Hey FICO forums. Just paid off my USAA Platinum Visa, it's my oldest credit card and it's always had a balance as far as I can remember for the last 4 years I've had it. I did pay it off now and it has a credit limit of $4,000. I guess I have three questions that I want to get some input on but just want to give a little context. I also just paid off a closed account with citi with a balance of $2171. It was opened fraudulently but was still making my Experian report look bad. Lastly, I have a Navy Federal Visa Signature go rewards card with a: $8,525 balance. It is now the only card with utilization. Here are my questions:
1. Since the citi card was closed and now the balance is paid in full, will it significantly heal/change my credit score significantly on Experian?
2. Should I ask for a balance increase with USAA even though I've had 3 late payments with them with the last two being 2 years ago?
3. The reason I am asking for a balance transfer is because I want to figure out whether I want to balance transfer some of the balance onto my platinum card since the interest rate is at 4% versus the 17% that is currently on my Navy card? However, the USAA finally has a zero balance for the first time in its lifetime so I am unsure how to proceed. Current scores and limits are in my signature. Thanks all!
If you're not planning to apply for credit anytime soon, stop worrying about your scores and do what makes financial sense.
@fsalsa2 wrote:Hey FICO forums. Just paid off my USAA Platinum Visa, it's my oldest credit card and it's always had a balance as far as I can remember for the last 4 years I've had it. I did pay it off now and it has a credit limit of $4,000. I guess I have three questions that I want to get some input on but just want to give a little context. I also just paid off a closed account with citi with a balance of $2171. It was opened fraudulently but was still making my Experian report look bad. Lastly, I have a Navy Federal Visa Signature go rewards card with a: $8,525 balance. It is now the only card with utilization. Here are my questions:
1. Since the citi card was closed and now the balance is paid in full, will it significantly heal/change my credit score significantly on Experian?
Yes it will help that the balance is gone.
2. Should I ask for a balance increase with USAA even though I've had 3 late payments with them with the last two being 2 years ago?
Only if it's a soft pull, not if it's a hard pull. I'm guessing it would be denied, but if it's a soft pull you have nothing to lose.
3. The reason I am asking for a balance
transfer[increase] is because I want to figure out whether I want to balance transfer some of the balance onto my platinum card since the interest rate is at 4% versus the 17% that is currently on my Navy card? However, the USAA finally has a zero balance for the first time in its lifetime so I am unsure how to proceed. Current scores and limits are in my signature. Thanks all!
I guess it's worth paying the balance transfer fee to get such a big reduction in interest. But if you're concerned about your credit scores in the near term, be wary of using more than 28% of the credit limit on the USAA card for the balance transfer. And don't make any purchases with the card until the balance transfer balance is paid off.
Thank you so much for the advice!