5 yrs after, I return with CC questions

[Anonymous]

So..I started my credit "repair" journey about 6 years ago. I started with credit one card, merrick card and had a credit union card. Over the course of time, I've bought 2 cars, a home and collected a few other credit cards and used them (arguably too much). 

I recently paid off all cards with proceeds from a debt consolidation loan from the credit union. Prior to paying off, my total utilization was above 50% with a handful of cards at a high utilization percentage (75% and above). Now that they are all paid, my utiization will drop and hopefully my scores will improve. 

So...my question is how much of an increase in FICO score should I possibly see with paying off credit card debt. According to my loan disclosure my FICO is already at 695 (experian I think). 

Also...I realize I have some "rebuilder" cards (credit one, Merrick) and a lot of synchrony cards (amazon, paypal, verizon). Should I close these when my scores increase and I can qualify for "better" cards? I already have a credit union card, a chase card, cap one. Unfortunately synchrony is where most of my higher CLs are. 

Thanks

[Sandman771]

I read a couple of different things on Synchrony. One without use they can close accounts finda finicky about that lol. Maybe jealous. 

The other things was from someone recently saying that possibly some major banks didn't hold synchrony in high regard. I don't have any of their products, though they do have a card at my local tire shop and I go through tires and mechanics a lot driving Uber. So might one day 

[coldfusion]

I wouldn't expect any kind of initial tectonic shift in scores in the short term as while the utilization of your cards will have dropped you've just added an installment loan that is going to report at 100% utilization.    You may see a temporary drop in scores if that installment loan reports before all of your credit cards report an updated status that they have been paid off. 

As the utilization of that installment loan drops and you maintain low utilization across all of your credit cards your scores should gradually start to rise. 

[4sallypat]

Keep the cards you have and pay them down.

As for improving scores, my mortgage broker preparing me for a mortgage, had me reduce only the balances on revolving credit and only the major banks (Chase, Citi, Amex, Barclays).

I found it strange that not touching my Synchrony and Comenity accounts would affect the score so much.

I still have higher utilization on the Synchrony & Comenity account but reducing the major banks helped jump my scores from 680s to 725+ now..

[Anonymous]

Maybe I wasnt' clear....all cards are paid off to zero balance. 

[Kforce]

Score should go up some, however as "coldfusion" posted the new loan will also be included as a factor.

You have plenty of cards with enough variety of lenders at this time. 

No new cards are needed or advised. (My Opinion)

If any of your current card's have monthly fees, I would close them, you now have a few better cards.

[HeavenOhio]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Maybe I wasnt' clear....all cards are paid off to zero balance. 

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@Anonymous, it's possible that you might run into the "all cards at zero" penalty, although with trailing interest on these cards, it's not likely to happen right away.

For ideal scoring, a small balance is left to report on one card, with the rest reporting zero. You don't have to pay interest to do this. The balance should come from a new charge that's still within the card's grace period.

In your case, you're trying to make interest go away. Encountering the "all zero" penalty for a brief period can be considered a temporary side-effect and can be addressed once your grace periods start to be reset.

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking I will cancel my Credit One cards. They are the only ones with annual fees. 

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@Kforce wrote:

Score should go up some, however as "coldfusion" posted the new loan will also be included as a factor.

You have plenty of cards with enough variety of lenders at this time. 

No new cards are needed or advised. (My Opinion)

If any of your current card's have monthly fees, I would close them, you now have a few better cards.

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[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Maybe I wasnt' clear....all cards are paid off to zero balance. 

---

@Anonymous, it's possible that you might run into the "all cards at zero" penalty, although with trailing interest on these cards, it's not likely to happen right away.

For ideal scoring, a small balance is left to report on one card, with the rest reporting zero. You don't have to pay interest to do this. The balance should come from a new charge that's still within the card's grace period.

In your case, you're trying to make interest go away. Encountering the "all zero" penalty for a brief period can be considered a temporary side-effect and can be addressed once your grace periods start to be reset.

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I actually have one card that has a little balance  (about 7% of utilization) on it so that's good. 

[Remedios]

Since this has turned primarily into conversation about scoring impact, I'm going to move it UFS.

@Anonymous  if you wish to discuss future credit card applications and/or recommendations feel free to start another thread.