providian

I think they are pissed at you transferring the balances. Just a guess. What other cards to you have and how old are they? That would determine if you can afford to close providian. If you have Citi, you dont need two providians. Two or 3 revolving trades are the best numbers to have. Close the mastercard.

roni.

 

Oh,certainly that could be the reason. A 6 month account is not all that impressive to them. I would call back and of course using the more mature account, ask for a APR deduction. If they do not abide, threaten to close both accounts. I will bet you that will spark a reaction. I would also tell them that you plan on traveling and do not want such a high rate with no grace period. That sounds like you could be putting balances back on the card again. Thus they can make $$$ which is what they are all about ultimately. But I assume FB,Spiegel and the Citi adv. cards are fairly recently opened accounts (under 6 months). Thus you REALLY can not close the providian visa (1 year old) account. If that is all you have, you must leave this account open and let it age further. Also, when you call back and threaten to close both, if they dont bite, close the mc immediately. Another point. you must not have 0 balances on any revolving accounts, it hurts your fico score.

Good luck to you,

roni.

zip wrote:
-------------------------------
i have citibank advantage and gold.also have a spiegel and fashion bug card both zero balances.when i called to have intreat lowered i used the mc acct#, could that be why?

 

RE: 0 balance HURTS fico??

Roni, is this true?

If you have say 5 revolving accounts, including store, how many should have a low (<20% to credit line) balance? I was denied by AMEX for "Too many accounts with balances" so this will be interesting!

Thanks

 

RE: 0 balance HURTS fico??

I am not roni but you should have only 2 accounts with balances at no more then 50% used up against your credit limits.For a higher F.I.C.O. score it is recommended not to use more then 30% of your limits.Hope this helps answer your question.

 

since when does 0 balance hurt

Since when does having a zero balance hurt your FICO??

 

RE: since when does 0 balance

Since FICO was introduced. If you pay off every month, the creditor sees less potential for profit. Another aspect of this: When you speak with a retention agent, they will more easily pass on a client that pays off every month. Most would actually check how many $$ they've made off of you before negotiating. If you haven't payed interest at all and later ask to cancel, some will just say "be my guest". Seldom they'll even refuse to renew your card after it expires.

Of course this doesn't mean people who pay off every month can't get high scores. If that's the only "problem" in your credit history, it won't be crucial, and you may still get attractive pre-approved offers, though not as frequently.


Saar

 

RE: since when does 0 balance

Having zero balances looks bad to potential lenders(mortgage) because how they see it you could get your house and then run out and charge like crazy!! This whole FICO thing is so difficult to understand, I am just pointing out the view from a mortgage lender Atleast that's what I was told.

 

zip have a ?

You transferred to your citibank gold? Did you have to reuqest the transfer and did they run another inquiry? What rate did you receive and was their a fee? Sorry all the questions but I called them and they said they weren't offering on either cards for balance transfers??

Thanks

 

momof3

Do you have a world mastercard or a visa signature card? They dont offer balance transfers to anybody on those cards. But they offer them on every other card they have.

 

RE: momof3

I have the AAvantage card.

 

RE: 0 balance HURTS fico??

Having balances over 15% of the credit limit hurts your score. How much? I assume it is the higher the worse. But 15% or less is the best. But never carry 0 balances. Inactivity does not help your score.

roni.

Dave wrote:
-------------------------------
Roni, is this true?

If you have say 5 revolving accounts, including store, how many should have a low (<20% to credit line) balance? I was denied by AMEX for "Too many accounts with balances" so this will be interesting!

Thanks

 

I TRY NOT TO POST INCORRECT IN

The statement above is based on information provided at the FairIsaac website. There is a scorecard there which explains the breakdown of your individual credit score.
For 'utilization of available credit' the scorecard looks like this:

0%-15% - 15
16%-30% - 5
31%-40% - -3
41%-50% - -10
>50% - -18

And as momof3 said 0 balances does not look good to potential lenders. We have also been told that inactive open accounts do not help your score. Anyway, I was offering advise to Zip. I read alot, and not just message boards. And I try to share information that I find. If you dont like my answer, then that is your business. I wont take it personal. Really,

roni.


the other me wrote:
-------------------------------
Since when does having a zero balance hurt your FICO??

 

RE: 0 balance HURTS fico??

Check out the Fico Score card at:

www.ftc.gov/bcp/creditscoring/present/sld008.htm

the info is there about balances and # of accounts.

roni.

Dave wrote:
-------------------------------
Roni, is this true?

If you have say 5 revolving accounts, including store, how many should have a low (<20% to credit line) balance? I was denied by AMEX for "Too many accounts with balances" so this will be interesting!

Thanks

 

RE: here's how to get 0 bal w/

Here's what I do. I know when each creditor reports the month's payment info to the bureaus, and I plan around that.

My Aria cycle ends on the 10th or 11th of each month. Say I have a $300 balance. I simply pay the balance and calculate in finance charges for the month, since there is no grace period, and make a payment a week or so in advance. That way, I used the card all through the billing cycle, and that fact will be reported to the bureaus, but the balance on the account for that cycle date will be 0 since I paid it off early.

Wondering if this is good for the score...

 

RE: 0 balance HURTS fico??

Hi roni
I went to the site you have givin but they are only showing 1 scorecard out of 10.Yes they got 10 different scorecards.Not everyone is on the same scorecard,and it what rank a person is with the card.I would say like the first 3 scorecards are for good to excellent credit the middle 4 which is 4-7 being for fair to poor credit,and the last 3 which is 8-10 being poor to bad credit,and no credit at all.This is what i think the way how the scorecards are used.They gather up a large sample of consumers credit files for each scorecard,and they have different point values altogether.So what number of points on 1 scorecard is different on another.Maybe someone else knows more about it then i but you almost bet this may be the way on how the cards are being used.