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Does my credit score take a hit if I’m close to the limit on one of my credit cards because of balance transfers but my overall credit utilization didn’t increase?
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Jul 26, 2019 14:01
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On an actual credit report (like a mortgage lender pulls), yes. On the credit report, it says on ours “proportion of balances to credit limits is too high on bank revolving or other revolving accounts”. FWIW the mortgage lender said that message kicks in at a 40% utilization for that specific card.
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Jul 26, 2019 14:08
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I've had credit application rejection letters that state something along the lines of "too many accounts with high balances"
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Jul 26, 2019 14:32
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It's so bizarre that the credit system actively penalizes people for regularly using one or two credit cards like a normal person.
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Jul 26, 2019 15:25
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Lame. My total utilization is like 25% but most of it is on a Discover that’s almost maxed bc it had a 0% balance transfer offer. This seems like it’s handcuffing bc if I ask for a credit line increase on my existing cards to lower my utilization, that Discover card is causing my credit score to be lower which reduces how much they’ll increase my limit.
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Jul 26, 2019 16:07
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Well, I don’t think anyone here knows how much lower. Could be a couple of points.
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Jul 26, 2019 16:14
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:It's so bizarre that the credit system actively penalizes people for regularly using one or two credit cards like a normal person. There's a difference between something being theoretically sub-optimal and an actual penalty. If you have a couple of credit cards you keep at reasonable utilization, you can get to super-prime credit without trouble. Nobody will care that your FICO 8 score is 795 and not 830.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:16
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:Well, I don’t think anyone here knows how much lower. Could be a couple of points. I nearly maxed out my $23,000 balance on a BofA card doing a 0%APR, $0 balance transfer. Dropped my credit karma score 60 points. It slowly started coming back up as I paid it off. Once I paid the $22k back (within the 15mo promo period), my CK score was back to about the same spot, maybe 10 points less. ~6 months after that it’s back to normal around 810 or so. Don’t know about actual FICO fluctuations through that time, but the FICOs I get through my cards all are about 805-815 now as well.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:51
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Space Gopher posted:There's a difference between something being theoretically sub-optimal and an actual penalty. If you have a couple of credit cards you keep at reasonable utilization, you can get to super-prime credit without trouble. Nobody will care that your FICO 8 score is 795 and not 830. Let me put it another way, the credit system as designed rewards using your credit in a counterintuitive way. I have no interest in owning a house so hopefully I'll never have to go through a mortgage application, but I've read in these forums people claiming that their broker would recommend waiting till their credit was over 800 to get "the best rates" which means two people with nominally equal income/spending can end up paying a substantially different amount for the same credit just because one of them decided to apply for 5 credit cards instead of 2. Edit: I totally agree that people do worry too much about their credit score, but not worrying about it also has consequences.
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Jul 26, 2019 18:10
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I've always heard that anything 750 and above gets the best rates and higher scores only serve as a buffer for small fluctuations.
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Jul 26, 2019 19:30
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How long should you wait after opening a credit card to ask for a product change to a different card? Earlier this year I opened a CSR+CSP to get the double signup bonus, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to just keep the CSR, and then product change the CSP to one of the Freedom cards. Is 6-months after opening too soon to request a product change?
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Jul 27, 2019 22:09
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I've always read waiting a year is the best practice.
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Jul 28, 2019 00:10
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Cbear posted:I've always read waiting a year is the best practice.
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Jul 28, 2019 18:58
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I received a letter from Chase saying they're going to close my Slate card due to inactivity. I have other Chase cards so I could consolidate the credit line which wouldn't hurt my credit utilization. However, I've had the card since 2013 so that'll probably hurt me in terms of average age of open account, right? I can actually call them to keep the account open.
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Jul 28, 2019 23:24
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Just spend 50 bux on it. I forgot to do that for my very first credit card and they closed an account I had since 2006
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Jul 29, 2019 03:08
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George H.W. oval office posted:Just spend 50 bux on it. My question is whether losing an old account is worth it so I don’t have to maintain a card I don’t use it, especially if I can consolidate the credit onto another card.
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Jul 29, 2019 05:22
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Josh Lyman posted:My question is whether losing an old account is worth it so I don’t have to maintain a card I don’t use it, especially if I can consolidate the credit onto another card. "Worth it" is amazingly specific to you personally, both in what impact it will have on your score based on your history and what's "worth it" for you. I'd suggest you use one of the many credit score simulators that allows you do to if-then scenarios based on your own credit history. Chase Creditjourney has one, and one of the options is "close my oldest line or credit" or something like that.
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Jul 29, 2019 13:43
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I don't get the hand-wringing, if it's a no-fee card just keep it open, put a small recurring charge on it and stop losing sleep over it.
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Jul 29, 2019 17:59
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Definitely keep it open unless you have cards much older than that one. I personally throw an Amazon reload for a dollar on all my sock drawer cards every 6 months to keep them open.
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Jul 29, 2019 22:48
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Just product change it to a more useful card. Chase turned my Slate into a Freedom recently.
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Jul 29, 2019 23:07
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There is no such thing as average age of open accounts in FICO scoring. If you choose to close the account, it will still benefit your average age of accounts until it actually falls off your credit report. By transferring your credit to a different card, you will have no immediate hit to either utilization or average age of account, and as all of your accounts age, the impact when it finally does fall off will be less than if the tradeline just vanished today. So don't be afraid to close it, but also, yes, you lose nothing but a phone call to keep it, and you can always product change it at the opportunity cost of not being eligible for the sign up bonus for the card you product change to. I actually did close my Slate and threw the limit on my CSR, and by the time it falls off it will barely effect me because the ten cards I'm keeping open will all have aged up enough that my AAoA will be just fine without it.
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Jul 30, 2019 01:17
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Sub Rosa posted:There is no such thing as average age of open accounts in FICO scoring. This is a seriuspost?
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Jul 30, 2019 02:12
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Length of credit history is 15 percent of your score. Or am I wrong here?
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Jul 30, 2019 02:25
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Cbear posted:Length of credit history is 15 percent of your score. Or am I wrong here? You're not wrong.
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Jul 30, 2019 02:43
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Motronic posted:This is a seriuspost? Yes, the metric is average age of accounts, not average age of open accounts. Closed accounts still are included in that average until they age off, which takes ~ten years after they are closed. In addition to this, your single oldest account is independently important as a a metric of length of credit history, but if the Slate isn't his oldest card, and ten years from now his average age of accounts will still be just fine after it drops off, there isn't really any concern for closing it. One reason that people may be confused about this is that Vantage Score does use average age of open accounts, but FICO doesn't. Sub Rosa fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Jul 30, 2019 |
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Jul 30, 2019 05:25
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Sub Rosa posted:Yes, the metric is average age of accounts, not average age of open accounts. Closed accounts still are included in that average until they age off, which takes ~ten years after they are closed. This isn't completely correct. The answer depends on whether they're trying to improve credit in general or specifically looking at credit for mortgage purposes. FICO specifically does include closed accounts in its credit age calculation, but there are relatively few mortgage lenders that only use raw FICO scores in their lending process. Many individual lenders, especially mortgage lenders, only look at open accounts in their own credit analysis, especially if the closed account has been closed for several years. Also, the act of closing an account "freezes" its length, since closed accounts don't continue to accumulate age. Since open credit accounts naturally age as the borrower ages, closed accounts, especially if it was open less than five years, could be a net negative to an account length calculation. Account credit age isn't nearly as important as payment history and utililization, though, so if you're looking to repair a credit score, that's where you want to start. If your credit history and utilization are pristine, many lenders will overlook a moderate credit length.
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Jul 30, 2019 14:42
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It is correct that individual lenders look past your FICO score, and I have never shopped for a mortgage, so you certainly may be correct that mortgage lenders may only consider open accounts when doing so. It isn't correct that closed accounts don't accumulate age in terms of FICO scoring.
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Jul 30, 2019 16:51
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saintonan posted:
Experian says my oldest account is 12 years old. It is a loan from 2007. I paid that loan off over 5 years ago. What cards / bank accounts have good sign up bonuses right now? I'm about to finish the $5k spend on the Chase Ink Business preferred. I should be eligible for the other chase cards, but what else is easy? Thinking about doing this $250 bonus offer for $10k deposit. Tomorrow is the last day to sign up though. No fees, and can pull everything, including the bonus by 11/15. https://www.simple.com/offer-v1 Loan Dusty Road fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Jul 30, 2019 |
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Jul 30, 2019 23:49
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Dustoph posted:Experian says my oldest account is 12 years old. It is a loan from 2007. I paid that loan off over 5 years ago. It depends how far the rabbit hole you want to go. I'd personally stay with business cards while you're under 5/24. Have you started the Citi Business AA train yet?
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Jul 31, 2019 01:32
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Dustoph posted:
Check some ref deals. Jerk McJerkface posted:
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Jul 31, 2019 01:46
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Cbear posted:It depends how far the rabbit hole you want to go. I'd personally stay with business cards while you're under 5/24. Have you started the Citi Business AA train yet? What train? I had one (citi business AA) that I’ve since closed. Can I get another (and another)?
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Jul 31, 2019 05:32
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I have the double cash card, seems like a no brainer now for me to switch my freedom unlimited to a plain freedom, am I overlooking anything? I've discussed the CSR before but that's still a couple years out so I'm not concerned about losing eligibility for that
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Jul 31, 2019 17:06
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Nope, switch it now and enjoy the 5% on gas and streaming
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Jul 31, 2019 17:08
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Simpsons Reference posted:Nope, switch it now and enjoy the 5% on gas and streaming Sick, I'm going to call and do that this afternoon
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Jul 31, 2019 17:19
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Hoshi posted:I have the double cash card, seems like a no brainer now for me to switch my freedom unlimited to a plain freedom, am I overlooking anything? If you shop in-store at Costco in the US, they don't take MasterCard. Workaround: Shop in-store at Costco in Canada (they only take MasterCard) or buy Costco gift cards online with MasterCard (or Discover when they have warehouse clubs as a category). Or product change another Citi card with a nice bonus to the Citi Costco Visa.
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Jul 31, 2019 18:25
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astral posted:If you shop in-store at Costco in the US, they don't take MasterCard. Workaround: Shop in-store at Costco in Canada (they only take MasterCard) or buy Costco gift cards online with MasterCard (or Discover when they have warehouse clubs as a category). I got the Costco card and I love it, I'm an executive member and I recoup the fee easy. It's right by my workplace lol
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Jul 31, 2019 18:38
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Cacafuego posted:What train? I had one (citi business AA) that I’ve since closed. Can I get another (and another)? I've said too much. But the answer is yes. Although it's a bit harder to do now than it was.
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Jul 31, 2019 18:54
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Cbear posted:I've said too much. Can you PM me the details? I wanna get in while I can 
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Aug 1, 2019 15:26
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Finally got the $250 for $1k spend Blue Cash Everyday to Blue Cash Preferred upgrade offer today.  It's especially great since by closing the Marriott card they ruined (and putting more spend on quarterly category cards the last few months) I got on their new card bonus denial popup poo poo-list. By spending a bunch on this upgraded version I should get off of their poo poo-list, too!
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Aug 2, 2019 03:06
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Can anyone give some more info on the “use points to stay at premium Hyatt properties?” We did something similar a few years ago using SPG points in Europe to stay at very fancy places (that my wife loved) but those redemptions have basically tripled at this point. 20k points and 60k points a night are very different.
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Aug 4, 2019 18:48
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