I have a pretty high credit score, the only thing they said kept my score from being at the top if the fact that my accounts were so young (I haven't had them opened for long).

I am thinking about moving money around again. Does this negatively effect my credit score? I am opening a new high yield savings to replace my other ones. Well I might keep like $100 in each of my others to keep them open. I am also thinking about getting rid of SECU because I don't even keep enough money in there to benefit from their %'s and actually lose money on their $1/month charge.

1/19/2006 4:25:11 PM

I don't think actual money goes on your credit score at all. It's all the liquid money in credit accounts that help your score.

There's not really much you can do besides make your payments and keep your accounts open. Too many accounts can be a bad thing, by the way.

1/19/2006 4:27:12 PM

your savings accounts don't matter...they just mean that any credit accounts you have haven't been open for long enough to establish history of payment, etc.


what's your credit score?

1/19/2006 4:37:31 PM

a lot of the time, banks will pull your credit report before you open an account.

Too many of these inquiries in a short time can ding your score a little, but nothing you should really be worried about and the effects on your score are short-lived (a few months, tops).

1/19/2006 4:50:56 PM

You may not want to get rid of SECU just yet, because at times they have better interest rates on loans and mortgages than regular banks, which will save you more than a slightly higher credit score and the $1/month charge.

1/19/2006 4:53:53 PM

I ruined my credit by going to state..

But now I make a lot of money so I don't care

1/19/2006 5:05:23 PM

765

1/19/2006 5:32:06 PM

your credit score can go down if too many people start to look at your credit at one time. if you apply for a few new credit cards and other stuff, it can make your score go down, but to keep a good score, don't have more than a few credit cards (i.e 2 or 3 which includes a gas card) and keep them close to or paid off.

1/19/2006 6:31:52 PM

Your credit score is impacted by your debt to credit ratio. . .for example you have $1000 credit limit, but you only have $100 dollars on your credit cards. you owe. Never close out a credit card or credit line, just cut up the card and forget that it exists. Having this unused credit line benefits your credit score. Moving money around does not impact your credit score. It's this debt to credit ratio plus your payment history.

1/19/2006 7:16:53 PM

I always pay off my credit cards.

I only use 1 because of the cash back incentive and the credit line I keep building up, but I have 2 others that I have for backups. I have 2 debit accounts at 2 different banks. I also have 2, soon to be 3, online savings accounts. I am beginning to wonder if I am too spread out.

1/19/2006 8:33:32 PM

You can close your SECU checking account to get rid of the $1 donation. You should not close your share account ($25 min balance) so that you can borrow from SECU in the future.

oh yea, deposit accounts have no bearing on your credit rating.

Quote :

"Never close out a credit card or credit line, just cut up the card and forget that it exists. Having this unused credit line benefits your credit score."

This needs the disclaimer that having too much credit (ie unused credit card limit) will hurt your score. There isn't much sense in having a total credit card credit limit of more than 1-2 times your monthly income.

One other point: Assuming your high yield savings account is an online bank (ie ING Direct or Emmigrant Direct) you may want to consider keeping some of your savings in a real bank. Those online banks usually take 3+ days to move money.

[Edited on January 19, 2006 at 11:34 PM. Reason : ?]

1/19/2006 11:23:41 PM

Quote :

"Having this unused credit line benefits your credit score."

I actually think having a credit card with no balance can still negatively affect your score. I have an account with some stupidly high credit limit I never use (anymore), and I've been told by more than a couple people that they consider that something like "accessible money" thats not actually money of yours and thus counts against you in a way... I dont know. You might be right, but I've been told just the opposite from parents and other adults about 5 or 6 times. *shrug*

1/20/2006 9:06:57 AM

Credit score make up.

Payment history (35%). The number of unpaid bills you have, any bills sent to collection, bankruptcies etc... The more recent the problem, the lower your score.

Outstanding Debt (30%). Are your cards maxed out? High balances or more precisely, balances that are close to your credit limit can negatively effect your score. Keep your balances below 30%. This is where the credit-to-debt ratio comes in.

Length of your credit history (15%). How long have your accounts been open? The longer, the better.

Recent inquiries (10%). Every time you apply for credit of any kind, you create an inquiry on your credit report. Lots of Inquiries negatively effect your score.

Types of credit in use (10%). Current loans from finance companies. How many and how much.

[Edited on January 20, 2006 at 9:29 AM. Reason : .]

1/20/2006 9:27:41 AM

so much misinformation in this thread and about credit in general....


having too much credit does NOT negatively impact your credit score. An institution might decide not to lend to you because you have too much available credit already, but it does NOT affect your score (negatively, at least.)

having unused cards also does NOT bring your score down. As stated, you should hang on to your credit lines even if you do not use them (for the average account history aspect).

Also, it doesn't matter how many cards you have. As long as you're not using the majority of the total credit you've been allotted.

[Edited on January 20, 2006 at 9:36 AM. Reason : d]

1/20/2006 9:35:09 AM

Quote :

"so much misinformation in this thread and about credit in general...."

You can't make a claim like that, the post a bunch of matter of fact stuff, and then not even quote a source.

1/20/2006 10:51:28 AM

Exactly !

1/20/2006 10:54:16 AM

nah, i dont think moving money (into savings accounts and such) would have any effect really

1/20/2006 10:55:08 AM

my source is me. I keep close tabs on my report and scores, and have seen what has/hasn't affected my score.

YMMV

1/20/2006 11:22:40 AM

So it's as much hearsay as anything on here.

1/20/2006 11:35:20 AM

wow, 765, and you are worried??? The highest it can go is onlly 820.

Over 700 and you can get a mortgage. Stop stressing.

Moving money in personal accounts NEVER affects your credit score.

What does? Bills. Anything that can cause a bill, be it the electric company, rent, car loan, credit card or a house payment. Also having people pull your credit score will lower it. So DO NOT let people just 'check' your score, unless you are seriously considering that credit card, car loan, or whatever.

However some of these look good. Paying your student loans looks great if you pay alot (ie more than your minimum) even if you still have to pay them for 20 years. Paying 10K on credit cards does not look so great. The deal is you have to know this. You also have to know that you should NEVER pay late. Even if you always pay the minimum, which you really should never do, you will still help your credit score.

SECU is an excellent lending source because they are picky. If you can get approved by them for a car loan or a mortgage, then you are golden. So you should definately keep your savings or money market (though only if you keep over 250 so you do not incur a charge there) open. However, if your checking is causing you to lose money and that bothers you, then open somewhere else. Just a thought though, when Bank of America tried to get me to switch to them, I told them what SECU offered (no fees at their own ATMS, unlimited transcations of all kinds at the bank, 20 billpays, .75 for using someone else's ATM, cheap checks, unlimited check writing, unlimited debit card transactions, and the fact they even offered interest on checking at all) the guy said to stay with SECU. I was impressed with his honesty. He said BoA could never do anything like that.

However if you are just looking for somewhere to let your money make money, then I can see your point.

1/20/2006 11:55:46 AM

^^maybe, but this statement:

Quote :

"This needs the disclaimer that having too much credit (ie unused credit card limit) will hurt your score. There isn't much sense in having a total credit card credit limit of more than 1-2 times your monthly income."

is completely false. The only factor considered for your score is used/available credit ratio.

[Edited on January 20, 2006 at 11:57 AM. Reason : d]

1/20/2006 11:57:47 AM

Quote :

"Over 700 and you can get a mortgage"

uh, you can get a mortgage with a score as low as 500-550.

credit ratings and exactly how and what things affect them is a huge mystery. if anyone claims to truly know exactly how they work, they're full of it. people can speculate and generalize, but that's it.

1/20/2006 12:05:35 PM

I appreciate all of your comments.

If anyone is wondering how mine is "so high" I would speculate that it's because I use 1 credit card, pay it off every month (I am really good at budgetting). I had a CCB bank for 2-3yrs. I had a student loan, paid it off in full with a pre comissioning loan at a much lower rate (I actually don't think this had factored in yet, as I did it less than a month ago).

So the only thing that pings your credit score in terms of accounts if trying to get loans or credit cards? I don't think I will need anymore loans for a little while (though I might try to buy in a year). I am pretty well set with my credit cards. I have 3 right now. I have a capital one card from high school ($500 credit limit)... stopped using it when they refused to up my limit. I have a USAA one and the main one I use in the dividends citicard. I love that thing. I have seen my credit limit up from $1500 starting now to $6750 8-). Not to mention the % back!

1/20/2006 5:36:22 PM

Quote :

"Quote : "Over 700 and you can get a mortgage" uh, you can get a mortgage with a score as low as 500-550. credit ratings and exactly how and what things affect them is a huge mystery. if anyone claims to truly know exactly how they work, they're full of it. people can speculate and generalize, but that's it."

No, its not a mystery at all.

Ok you are right, with a low score like that you can get a mortgage, with a sky high interest rate. So I'll clarify my statement. With a score >700 most companies will see you as a reasonable risk and give you the best rate. The amount you qualify for will be dependent on your income.

1/20/2006 6:32:45 PM

Quote :

"with a sky high interest rate"

wrong again. i do this day in and day out.

1/21/2006 4:26:06 PM

where's the best site to get a free credit score inquiry?

i have no idea what mine is.

1/21/2006 4:31:50 PM

please tell me that you aren't saying that someone with a low credit score will have similar rates to those with a higher score. "sky high" may be an exageration but its a fact.

1/21/2006 4:35:18 PM

Quote :

"is completely false. The only factor considered for your score is used/available credit ratio."

That's not true. There are many factors which affect the FICO score. Last time I checked mine, Equifax took off points for "too many bankcard charge accounts" even though all but two accounts were zero balance with no activity in many months.

1/21/2006 5:13:51 PM

The only free way to get your FICO score that I know of is freecreditreport.com, but you have to sign up for a free trial of their credit monitoring service.

1/21/2006 9:21:12 PM

Quote :

"where's the best site to get a free credit score inquiry? i have no idea what mine is."

http://www.annualcreditreport.com/

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/ycr_free_reports.htm

1/21/2006 10:55:20 PM

it's bad for your credit if you make many inquiries on your credit.

1/21/2006 11:07:18 PM

I used freecreditreport.com for my free trial and then cancelled within a month.

1/21/2006 11:15:55 PM

^^^ That gives you a free report, but not a free score.

1/21/2006 11:41:46 PM

^^ Did they spend a long time trying to get you not to cancel?

^^^ Pulling your credit report yourself is a soft inquiry, it does not affect your score.
Only hard inquiries ( applying for new credit) will slightly lower your score.

[Edited on January 22, 2006 at 7:00 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on January 22, 2006 at 7:00 AM. Reason : .]

1/22/2006 6:59:37 AM

it actually wasn't too hard to cancel. you do have to call up, but i told them i don't need it right now. they told me a couple times "it's a good idea to have it" and i just told them "well maybe in the future" and they eventually said, "ok cancelled... have a nice day"

easy as that

1/22/2006 10:33:50 AM

^^^yeah, i've used freeannualcreditreport before, but i want to know what my score is. any suggestions?

1/22/2006 8:52:13 PM

^freecreditreport is where i got my score

1/22/2006 10:42:49 PM

Gotta say, love my 817.

1/22/2006 11:38:00 PM

One of my cards gives me the ability to look at my credit score, fortunately.

One of my friends drastically increased his credit by purchasing small stuff like meals, groceries, etc, on his card and then making that the monthly payment, losing practically nothing since he would have spent the money on the stuff anyway.

1/23/2006 9:52:04 AM

I have a 731. It was 765 but it went down when I had it checked through my apt complex and for a new card. It is on an upward trend again now though. I have 3 cards and pay off in whole each month (Visa, Discover, MasterCard).

I have a 'potentially negative' warning for a $77 debt that I have NO IDEA what it is from. I can't get a hold of the creditor either as it gives NO # or email and I have NEVER gotten anything in the mail. I'm at a loss as to what I should do but I need to keep my credit up b/c I'm about to apply for loans for law school..

HELP?!?!?

1/23/2006 10:20:12 AM

Maybe you can check with a credit report service on where it came from. It depends on where you go that notice from, b/c it might be bogus unless it came with your credit report. If that's the case, check with the company from which you got the report.

1/23/2006 11:27:45 AM

^^BRYAN...YOUR BANK CAN CHECK AND SEE WHERE THE $77 IS COMING FROM.....THEY CAN CHECK YOUR CREDIT AT ANY TIME......TRY MEETING WITH THEM

1/23/2006 11:32:50 AM

I'm trying to avoid another 'hard inquiry' though. Not that it will dramatically reduce my credit score considering I know I'm doing pretty well for a barely 24 year old..

1/23/2006 11:36:24 AM

if you really want to know what is included in credit scores, check out the big 3:

experian - http://www.experian.com/credit_score_basics/credit_scores.html

equifax - https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/consumer/sitepage.ehtml?forward=elearning_credit11

transunion - http://www.truecredit.com/help/learnCenter/creditBasics/overview.jsp?cb=TransUnion

1/23/2006 12:33:23 PM

^^I'M NOT SURE IT WOULD BE CONSIDERED A "HARD" INQUIRY IF IT IS YOUR BANK......I KNOW WITH BBANDT...THEY CHECKED IT FOR ME ONCE AND IT DIDN'T COUNT AGAINST MY CREDIT SCORE DOWN THE ROAD......YOU HAVE GREAT CREDIT BUT IF YOU WANT TO MAINTAIN IT YOU PROBABLY WANT TO GET THAT CORRECTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

1/23/2006 12:39:24 PM

^x6

If the debt's honestly not yours, then you should be able to get it removed from your report (mistakes happen). You just have to know who to contact to get it done. There's a great forum that has in insane amount of advice about stuff like this.

http://www.creditboards.com/forums/

A lot of the info is geared towards people who have destroyed their credit all on their own, but the techniques can be used for any number of credit reporting issues.

1/23/2006 7:46:44 PM