They'll come eventually. BTW, nice to have another wolverine around. The MBNA Plat. UM card is my favorite.
LOL, Mark and Wolverine (not to mention the very funny remarks by Manequinne and Drmgirl6)... ACTUALLY, Mark, that utilization-percentage comment is the first cogent argument I've ever heard for collecting huge collective lines of credit. Good lord, you may have just caused a paradigm shift for me, lol. YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT, imho!!! We charged quite a few airline tickets last month, which we paid off in full when the statements came. Regardless, our available-credit sank from 98% to 67% or so, and my FICO scores dropped about 35 points!!! I hate that. Well, I sure as hell didn't expect to hear a really good argument in favor of collecting LOCs tonight, but then you had to go and drop da bomb on me. Doc
Randy, utilization is exactly why I have huge amounts of total credit lines (66K). There is NO way I could pay that back if I used it all, but whenI do charge $2000 and happen to let it cycle (I usually pay in full in cycle), then it doesn't hurt my scores.
Another benefit to having lots of credit spread throughout multiple accts is that if something happens on the CRs to ONE acct, your utilization is not affected as much. For example, when the CL isn't reported on EXP for Citibank if you have sufficient credit this doesn't matter. Also, Cap1 not reporting a CL doesn't affect your utilization as much. And you don't have to stress so much about a balance being updated. Large amounts of credit are kind of a buffer for the daily glitches that happen on the reports. You can't control these reporting errors and they take some time to correct when you become aware of these inaccuracies so having generous CLs protect you in a sense. That being said--this only works if you have the discipline not to go crazy spending on your cards and running up balances you have no hope of paying.
Mark: Did you get instant online approvals on any of your three new cards ? Did Advanta call you to verify employment or income ??
Atlantic Coast Federal was instant online Citi was instant too - with a lower line that was eventually raised. The others were NOT instant - they went through a manual review - and that's why - I think - I got higher lines. In my case, btw, manual reviews almost always seems to get me higher lines. Advanta called up to verify the business address - they didn't verify my personal incomne or gross sales that I put on the application - however my business is inc. - so maybe they found the info in some business eport or something
That's the catch. I caught myself at 20K and have started paying down. My red light is never to go beyond 24% utilization on combined cls - so - in other words - if I've got a little over 100K in credit limits - and my debt gets to 20K - I start working as fast as I can to pay big chunks back. it's a bit scary - but if you're disciplined it can be okay. I also try not go over 50% on any single card - unless i already have a longer history with the issuer and i feel confident with the issuer Amex - for example - I've gone beyond 50% untilization at times - but pay it down pretty quickly - and that's why i think i got a big cl increase from them last month. Fusa - on the other hand - even though i have a 12K limit wityh them -0 I keep my balances low - because of all the hanky panky one reads about them. Another thing is that i don't have debt on all my cards - it's too much of a headache. i do use all my cards - however - intermittently - to show usage to the credit issuer - and to possibly get cl increases. At the moment my debt is mostly on cards that have a minimum 10K cl - Amex, Advanta, Atlantic Coast Federal and Bofa. That, by the way, i think (not sure) is another reason why my recent credit card approvals have all been over 10K. If they check my credit utilization over the past year - which I believe they can from Experian - they see that I use my higher limit cards much more than my lower limit ones. Mark LA
drmgrl- They pulled from Equifax - and I'm pretty sure it's who they pull for anyone across the country.
co·gent  dictionary.com: Appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning; convincing: a cogent argument. i no understand. doc use big words. i look up in dictionary. i feel better now (i KNEW i shoulda gone to college, DANG!)
Mark, We just applied for the Atlantic Coast Federal Visa and got the online approval that says a rep will be in touch with us tomorrow to "finalize terms of our loan." But the page does clearly indicate Visa credit card. Did they contact you by phone and if so, what kind of info were they looking for? Any kind of heads up will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for posting about this one. The line isn't huge but 15K is nicely usable. DemPooches
Dem- In my case - it said approved for 15K - but the apr was higher - like 13.7 I called them a day later and they explained that the card i was approved for wasn't the Platinum (even tho the other cards they have give only a 10k limit - and I was approved for the max 15K) I asked to have it lowered and they called a day later and said they lowered it to the 9% - however - they did pull another hard on Eq. In your case - not sure what they mean by finalizing - maybe the apr - I'd suggest that you call them - it's in Georgia - Eastern Standard Time - so take that into account. Give them the loan application number you got with the approval. They were very nice and accomodating with me every time I called. Their number is 1-800-342-2824
Thanks Mark. We hadn't heard from them yet, but they did pull a 2nd hard on us this morning. (Wonder what they thought might have changed in 12 hours LOL) We'll call and see what we can get done about the APR too. Thanks again. DemPooches
Mark, didn't I recall you saying they asked for pay stubs?? Or am I confusing this with something else??
bailey- nope - they didn't ask for pay stubs the only cc issuer who asked me for that was Generations Bank
Hmmmm....wonder if we should take this personally. They want paystub AND 4 personal references! Never heard of such a thing for a credit card. But....like good little soldiers, we're faxing them in. DemPooches
Nope, not a joint account. Just an individual one. (We do everything like that now to protect our ratios so if we max out a card in one name it won't affect the other.) They apparently approved the 15K, unless the instant approval letter we got last night was garbage. As I'm thinking about it, the info they wanted faxed in was mother's maiden name, 4 personal references and the paystub. Maybe the references are just for tracing skips and not for approval criteria. Info was just faxed in so I guess we'll know something before long. Strange.... DemPooches
Dem- Sorry - I just remembered - THEY DID ask me to fax them my mother's maiden name and 2 personal references - however not a paystub. If you don't mind me asking - how's your score on Eq? Maybe if it's under a certain number they need a paystub?
