Evey now & again it happens. We throw a little more on the credit cards than we had planned. School clothes, Christmas, a vacation, etc. Once it’s done, it’s done. Maybe you didn’t have the greatest APR before, but it didn’t matter. You either carried a low balance or no balance. Well, now you either have one or have a large enough one where that not-so-great-APR is effecting you.
You know what I am going to say…..transfer the balance to a no fee balance transfer credit card with an intro rate…right? Yup, I am.
HOWEVER, you have heard that applying for too many cards can hurt your credit score.
It is true.
But how much?
Well first off, what is a good credit score?
Using the FICO, a good credit score is, in my opinion, anything over 650 is a decent credit score. Low 600’s can still get you decent credit, but you are pushing it.
How much does applying for a credit card hurt your credit score?
Well, this is how your credit score is determined;
1. How you pay your bills (35 % of the score)
2. Amount of money you owe and the amount of available credit (30 %)
3. Length of credit history (15 %)
4. Mix of credit (10 %)…all your credit isn’t credit cards or auto loans, but a mix
5. New credit applications (10 %)
As you can see, apply for a new credit card isn’t going to kill your score. In fact, the bureaus are used to people “credit shopping”. A prudent credit handler would of course be looking for a better rate. Where it can hurt you is;
1) when are you applying after missing (alot) payments or in the process of being sent to collections?
2) when are you applying for 5 or 6 credit cards?
Both of those are warning signals to the credit bureaus.
SO, if you have fair credit & need a break from the high APR, go ahead….apply for 1-3 cards. You should be fine.
If you have bad credit, the same rules apply, just don’t expect to get as good of a rate as advertised.
This link will take you to some of the best balance transfer credit cards I am aware of. Look over the stats & see which would benefit you the most……and as long as you dont apply for ALL of them…..your credit will be just fine.
Top Balance Transfer Credit Cards for several headings The previous link takes you to a company I am familar with. The online applications are encrypted & go direclty to the bank website (amex, discover, chase, etc), so it is totally safe to enter your info.
Until next time
cb
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Filed under: consumer balance transfer credit cards | Tagged: apply for a new credit card, balance transfer credit cards, does applying for a credit hurt your credit score, transfering a balance on your credit card
[...] you are unsure what your specific credit score is, you can get an idea of how you rate by reading my post about how the FICO weighs the different attributes that affect your credit [...]