Credit score questions

[Lucky]

I signed up for the 30 day free trial at equifax for the credit report and FICO score. I'd like to improve my score but have some questions.


-My score was 716. That's put me at about the 45 percentile among all americans. According to equifax, still a "good score", with "very low risk" that enables "a wide array of loans and credit options".

-My good points were that I have no late payments reported D), and that I'm not actively seeking credit.
-My bad points were that I have a high proportion of balance to credit limit-76%, and that I've only had credit for a little under 5 years.


Basically, what I want to get is a new credit card with a 10K limit and then transfer all my existing balances over to it, so I can deal with one card instead of three. I dont know whether 716 would be good enough to get that kind of credit or not. Also, I have a couple of inactive accounts. Two jewelry store credit cards and a sears card. On one hand I would think it would be good to cancel unused cards, but on the other hand if they take into account my balance-->credit limit, then closing those accounts would make the ratio even higher.

So what do I do for that? any tips for a good credit card company likely to give me a 10K credit line? (I already have citibank cards).

 

[ElFenix]

close unused accounts. they look at how close to maxed the cards you use are, not unused cards. also, make sure there isn't anything incorrect like wrong address history or something (i need to check mine about now to make sure that they didn't get it screwed up when i moved... who puts the same street # in two different zips in the same city?!?).

 

[Descartes]

That seems like a pretty good score. I'm not far below you, but I have a delinquent item on my report. Nothing major though...

Anyway, I was turned down for a platinum card in an attempt to the same thing you're wanting to do. Hope your luck is better than mine...

 

[Lucky]

citibank says that i have a late payment and to refer to transunion's credit agency to see it..im confused, how can it be on transunion and not on equifax? how much can the scores differ? citibank wont give me a credit increase because of it.

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

(Skoorb here)

I would say that with that debt load if you decrease your debt to credit ratio it will skyrocket. I got my score done earlier this summer and it read 704 through equifax with 3 inquiries in last 12 months. A month back I did it again and I had only two inquiries but my score was down to 680. THe reason was that my earlier debt to credit was $650/3300 and a month back it was $1100/3300. At least that's the only reason I can think of! Everything else was either the same or better; I was surprised that a small increase in percentage like that would make a significant difference but nothing else could account for it. If you use the score fico simulator it has examples of what happens if you pay down your credit - try the simulator and you'll see that if you jack down your balances your score will go up by a big margin.

It's also 55th percentile if you're in the top 45 - not the 45th But I bet with that score you're actually better than that aren't you? 716 is quite a bit above average.

citibank says that i have a late payment and to refer to transunion's credit agency to see it..im confused, how can it be on transunion and not on equifax? how much can the scores differ? citibank wont give me a credit increase because of it.

AFAIK creditors are supposed to send your results to all three credit agencies, but do not always. Thus one agency may say you have this info and another may say you have that. I think they will all be pretty close though...i would expect that equifax will eventually get that late payment on their end but I'm not sure.

 

[Lucky]

But I bet with that score you're actually better than that aren't you? 716 is quite a bit above average.

according to the printout: 45% of US consumers have a lower score than you.

 

[MaxDSP]

Lucky, is it easy to cancel the membership before the 30 days is up or do they make you jump through hoops? I wanna check out my score and see if its about time Discover gave me a higher credit limit.

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Originally posted by: MaxDSP
Lucky, is it easy to cancel the membership before the 30 days is up or do they make you jump through hoops? I wanna check out my score and see if its about time Discover gave me a higher credit limit.

(skoorb again) For me it was very easy - I just called them and it was cancelled!

 

[MaxDSP]

My score is 691. Ive only had my 2 cards for 1.5 years. I guess it pays to pay on time every month.

 

[MaxDSP]

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb

Originally posted by: MaxDSP
Lucky, is it easy to cancel the membership before the 30 days is up or do they make you jump through hoops? I wanna check out my score and see if its about time Discover gave me a higher credit limit.

(skoorb again) For me it was very easy - I just called them and it was cancelled!

Yea, I just signed up because I was so curious about my score. See my score above

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb
(skoorb again) For me it was very easy - I just called them and it was cancelled!

What did you do with MrsSkoorb and what's that smell coming from your basement?

 

[MaxDSP]

Whats this mean?

The proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving/charge accounts is too high
The proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving/charge accounts is 64%. The average proportion of balances to credit limits on revolving/charge accounts carried by U.S. consumers is around 34%.

Analysis of consumer credit behavior repeatedly finds that owing a substantial balance on revolving/charge accounts (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diners Club, department store cards, etc.) relative to the amount of revolving/charge credit available to you represents increased risk. In fact, the level of revolving debt is one of the most important factors in the FICO score. The score evaluates your total balances in relation to your total available credit on revolving/charge accounts, as well as on individual revolving/charge accounts. For a given amount of revolving credit available, a greater amount owed indicates a greater risk, and lowers the score. (For credit cards, the total outstanding balance on your last statement is generally the amount that will show in your credit bureau report. Bear in mind that even if you pay off your credit cards in full each and every month, your credit bureau report may show the last billing statement balance on those accounts.)

The more you owe on revolving/charge credit accounts - relative to the amount of credit available to you - the more your score may be affected. So doing your best to pay your revolving/charge account balances is a smart way to help increase your score. On the other hand, shifting balances among revolving/charge accounts, opening up new revolving/charge accounts, and closing down other revolving/charge accounts will not improve your score, and could possibly decrease your score.

If I understand correctly, theyre saying that I am charging too much on my credit cards? I thought this was good, since the more you buy and pay back on time, the better. Would it help if I called up visa and discover and told them to raise my credit?

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb
(skoorb again) For me it was very easy - I just called them and it was cancelled!

What did you do with MrsSkoorb and what's that smell coming from your basement?

This is MrsSkoorb...Skoorbie is not allowed to log out without permission from ME!

 

[Lucky]

If I understand correctly, theyre saying that I am charging too much on my credit cards? I thought this was good, since the more you buy and pay back on time, the better. Would it help if I called up visa and discover and told them to raise my credit?

it means that the percentage of money that you keep month to month on your card (revolving) is too high compared to your limit. For you, its saying that if your total credit limits are 10,000, then you have 6400 in debt on your credit cards, and the average person would have 3400. (for example).


I got ahold on my transunion report and my (non-fico) score is 744/934. What confuses me is that though citibank says I have a late payment and refers me to transunion as a result of my denied request for a credit line increase, there are no reported adverse items on my transunion report. Everything says spotless.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb
(skoorb again) For me it was very easy - I just called them and it was cancelled!

What did you do with MrsSkoorb and what's that smell coming from your basement?

LOL Thanks for the laugh

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb
(skoorb again) For me it was very easy - I just called them and it was cancelled!

What did you do with MrsSkoorb and what's that smell coming from your basement?

LOL Thanks for the laugh

Men!

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb
(skoorb again) For me it was very easy - I just called them and it was cancelled!

What did you do with MrsSkoorb and what's that smell coming from your basement?

LOL Thanks for the laugh

Men!

Hey, it was funny so I'd laugh whether I were a man, woman or Ferengi but can I be all 3 at the same time?

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat

Originally posted by: MrsSkoorb
(skoorb again) For me it was very easy - I just called them and it was cancelled!

What did you do with MrsSkoorb and what's that smell coming from your basement?

LOL Thanks for the laugh

Men!

Hey, it was funny so I'd laugh whether I were a man, woman or Ferengi but can I be all 3 at the same time?

Heh. Just you RossMAN, just you!

 

[Mill]

LMAO in our pm's earlier skoorb told me he wasn't allowed to log out. LMAO>