When Does New Card Figure in Credit Utilization?

[Anonymous]

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@kshurika wrote:
Well, as I said, since Credit Karma is fiction, I'm not really looking at when a new card is posted there. I was just wondering when the new credit line figures in my overall credit utilization. Is there a lag time of one month the way there is for the appearance of the card on websites, or is the new CL figured into the equation immediately?

Thanks, though.

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Credit Karma's reports are actually not fiction.  They are really reliable.  It's their scores that you can ignore.

Karma is actually a really good tool for the question you are asking.  What you really want to know is: when has my new card appeared on my reports?  You can update your reports at Karma as often as every 7 days.

Once the card has appeared on both reports (TU and EQ) then you could mentally give the third bureau (Experian) another two business days and then it should be on all three.

The question of how long it will take between approval and it appearing on reports is one that varies a lot depending on the CC issuer.  Amex can take a long time, for example: three months in some cases.  Some other issuers it might appear on your reports even before it arrives in the mail.  So a big range of possibilities.

[SouthJamaica]

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@kshurika wrote:
I know that it takes about a month for a new card and its CL to show up on FAKO sites. However, I was wondering exactly when the new CL figures in the calculation of your total credit utilization ratio for FICO 8. Is it immediately upon being granted the new card, or does it too require a month to figure in the calculation?

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It varies widely. Sometimes it reports the next day. Sometimes it doesn't report for more than a month.

[kshurika]

Okay, NOW I think I understand it all. Thanks to everyone for your answers (some of which were funny). This is not like the other forums I'm on (internal martial arts, etc.) in which everyone is flaming by two comments in. This place is actually HELPFUL.

Thanks again. 

[NRB525]

Perhaps you got this OP, but the terminology used, I found to be not clear

The “Card” first “reports” as a Hard Pull. That has no influence on Utilization because it merely indicates Seeking Credit. There is not even an account reporting, technically. 

When the bank prints a statement after your first month (or US Bank reaches a calendar month end) THEN the bank reports the New Account, along with the credit limit and balance you owe. Until that happens, there is nothing for FICO to plug in to your Utilization calculation for this new card. 

[Anonymous]

Hey NRB.  I think some people have posted about a new credit card appearing on their reports as a full account (not just an inquiry) very soon after being approved -- as in a matter of a few days.  I am not sure all CC issuers wait until after the first statement cycle to report the account to the CRA.

Perhaps SouthJ or CC hounds like him can comment.

PS.  And by contrast, some issuers do not report the new account even a month later.  I remember my second Amex card taking three months to appear -- and apparently that's not especially rare for Amex.

Glad you distinguished inquiries from the actual account appearing for our OP, however.

[expatCanuck]

Absolutely. My Barclaycard Ring reported the account to the bureaus less than a week after I was notified of my approval -- about a week before the card actually arrived. And the card has yet to generate its first statement.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey NRB.  I think some people have posted about a new credit card appearing on their reports as a full account (not just an inquiry) very soon after being approved -- as in a matter of a few days.  I am not sure all CC issuers wait until after the first statement cycle to report the account to the CRA.

Perhaps SouthJ or CC hounds like him can comment.

PS.  And by contrast, some issuers do not report the new account even a month later.  I remember my second Amex card taking three months to appear -- and apparently that's not especially rare for Amex.

Glad you distinguished inquiries from the actual account appearing for our OP, however.

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I've had cards first report the next day, and I've had cards report more than a month later, and others in between.

[NRB525]

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@expatCanuck wrote:
Absolutely. My Barclaycard Ring reported the account to the bureaus less than a week after I was notified of my approval -- about a week before the card actually arrived. And the card has yet to generate its first statement.

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Ok, so there is some variation. Did that report with a balance of any kind, even zero, or just listing the new account and limit?

[Anonymous]

I think Amex was around 2 months before it showed up on my reports.

[expatCanuck]

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@NRB525 wrote:

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@expatCanuck wrote:
Absolutely. My Barclaycard Ring reported the account to the bureaus less than a week after I was notified of my approval -- about a week before the card actually arrived. And the card has yet to generate its first statement.

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Ok, so there is some variation. Did that report with a balance of any kind, even zero, or just listing the new account and limit?

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It reported with the limit and a balance of zero.