@Anonymous wrote:Please comment if this is a good plan to optimize FICO, and add any recommendations/ suggestions as well:
Get all cards down to zero balance except for 1 Well, I don't agree with this as a strategy that will gain more than a few points. But each person has to make their own choices.
Have a 9% overall utilization (would not have to mean solely on one card, though, correct? Just 9% overall? Please confirm) If you have 9% overall utilization across all cards, that's good. Making that 9% by loading up one card is likely bad, because that single card has to have a high utilization on its own. If you mean 9% utilization on the one card, 9% of that one card CL, that is more reasonable (but here again, I don't agree with the "one card only" reporting methodology) In my opinion, having 9% overall utilization and having several cards that contribute to that 9% is not a bad thing. It may not be optimized to the last point, but it's easier to work with, and gets the file showing usage across multiple cards. That usage, again in my opinion, is helpful to show payment history and potentially keep lenders from getting scared when they see usage on cards later. In my case, I'm coming down from over $100k in open balances, so I've reached the point my CCC feel comfortable with my payment history, and the last CLD was over two years ago.
Continue requesting CLI's on cards without HP's (HP's not wanted) Of course
Pay down major cc's first( I read that FICO scoring model gives you more points for paying down major cc's first vs. store cards; is this correct?) I really doubt the FICO models are able to make that distinction. You can pay down whichever card you want to first, although it is often better financially to pay down the card with the highest APR first, save on interest cost.
I'm apping for 2 more majors and then none further
I moved a couple of small balances from hgh-interest store cards over to the major cc's. Would you recommend doing this on a larger scale level? Can you list out your cards, their CL and current balances? It makes it easier for folks to provide pertinent suggestions.
Other recommendations?Please also include recommendations that you think would minimize chances of any AA. I read a thread a while agoe on BOA AA and got a little nervous. Thanks everyone! Reports of AA happen. AA happens. I had AA in the form of CLD on nearly all cards after the credit crisis. You get through it. It isn't the end of the world. Predicting when and to whom it will happen is very difficult. So it is best not to worry about it too much, as long as you are just using your card for your regular spend.
@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Please comment if this is a good plan to optimize FICO, and add any recommendations/ suggestions as well:
Get all cards down to zero balance except for 1 Well, I don't agree with this as a strategy that will gain more than a few points. But each person has to make their own choices.
Have a 9% overall utilization (would not have to mean solely on one card, though, correct? Just 9% overall? Please confirm) If you have 9% overall utilization across all cards, that's good. Making that 9% by loading up one card is likely bad, because that single card has to have a high utilization on its own. If you mean 9% utilization on the one card, 9% of that one card CL, that is more reasonable (but here again, I don't agree with the "one card only" reporting methodology) In my opinion, having 9% overall utilization and having several cards that contribute to that 9% is not a bad thing. It may not be optimized to the last point, but it's easier to work with, and gets the file showing usage across multiple cards. That usage, again in my opinion, is helpful to show payment history and potentially keep lenders from getting scared when they see usage on cards later. In my case, I'm coming down from over $100k in open balances, so I've reached the point my CCC feel comfortable with my payment history, and the last CLD was over two years ago.
Continue requesting CLI's on cards without HP's (HP's not wanted) Of course
Pay down major cc's first( I read that FICO scoring model gives you more points for paying down major cc's first vs. store cards; is this correct?) I really doubt the FICO models are able to make that distinction. You can pay down whichever card you want to first, although it is often better financially to pay down the card with the highest APR first, save on interest cost.
I'm apping for 2 more majors and then none further
I moved a couple of small balances from hgh-interest store cards over to the major cc's. Would you recommend doing this on a larger scale level? Can you list out your cards, their CL and current balances? It makes it easier for folks to provide pertinent suggestions.
Other recommendations?Please also include recommendations that you think would minimize chances of any AA. I read a thread a while agoe on BOA AA and got a little nervous. Thanks everyone! Reports of AA happen. AA happens. I had AA in the form of CLD on nearly all cards after the credit crisis. You get through it. It isn't the end of the world. Predicting when and to whom it will happen is very difficult. So it is best not to worry about it too much, as long as you are just using your card for your regular spend.
They could actually (the pink) as store cards are labelled differently in the bureau's datasets, Retail or similar.
That said I don't know where the theory of balances on national bank cards are better than balances on store cards. There's been no suggestion that I've seen of that here in this forum or certainly not repeated: limits are limits.
Whether store cards are worth less or score less (or are even a penalty) is still up for some debate. It has been suggested by a former FICO employee that it counts differently, but what that really entails isn't well known and we don't have much data on it. My personal opinion is getting a store card isn't necessary anyway with how easy rewards cards are to obtain which rather renders whether they count less or not pretty moot. Very few store cards are actually worthwhile even if you shop there.
