynneb wrote:My credit file is lacking installment account other than my car payment. Will it help to get a personal loan, then pay it off right away, except leaving $100 on the account? I read about this somehwere that it helps with your credit score. $10,000 @ 6.49% with either DCU or PenFed (preapproved). My current FICO is 780 - 810~
If the lender is the type that won't accelerate the payment dates on the loan once the prepayment is made, then yes, paying your only open loan down to 9% of the original amount will help your FICO 8 scores a little (Otherwise it will help but just for a month or two). The only lenders I know who can reliably be counted on to leave the payment dates where they are, are NFCU and Alliant. If you do it with NFCU you can do it with a share secured loan, thus avoiding a hard pull.
But since you already have an auto loan, paying that down to 9% is the best you could do. Adding another loan would just take your scores down a little, not up.
