Scores 780+ with 2 months of credit history?

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone!

I've been perusing these forums for a while but am just now posting for the first time. I've found myself in a bit of an interesting (but very good) situation... I'm 20 yo, just got my first credit card in April (Discover It miles with 1k CL), and my credit scores: TU: 789, Equifax: 783, and my Experian is generally in the 770-780 range.

In December I didn't have a credit score, so suddenly skyrocketing this high was quite a surpise. At the moment, I'm an authorized user on two of my parents' cards, one being an AAdvantage Platinum Select with 34k limit opened 14 years ago, and the other being a Gap card opened 3 years ago with 6k limit.

Also, for further information, I work in tech in San Francisco and started a job in April making pretty close to six figures. I also only completed one semester of college and never got a degree, and I imagine both of these factors influence my scores.

I guess at this point... I'm not really sure where to go next? I can't get a CLI on my discover card until next month because they have a hard rule on having to wait 3 months... so I guess I'll wait and see what that brings. I almost never let my utilization go above 5%, and surely never hit 10%; because of this I pay my card off several times a month. And on the authorized user cards, those have a completely clean history and almost never exceed 10% utilization. 

I'm shooting for the Sapphire Preferred (my partner has an Amex Platinum and we almost always travel together, so I see another lounge-access card being redundantly expensive) and actually opened a checking and savings account in April with Chase to bump my odds of approval. And maybe if the Reserve or Platinum has another 100k bonus special I'd want to splurge since I fly quite a bit for leisure... but for now I have two main questions:

1) Any idea how/why my score is so high while my history is so short? Just good demographic markers?

2) Becuase my score is high in proportion to my length of history, how will I know when I'm ready to start applying for some of the more prestigious cards, like the Sapphire Preferred or Amex PRG? And do you have tips for how to get there and what cared to get in the meantime?

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

The million dollar question here is where are you getting your scores from?

FICO scores aren't attainable until you have 6 months of credit history, so if you are seeing scores at 2 months I would venture to guess that they are VS 3.0 scores (like from Credit Karma and similar services).  These are not FICO scores and aren't very meaningful.  Come October or so, you will be able to start seeing genuine FICO scores, which are far more worthwhile.

[DollyLama]

BBS, I think it is possible for OP to have scores based on AU accounts. My husband did not have a score 2 months ago, only thing he had was an installment paid off in April 2008. Clean file. I added him to 2 of my cards. I waited, Today was my 2nd refresh on him with CCT, he does have a FICO score with all three bureaus showing my payment history when I opened the account, not from the time he was added. His util is at 7%. - I was hoping a Cap One QS he got approved for early May might finally hit his report, it hasn't yet, he due for a second statement cut any day now. His scores are in the 700s, from 732-760, with no loans in the mix. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone!

I've been perusing these forums for a while but am just now posting for the first time. I've found myself in a bit of an interesting (but very good) situation... I'm 20 yo, just got my first credit card in April (Discover It miles with 1k CL), and my credit scores: TU: 789, Equifax: 783, and my Experian is generally in the 770-780 range.

In December I didn't have a credit score, so suddenly skyrocketing this high was quite a surpise. At the moment, I'm an authorized user on two of my parents' cards, one being an AAdvantage Platinum Select with 34k limit opened 14 years ago, and the other being a Gap card opened 3 years ago with 6k limit.

Also, for further information, I work in tech in San Francisco and started a job in April making pretty close to six figures. I also only completed one semester of college and never got a degree, and I imagine both of these factors influence my scores.

I guess at this point... I'm not really sure where to go next? I can't get a CLI on my discover card until next month because they have a hard rule on having to wait 3 months... so I guess I'll wait and see what that brings. I almost never let my utilization go above 5%, and surely never hit 10%; because of this I pay my card off several times a month. And on the authorized user cards, those have a completely clean history and almost never exceed 10% utilization. 

I'm shooting for the Sapphire Preferred (my partner has an Amex Platinum and we almost always travel together, so I see another lounge-access card being redundantly expensive) and actually opened a checking and savings account in April with Chase to bump my odds of approval. And maybe if the Reserve or Platinum has another 100k bonus special I'd want to splurge since I fly quite a bit for leisure... but for now I have two main questions:

1) Any idea how/why my score is so high while my history is so short? Just good demographic markers?

2) Becuase my score is high in proportion to my length of history, how will I know when I'm ready to start applying for some of the more prestigious cards, like the Sapphire Preferred or Amex PRG? And do you have tips for how to get there and what cared to get in the meantime?

Thanks so much!

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1. Are you sure they're FICO scores? Where are you getting them from?

2. Yes it's great to start off with such high scores if they are indeed FICO scores. No doubt the reason is the authorized user accounts.

3. Forget about the Chase Sapphire cards until you've been out there for at least a year, unless you go into a branch and are told you're prequalified, in which case you're good to go.

[Gunnar419]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Also, for further information, I work in tech in San Francisco and started a job in April making pretty close to six figures. I also only completed one semester of college and never got a degree, and I imagine both of these factors influence my scores.

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I'll leave others to answer your primary questions, but just FYI, the factors you note above are not influencing your score. Demographics, employment and income are not scoring factores, not in the FICO or Vantage algorithms.

I'm poor as dirt, live in a crumbling boonie town and have scores in the 800s.

Only specific credit behaviors like how whether you pay on time, how much credit card debt you have, length of your credit history, how many different types of loans you have and so on get factored into credit scores.

[Anonymous]

Ah, so they're not true FICO scores as they're from Credit Karma. Checked my TU FICO score via Discover and as of last month it's 759, and when I opened my Discover in April it was apparently 751, which is still higher than I would expect. But thanks for the update

As for the demographic data, I'm not saying that it's necessarily important for everyone -- just that I don't have enough history, accounts, or CL to justify having a score this high at this point, which is why I'm generally curious about it being so high and whether demographic markers can play a role when there's a lack of other data.

I have been an authorized user on the AAdvantage for a couple years.... but was just added to the Gap card I think in November. You think that would be enough to bump my score into existence, though? And at such a high point?

And yeah, I figured chase was looking at CL, AAoA, and number/diversity of accounts (but also the 5/24 rule). I'm just wondering how to know when it's time to jump on something like that since I don't have history but my score is already well within their range. And what would be recommended between now and then to help bump my score even higher? Probably going to ask for a CLI next month on my 1k discover, and then maybe apply for something new to increase my account number/diversity?

[DollyLama]

One thing that can help you personally is the "credit mix" FICO scores on-needing an installment, ie mortgage, car, student loan open for scoring. If you do not have any of these. Check this thread for a larger score boost (as it does not require a hard inquiry on your bureau), and after you garden your personal new cards, by the time you wish to apply for good prime cards, it will help. Read carefully over the instructions. boosts in score seems to be 30-40pts. 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Adding-an-installment-loan-the-Share-Secu...

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Ah, so they're not true FICO scores as they're from Credit Karma. Checked my TU FICO score via Discover and as of last month it's 759, and when I opened my Discover in April it was apparently 751, which is still higher than I would expect. But thanks for the update

As for the demographic data, I'm not saying that it's necessarily important for everyone -- just that I don't have enough history, accounts, or CL to justify having a score this high at this point, which is why I'm generally curious about it being so high and whether demographic markers can play a role when there's a lack of other data.

I have been an authorized user on the AAdvantage for a couple years.... but was just added to the Gap card I think in November. You think that would be enough to bump my score into existence, though? And at such a high point?

And yeah, I figured chase was looking at CL, AAoA, and number/diversity of accounts (but also the 5/24 rule). I'm just wondering how to know when it's time to jump on something like that since I don't have history but my score is already well within their range. And what would be recommended between now and then to help bump my score even higher? Probably going to ask for a CLI next month on my 1k discover, and then maybe apply for something new to increase my account number/diversity?

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The time is ripe to apply for the either of the Sapphire cards when (a) you have another credit card with a limit of at least 5k (b) you've been out there with your own cards for at least a year (c) you haven't opened 5 new accounts within the previous 24 months.  But if you want to try to do it sooner, check with a branch to see if you're prequalified.

[Anonymous]

Hi CrabDad!  Welcome to the forums.

A common thing that beginners often do is rely on their scores alone.  Have you been carefully reviewing your reports as well?  Karma is a great tool for pulling your EQ and TU reports.  For example, with your reports you could see what the "Date Opened" is for your AU accounts.  Some CC issuers use the date that the AU was issued as the Date Opened.  That won't help you.  Much better is for them to use the date that the true card owner originally opened the card (assuming that the card was opened at least 4 years ago -- 10, 15, or 20 years is much better).

If I were you I would pull all three of my FICO 8 scores by using the $1 trial offer at Credit Check Total.  You only need to do it once, but that would give you a good baseline.

As Gunnar explains, you can be certain that all the non-credit data you were guessing might affect your score (FICO or Vantage) has in fact zero effect.  That would include information about your job, your salary, your city, state or zip code, your age, your level of education, etc.

The Share Secure Loan technique mentioned by Dolly is something you should certainly explore.

CLIs are great to explore.  They don't in themselves improve your score, (not by even a point) but they can be convenient to have.  I would advise that you pursue CLIs with issuers that are certain to use soft inquries rather than hard ones.   This link may help:

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/credit-cards/which-credit-card-companies-do-a-hard-pull-for-a-credit-l...

[jawbrkr]

Correct me if I am wrong but I am guessing his scores are that high off the bat because they are not truly his scores. They are the paimary user's scores on the cards he is an AU on. As for applying for prime cards (Amex Platinum, CSP), dont you have to show enough history on your own, as opposed to being an AU, before they can seriously consider you for prime cards with higher limits?