CC question

**Humboldt** · 04-14-22, 09:57 PM

Just received a new BOA VISA cc with a 2.6% cash back, soon to go up.

Already have a BOA cc and a MC, both paid off in full monthly.

Applied for the second VISA because of the better interest and cash back.

Question is regarding the first ancient (12+ years) VISA.

Do you think it's better for my credit score to keep it, use it lightly and pay it off monthly, if older accounts weight more heavily on your FICO score?
Thinking of NetFlix auto-pay and a tank of gas per month.

Or cancel it, and face the short term credit blow for the cancellation instead of having an under-utilized cc?

I figure the fewer cc's the better, but not if the cancellation would have bad affects on my score.

Thanks

**Philip** · 04-15-22, 09:31 AM

Your FICO is affected by the total available credit you have to you, as it compares to the percentage that you use monthly. I.e. if you have 50k of combined credit card limits "available", and you use up to 5k per month, you are using up 10% of your available credit.
You don't want to use high percentage of your "available" credit as it directly impacts your credit score. It's ok to have a couple of idle cards, or ask for a higher limit on the cards you use. Generally it's best to have balances being low percentage (ideally under 5%) of your total available credit.
Another point that affects your credit score to consider is the "age" of your credit history, how old your credit is, older credit cards improve your score.

I didn't realize BofA offers 2.6% cash back across the board and not in certain categories. Is this in their Unlimited Cash Rewards card with the higher honors tiers? I may have to get that, I've been using Citi DoubleCash for 2% back, but this sounds even better.

**Philip** · 04-15-22, 09:56 AM

Found it, looked over the terms and it seems great, so just applied for it actually. Had to unfreeze my credit for a minute so they could pull my score, lol.

**Easto** · 04-15-22, 10:37 AM

The wife just got a Citi/Visa CC from Costco. She wanted it because of the "cash back" features. In our case the highest percentage of cash back is only on certain items. I don't remember exactly what the breakdown was but for some type of purchases you get the 4% and for other types you might only get 1%. And if I'm not mistaken you need to spend the accumulated cash at Costco. Still a good deal but you're unable to take advantage of the accumulated cash until the end of the year.

Also, if you're paying it off monthly I wouldn't worry about the % their offering on your balance. To be honest I don't even know what that % is on our cards. We always pay them off.

**Philip** · 04-15-22, 11:39 AM

I almost always pay off my monthly cc balances too. Still, the balance that you currently have on your cards during the month shows up on your credit reports as current balance, it varies every month but it is there and it affects your credit score as it is compared to your total available credit.

I don't generally like to use those categorical cards, as I have to think about my purchases and shuffle cards around. The one exception being travel cards, if go abroad and want to use a cc with different currencies BofA Travel Rewards Visa has good exchange rates, no foreign transaction fees, etc.

**Humboldt** · 04-15-22, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by Philip

Another point that affects your credit score to consider is the "age" of your credit history, how old your credit is, older credit cards improve your score.

Exactly, this as an old card.

**Humboldt** · 04-15-22, 01:18 PM

https://www.bankofamerica.com/preferred-rewards/

**Philip** · 04-15-22, 02:00 PM

On it, thanks, getting it in the mail in a week

**Humboldt** · 04-15-22, 11:29 PM

Originally Posted by Philip

On it, thanks, getting it in the mail in a week

Saw that, just in case anyone else is interested.

What's funny is it's like they're trying to keep this line of cards a secret...I never received an email offer or notification.

Just happen to be poking about my online financial accounts more often and noticed a little button on BOA saying I was eligible for a cc in their new line.

Already approved for Platinum, middle tier, which is what I received.

Since this takes into account my CMA and Roth as well, if they don't bump me to Platinum Honers in a month I'll find out why. Well above that minimum.

Seems like a solid card.

**Humboldt** · 04-15-22, 11:34 PM

Not mention, spend $1000 in the first 3 months with the new card and get $200 back, for my offer at least.

No problem without buying anything new, but I am eyeing my Garrett AT Pro metal detector again, $599).

https://garrett.com/sport/at-all-terrain/at-pro

**Humboldt** · 04-16-22, 01:08 AM

Paid bills

Phone would charge extra, so pulled that out of my checking.

Electric/gas, no surcharge, threw it on the new card. Then the garbage.

Not going to need the Garrett AT Pro.

**Philip** · 04-16-22, 09:14 AM

Yeah, spending 1k in 3 months will not be a problem at all, will just have to remember to switch over most purchases and some bills over.

**Easto** · 04-16-22, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by Philip

Yeah, spending 1k in 3 months will not be a problem at all,

We pay for virtually everything with our CC so our monthly bill can be fairly high. Don't forget to change over things Amazon, Phone, Netflix etc. You may have other subscriptions like a Costco yearly auto renewal.

**Humboldt** · 04-17-22, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by Easto

W Don't forget to change over things Amazon, Phone, Netflix etc. You may have other subscriptions like a Costco yearly auto renewal.

Thanks for the reminder.

I'm probably just going to keep it since it's so old (FICO) and actually a decent card.

Keep the Netflix auto-pay. That's the only auto-pay I have.
Throw on a tank of gas per month, some groceries, and pay it off in full.

**Humboldt** · 04-17-22, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by Philip

Yeah, spending 1k in 3 months will not be a problem at all.

I'll probably break it by Monday.

**Philip** · 04-17-22, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by Humboldt

I'll probably break it by Monday.

I will likely get mine within a week, and get to that 1k in a month.

**Humboldt** · 04-19-22, 01:27 AM

Originally Posted by Philip

I will likely get mine within a week, and get to that 1k in a month.

I wager on less than 1 week, unless you tweak/withhold payments.

**Humboldt** · 04-20-22, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by Humboldt

I'll probably break it by Monday.

Oil change and new belt helped.

Might take another day or two, but 3 months for the cash back was not a concern.

**Philip** · 04-20-22, 08:49 AM

I haven't received mine yet, but I did have a slightly annoying experience with BofA over it.

[rant on]
First, I applied for it last Friday online, had to call it in because my credit report is locked and they couldn't pull it, had to unlock it temporarily and all was well. Over the weekend the new account showed up in my online banking, so I figured all looks good.
Monday I receive a text, "Someone applied for a credit card, we want to make sure it was you, reply YES or NO..", I reply YES, the system thanks me, and I figure all is still well...
A few hours later, I log in to my online banking and the new cc account is flagged, states something like: "We've noticed some unusual activity on your card, please call us immediately at such-and-such number..."

I call the online number as instructed, and I am put on a "brief" 24 minute hold with elevator music before the fraud department picks up. First thing they ask is my cc account number, I start explaining I haven't received it yet, and my online banking only shows the last 4 digits, etc. The lady says she has to transfer me somewhere else to get the alert removed, and they would call me back. I did get a callback, and they removed the alert, after which they thanked me for preferred status, 30 years of loyalty blabla, but it took me 40 minutes because their system was trying to "protect" me, and the only way to remove an alert is by a person that is hard and very slow to reach after jumping through a few hoops.

Bottom line, their AI customer protection system is stupid. Too many repetitive hoops to go through.. There was no "unusual activity" on the card (the number was just generated and card was never activated, not even mailed yet). Their system did reach out over text and alerted me of the situation, yet I still had to call and wait for half an hour to reach them to confirm I am me before they mail a card. I don't see why the system would flag it after I was logged in online, verified, then talked to them on the phone (got verified a second time), received texts to verify my identity (third verification) a couple of times, etc. I don't see why the only way to remove the alert is for me to stay on the phone for 40 minutes.
[rant off]

Anyway, it was just a small annoyance because of the looong hold and the disconnect between their automated system and associates.

**Humboldt** · 04-20-22, 09:38 PM

That sucks.

E for effort on their part?

I gave up on paying my mortgage over the phone years ago because their newest "upgrade" automation was so poor.

It'd take 10 minutes to listen to all of the disclosures and make the damn payment.
For 3 months no option to make a principle only payment.
And something like $7.50 "convenience fee" for the cc.

Should've switched to online even sooner.
No fee, automated, easy to tweak principle payments.

Liking the new card. Might just be me but the chip seems to work faster than my previous card (about 2 years old).