I recently applied for two new cards - Generations & Citibank. was approved for both. after reading stuff here on the board - I realize that Generations doesn't report to the CAs - (in my case - that's good) however - I'm guessing Citibank reports to all three (if i'm wrong - please let me know). Here's the question - how much will it affect my score when Citi posts. My oldest card - about 5 years. Have six cards (not including Generations Bank) Four cards out of the six were opened during the past year. Current scores: Exp: 679 (2 inquiries in the past 6 mos) Eq: 686 (2 inquiries in the past 6 mos) TU: 707 (1 inquiry in the past 6 mos) Thanx in advance Mark LA
Its an excellent question. I suspect you have omitted the most important factors which may be your current CL, the additional CL when the new card appears, and your outstanding debt. Did you try BDD with citi?
oops - you're right - that's important info: total cl (not including Generations - hidden - and Citi - not yet posted): 32K Citi gave me 4K (which will bring my total cl to 36K) (Bt'd 3500 to citi - that's why i applied for the card) total current debt: 7,200
I don't think anybody can tell you except the folks at Fair Isaac -- and I doubt even they could -- but with 20-25% debt I would not be at all surprised if the added credit was neutral or actually provided a boost to your scores. Of course I also wouldn't be surprised if you lost 20 points. I don't think anybody knows. Let us know when it hits.
One of the thing the FICO score seems to consider is the number of accounts opened in the last three years. You want to keep this number as low as possible. Obviously you have to open new accounts from time to time but to keep your score up you want to open only 1 to 3 accounts per year. Other factors they consider are the average age of all accounts. Keep this over 5 years. Also, your oldest bank card. This is a Visa, MasterCard, or Discover. Always keep your oldest bank card. Preferably over 5 years.
It depends on how much your debt/open ratio is. As for the newness of the account, that won't effect much.. it needs to age at least 1 year..
They lady from EFX told me that they cannot generate a score on me until 6 months have passed because I only have 2 new accounts on my record. EFX won't generate a score on 1 negative either. My question is how they can even give my report to someone if they cannot generate a score. The lady on the phone side skirted that one and got me off the phone...................
My new card started reporting on EX today and I lost 16 points!!! Only lost 9 on TU ::rolling eyes::: L
You also asked if Citi reported to all three CRA's. That is a good question. My last update on Citi with EXP is Sept 1,2001. They claim they report every three or four months. EXP claims they stopped reporting on EXP so I don't know the answer.
thanx Thomas. Do you happen to recall how long it took them to report when you first got the card? thanx in advance. Mark LA
Another thing. As far as total credit line goes, aside from other factors. Assuming one had no credit card debt, you will probably get a boost in your credit score for having $8,000 to $12,000 total credit line on revolving triad credit cards. You will get a small additional amount for having up to $25,000. Having more line will not hurt your FICO score but may well make a mortgage lender's score drop. FICO scores and the scores you get when you apply for a mortgage are not the same.
UPDATE Citibank posted new card on Equifax today. Score dropped 10 points to 688 in the mean time - paying down balances as fast and as much as I can to try to regain some ground. Have one more new card that has not yet posted - Chase - and after that - that's it - aside from Target visa which i opened and closed within one day. i was approved for Target visa last week but cancelled the same day (due to ridiculous low cl and high apr). Wonder how it will effect my score if and when it reports as "account closed."
