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Credit Score Question

RollTheQuad06 said:
Fine, I looked at Quizzle. Glad I'm still excellent.

I did have a worried moment when I saw an unexpected account with open balance, but then I remembered I still have a card from an account belonging to my parents.

So I have one card I haven't used since 2008, with just $2000 credit limit. I will never use it. Should I close it just to get rid of it, or keep it open as proof of my responsibility with not maxing out my available credit?
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Don't listen to people that say to close it. Just don't.

In fact, I would call up said credit card company and ask them straight up if they will increase your credit limit. They may be able to use some internal measures to make that decision and otherwise they will have to make a hard inquiry and you may or may not want that.

Long story short, if you want good credit, keep the credit line open which was extended to you. The only time that doesn't make since if it's a very small percentage of your overall debt/credit ratio and if you're paying a steep annual fee for the card.
 
TWDeac said:
I've always been told that my Discover rewards card is on the same level as an Amex Black.
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:rulz:

I have a Dicover Rewards card. If I asked them to touch down a helicopter in my front yard so I could get a ride to Turks, they would have no idea what to do.

Call up concierge on an AMEX Black and they'll beam your ass to the moon and have Newt as the co-pilot
 
Seriously, consumer reports rates my Discover card as a 10/10 on their scale. Amex Black isn't even a 7/10.
 
SkyDivingDeacon said:
Don't listen to people that say to close it. Just don't.

In fact, I would call up said credit card company and ask them straight up if they will increase your credit limit. They may be able to use some internal measures to make that decision and otherwise they will have to make a hard inquiry and you may or may not want that.

Long story short, if you want good credit, keep the credit line open which was extended to you. The only time that doesn't make since if it's a very small percentage of your overall debt/credit ratio and if you're paying a steep annual fee for the card.
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It's ~7% of my available credit; no annual fee. Man, credit is such a stupid game. I shouldn't have to keep cards open that I don't want and will never use just to play the system.
 
RollTheQuad06 said:
It's ~7% of my available credit; no annual fee. Man, credit is such a stupid game. I shouldn't have to keep cards open that I don't want and will never use just to play the system.
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I've always thought that. I just want to buy things I can pay for. I don't want to take loans or take time to repay anything.

The only reason I have a card is for emergencies and to get cash back.
 
RollTheQuad06 said:
It's ~7% of my available credit; no annual fee. Man, credit is such a stupid game. I shouldn't have to keep cards open that I don't want and will never use just to play the system.
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No annual fee? Just shred the card and never use it again if it's not convenient for you, but don't close the account...
 
Haha I don't even know where the card is. I'm sure I put it "somewhere safe."
 
NEVER close out a free credit card (no annual fee). when you quit using it, just shred it. But that doesn't mean keep 20 lines of credit open, b/c that is asking for ID theft trouble. While inactive, its still an open credit source, and a 0 balance with a $10k limit over many years = improved credit scoring.
 
SkyDivingDeacon said:
I'm really surprised that someone hasn't mentioned this already:

It's almost certainly due to the fact that your bank used your wife's FICO score while one of the three credit bureaus used their own modeling called 'VantageScore.' For example, the highest credit score you can get on FICO is 850. The highest you can get with a 'VantageScore' is 990.

Also, I'm not discrediting some of the other responses because they could be true but I am confident that the vast difference in her scores' numbers is because of the different models used to run her credit inquiries.
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The reports that we paid for from the agencies specifically list FICO.
 
Two factors in credit score is credit owed to credit available ration and length of accounts. Basically you want to keep the amount owed on your credit cards below 30% of your overall credit available for a higher credit score. Like others have said, if you have had an account for a while and it is free, don't close it even if you don't use it anymore. It helps increase your total credit available versus amount owed ratio and also shows that you have managed an account for a length of time without incident.

That being said, it does look bad if you have too many accounts and they also look at your highest balances on your credit accounts and when your highs were.

As for credit checks hurting your credit score, it's only if you have a number of hard inquiries within a certain period of time. It basically looks like you are desperate to increase your credit and raises red flags. But having a few every now and then has no effect because they expect it to happen sometimes.
 
Deacon92 said:
The reports that we paid for from the agencies specifically list FICO.
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Interesting.

I would simply ask the bank how they generate a consumer's credit score and then go from there. If it's not a simple difference in one credit bureau's FICO score versus another, and all three (Transunion, Equifax, Experian) are the same or within 10-15 points of one another then maybe the bank is using their own modeling for fee purposes. What bank is it?
 
TWDeac said:
Seriously, consumer reports rates my Discover card as a 10/10 on their scale. Amex Black isn't even a 7/10.
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I think you have to spend at least $250K per year and have a $1 million in cash in an account. (that's what i've been told, don't care to look it up)

I'm sure there's a hefty fee too....in exchange you get a lot of special things for "free" (re. paid for) like first class upgrades and lots of bonuses in luxury hotels and stuff like that. I'm told the concierge service is second to none (half a step below having a personal assistant) and a truely unlimited spending limit.

All-in-all it seems like it's 99% a status symbol, which is probably why it doesn't score well...mostly it's just that retailers will go out of their way to keep you happy because they know you're going to spend boat loads of money (because you have to to keep up the yearly quota)
 
SkyDivingDeacon said:
Interesting.

I would simply ask the bank how they generate a consumer's credit score and then go from there. If it's not a simple difference in one credit bureau's FICO score versus another, and all three (Transunion, Equifax, Experian) are the same or within 10-15 points of one another then maybe the bank is using their own modeling for fee purposes. What bank is it?
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It's Suntrust and Well's Fargo. So two banks, which is part of our confusion. The two banks are within 20 points on each other in terms of what they say they see from each of the three agencies. But when we went directly to the agency and paid for the the "whole nine yard" detail report on her life, we don't see anything close to what the two banks are saying..
 
Deacon92 said:
It's Suntrust and Well's Fargo. So two banks, which is part of our confusion. The two banks are within 20 points on each other in terms of what they say they see from each of the three agencies. But when we went directly to the agency and paid for the the "whole nine yard" detail report on her life, we don't see anything close to what the two banks are saying..
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And you're 100% positive that Experian, Equifax and Transunion used FICO modeling?

Also, did the banks give you reports of what they inquired or did you ask for copies?
 
Baconwfu said:
I think you have to spend at least $250K per year and have a $1 million in cash in an account. (that's what i've been told, don't care to look it up)

I'm sure there's a hefty fee too....in exchange you get a lot of special things for "free" (re. paid for) like first class upgrades and lots of bonuses in luxury hotels and stuff like that. I'm told the concierge service is second to none (half a step below having a personal assistant) and a truely unlimited spending limit.

All-in-all it seems like it's 99% a status symbol, which is probably why it doesn't score well...mostly it's just that retailers will go out of their way to keep you happy because they know you're going to spend boat loads of money (because you have to to keep up the yearly quota)
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I really was just kidding. My GF just got a Discover card and I like making fun of her. Discover cards aren't accepted many places and aren't really known for their perks. They probably don't rank well with consumer reports :p
 
Deacon92 said:
It's Suntrust and Well's Fargo. So two banks, which is part of our confusion. The two banks are within 20 points on each other in terms of what they say they see from each of the three agencies. But when we went directly to the agency and paid for the the "whole nine yard" detail report on her life, we don't see anything close to what the two banks are saying..
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I would walk away from that mess personally. If you are in Winston, there are healthy community and regional sized banks and credit unions that would love your business and not give you the run around. I know it sucks to have to go through this process again, but it may be the difference in a hundred dollars less (mostly interest) a month. At least this time you would know exactly what questions to ask up front before credit is pulled. If you have the time it won't hurt to shop lenders pre-qual as long as they don't pull credit. PM if you need some recommendations.
 
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