Page 1 2
Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
Member |
I should not tell this but I defaulted on 3 credit cards back in 2008... (it was a rough year for the self employed). Some how managed to keep my American Express Card(s) and finally paid them off... was walking through the Atlanta Airport 4 years ago and a guy with a Delta pin & suit talked me into applying for another AX card... I told him not only did I already have three but my credit score had to be in the tank ... but I figured he might get a dollar or two just for me filling out the form. When I got home two weeks later another American Express Gold card was waiting on me.... Banks and especially credit card companies are evil..... at least I think so. My Native American Name: "Runs with Scissors" | |||
|
| Ammoholic |
To expand / restate this, the credit card companies make a bit from our use of their cards though they never get a dime of interest or fees from us. We use our credit cards as if they were charge cards*. *I dunno if anybody issues charge cards anymore, but there used to be companies that issued cards that you could use like a credit card, but had to pay in full when the statement came. I suspect that things have changed as “they” have figured out it is more lucrative to keep you in debt and charge you interest and fees. We use credit cards for most things for convenience and to get the float (though there’s not much point in the float in this interest rate environment). What the card issuers get is the merchant fees. I believe they clip the merchants approximately 3% of the transaction amount. That doesn’t sound like an absurdly high percentage (unless you’re paying it  ), but spread across enough transactions it starts to add up.All vehicles & real estate paid for, so the only debt is whatever balance is on credit card when TransUnion and Experian do their data pull. Score hovers in the low 800s. Don’t care as I’m not looking to borrow. | |||
|
Member |
I also signed up for the Delta Amex while walking through the Atlanta airport once. They sent me four cards, two in my name and two in Mrs. Lee's. It was pretty silly and a pain in the ass to get them shut down. Delta just doesn't have much of a presence in Phoenix, so I was never going to get any benefit from it. And Amex doesn't really care about your FICO. They're no more selective than any other card issuer. They just have a lot more upgrades to offer once you're a cardholder. I used to work there and we regularly had people threaten to drop Amex and move all their business to Chase or whatever if they didn't get an invite for the Centurion card, which had a $2800 annual fee at that time. | |||
|
Member |
People often forget that CC companies make a metric ton of coin every year on transaction fees. Every time you swipe that card the CC company gets a percentage paid by the seller. The more cards out there in user hands, the more revenue they take in from transaction fees as those cards are used. ----------------------------- Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter | |||
|
I Deal In Lead |
Pretty much my position also, and our Score varies between 830~840. One of the good things about cards is the rewards you can get. For example, when we travel, we eat out every day, of course, and our daily bill runs around $120.00/day for meals. We're normally gone for 2 weeks. With a benefit card that pays you 3% on restaurant and fast food bills, we'd get 3% of ($120.00 x 14) = $50.40 cash back in rewards. Not a fortune, but worth doing. | |||
|
| Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
To look at this a slightly different way, if the merchant fee is 2.7% and you pay it back each month, that's still a 32.4% annual profit (2.7% each month x 12) on money they are paying almost nothing to use. If you don't pay some or all the monthly balance and finance it at their rates, it's usually in the high teens to mid twenty percent annual rate, plus the one time 2.7% from the merchant. People have been loaning them money for years at below 1% and even with mortgages being 3% their tripling their money with asset backed collateral, the property, to protect them and limit potential losses. Plus many are government backed and many people were paying mortgage insurance that also helps to protect the banks. Trust me, banks know how to do the math. That's how they build those shiny marble buildings they live in and have those nice desks. ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
|
| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm.  |
The gold- and green-colored American Express still are, at the cost of a rather substantial annual fee. In recent years I have dramatically improved my credit score from the mid-600s to (as of Sept. 25) 820. The only thing that did it was making a serious, concerted effort to aggressively pay down my card balances, as well as taking out a consolidation loan at lower interest than those of the cards. (I am still paying on that one, but am on track to pay it off early.) Paying off my car in 2011 (still driving it today) did nothing for it. | |||
|
| Member |
My credit score is at the upper end of "fair" right now. (I made the mistake of co-signing for relatives who turned in to deadbeats.) I've been putting every spare penny into paying my debts down. I'm three years ahead on my ten year plan. Just four to go. I love watching my score creep up slowly. | |||
|
Semper Fi - 1775 |
DAMN IT! I switched banks and somehow missed one of my auto drafts. Bottom line, I’ve got a 30-Day Late on my report now for the first time in a decade. Dropped me 100 points. F Me. ___________________________ All it takes...is all you got. ____________________________ For those who have fought for it, Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ | |||
|
| Member |
There are two Credit scores, I found while search for a new house. One score posted on the Internet and the real score that Mortgage companies have privy to. My score is somewhere around the high number. ********* "Some people are alive today because it's against the law to kill them". | |||
|
| Member |
100%. I used to have a low 800’s credit score when I was at my worst financially. I haven’t checked it in years and my financial adviser asked if I wanted to run a report so I knew what was still open. It’s now mid 700’s and I haven’t had a loan in at least ten years and will never have another loan. That’s one reason credit scores are basically a joke unless you have a terrible score. | |||
|
| Member |
Having a lower credit score seems like it might be a positive now. That's how backwards things have become. | |||
|
| Member |
Just to throw another wrench in the pool... read my post at the top about how bad my credit is... I'm a very poor boy... figure this one out... they let me into the International Delta Sky Miles club this past Sunday for free just by scanning my boarding pass... You'd think they'd figure out a way to keep folks like me out..... I think it is all an illusion. My Native American Name: "Runs with Scissors" | |||
|
Oriental Redneck |
Yes, they are. But, my guess is, we all, at some point in our lives, contribute to perpetuate their evil ways. Learned my expensive lesson. Never again will these cc companies extract a dime of interest out of me. Q | |||
|
| Little ray of sunshine  |
Of course that is what it is. It is made for use by creditors who are interested in making loans you can pay back. The credit issuers are the market - not you. What they want to know is will you pay your debts. That is exactly what this is meant to predict. And, yes - the way the algorithm works is a trade secret. They don't tell, because they don't want people gaming the system. That would make the product less useful to lenders. The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. | |||
|
| If you see me running try to keep up  |
Mine hovers around 830. I've probably got 15 different credit cards. Two I use and pay off monthly and the others sit unused in my safe. My house is paid off and I only have one action loan which is a little over 10k for my truck. I get 2-3 credit card offers a month. As a side note, I keep my three credit agency reports frozen at all times. | |||
|
| Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
I haven't had any mortgage, installment loans or credit card balances in two decades. I pay balances in full each month. I have had most of my credit cards for a decade or more. Only one new in the last five years. My Fair Issac (FICO) score never drops below 800 and bounces up and down a bit each month due to the amount I ran on my credit card that month as far as I can tell. They always tell me the lack of a recent installment loan history dings my some unspecified amount. Within that range, or even 50 points lower, it doesn't really matter at all. As jhe888 pointed out, this system isn't for the benefit of consumers like us, it's for the bankers who are their primary customers. Pay your bills, stay out of financial trouble, and you'll be just fine. ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
|
| Member |
How long had it been since you paid-down your balance and when you checked your score? It's not instantaneous updating, I believe it's a quarterly update or, monthly...others with better knowledge can comment on how often credit scores are updated. I wouldn't get too wrapped around the axle, if you're looking to get a loan/line of credit, the lender is going to check three different score providers and take the middle or, average score. | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
© SIGforum 2024