Umbrella_Inc

So the HSBC two card maximum would apply to store cards backed by HSBC as well or just HSBC Visa and Mastercard?

Thanks Jeremy, that sounds like a plan. I'll stick with what I have. Even though my two highest APR's are 20.9 I suppose it could be worse and it won't take THAT long to pay them down to a decent level. Should probably stick with what has worked for the last few years and will probably see better pre-approved offers come as my credit score increases. Thanks for the advice!

Yeah, that's something that I was thinking as well. Don't really like the idea of adding a new account, especially when the damage from my high utilization across my trade lines seems to have stablized since my FICO score has been 670 for awhile. I like the idea of the 0 APR for a year though but if I balance transfer off the Juniper card they may balance chase me. Choice choices. May just leave things the way they are until I break 700.

Hey all, I just received a pre-approval offer from HSBC for a platinum MasterCard. I'm kind of excited because this is the first pre-approval offer I have received in a while that is somewhat decent. I am seriously thinking about applying for it. On the upside it has 0% Intro APR for 12 months and 12.9% variable APR thereafter while on the downside it has 5% balance transer fee and a $49 annual fee. I would like to use this card to spread out my balance of my Juniper Mastercard that is currently sitting at 20.9 percent and has a balance of 5k out of a 5600k credit limit (I know my utilization is terrible but it has been this way for several years). I have in total 3 other credit cards from major banks (Chase Visa, Juniper Mastercard, Discover), three others from stores (Best Buy, Wal*Mart, Paypal), and one self closed card with USBank that I am paying on. My utilization is terrible with the open major bank credit cards being around 90% maxed. I am starting to make headway and would like to reduce the balance on one of my larger APR credit cards (Chase or Juniper) so I figured I might transfer half of the balance from Juniper onto this new card. I have not applied for a credit card such as this post economic crunch and CCA so I was just wondering if there was some special formula that would help me to figure out how much credit to ask for or if it was all done by computer now based on salary and DTI. I don't want to take the ding to my credit score for just a $300 limit, would like it to be about $3000 or more. It might be worth mentioning though that a few months ago I was even declined for a $500 store card that I had had previously from citibank (closed due to inactivity and then wouldn't reopen). My credit score according to myFico has been a steady 670 for the past 6 months. You guys have any idea how much I would get for one of these pre-approval offers from HSBC or suggest a starting range I should ask for since this is really only going to be a balance transfer card? For reference the Best Buy and Wal*Mart cards I have are from HSBC with a 10k credit limit and 5k credit limit respectfully. Any advice appreciated. Thanks, Justin

If you work for the government then as long as you consolidate with DirectLoans and then proceed to make 10 years of payments then I believe the rest is forgiven after that 120'th payment. But the catch is you have to stay employed by the government for that entire timespan, can't quite even for one month and then get reemployed. That's how I read it anyway.

Thanks for the posting that FAQ. I plan on consolidating with DirectLoans later this year and thought all it took was a simple phone call. Had no idea it took 60-90 days. Will need to get the ball rollinng on this prior to the end of my current loans forbearance.

Bob5151 I'm in your same boat as you are only I have 3 cards with 5k balance at 20-22% APR that I am basically spnning wheels on because the $100 a month interest being charged on these bad boys basically cancels out my minimum payment. Been thinking about joining my local CU to get an unsecured loan to see if I could save some money on the interest charges or perhaps BB&T's debt consolidation loan. Who knows, maybe I'll just have to grit and bear it for the next year or so until I get around to paying these three hardcore. If you find a decent balance transfer card or unsecured bank loan be sure to post as I'll take a look at it to. Good Luck!

I see, so is it beneficial at all to monitor these FAKO scores or is it best just to stick with Scorewatch since it is the true FICO score? I choose USAA because I wanted to see my progress as I pay off my debt and have the ability to monitor all 3 bureau's but if these scores are fantasy land then I may not even bother with the $12.95 per month.

Hey guys, I have been using MyFico Scorewatch for about 2 years based on recommendations from this forum however after they stopped offering triple bureau service I have been shopping around for another credit score monitoring service (preferably a daily puller). Anyway after much research I found several of you use the USAA CreditCheck Premium Monitoring Service so I signed up for it and so far I like it but there is someting odd. On Scorewatch it says my Equifax Creditscore is 674 but on CreditCheck it is 684? Why the discrepency? Is Scorewatch the true FICO and CreditCheck a FACO? Any insite on this would be greatly appeciated. P.S. Ever since I got a car loan in Feb. of this year my first name has been mispelled on the Equifax credit report. My middle and last name are fine but my first name includes the first four letters of my last name. Should I be concerned about this? It is spelled correctly on both the Experian and Transunion.

You really think I could get that Citibank CC to do a BT with a 670 creditscore (Experian) and high utilization? Don't qualify for Navy Federal unfortunately, I wish LOL. Anyway I would like to ask a question regarding a balance transfer, what happens if I want to transfer say 4k and apply under that assumption, but when they run it I'm only approved for 2k....would they only transfer the 2k I was approved for maxing out another card, or do they leave a bit of buffer room......also they wouldn't transfer the entire 4k if only approved for 2k and give me an overlimit fee on the spot would they? I'm kinda paranoid when it comes to balance transfers, have only done one in my life LOL

Thanks mpc578! You know I did look into doing a balance transfer and it is really to bad because I have a really nice rate on balance transfers on my Discover card until April 2011 but where it is mostly maxed wouldn't do me any good unless I hardcore paid it off but don't have the funds for that currently. My credit score is 670 so I didn't think I would qualify for any good rates if I opened up another trade line. Though if I did open another tradeline Juniper would be the first I dump because of it's high APR and non-existent rewards. I do qualify to be a member of my local CU, as a matter of fact my wife already is however they don't have any debt consolidation loans that I'm aware of. I HAVE been looking at the debt consolidation loan that BB&T offers, was thinking about re-opening my checking account there and buidling repore with them until my credit score is over 700 then trying for that loan. Don't know if they need collateral though, that might be a deal breaker. Anyone have experience with them and their debt consolidation loan?

Yeah that's what I figured. Looks like I'm SOL until I can pay down some more of this debtload. I'm making headway but just not on those three cards due to the high APR (those aren't the only ones I have by any means). Luckily I did opt out on my highest balance card and it is sitting at a sweet 9% right. Most of my money is going to paying off promotions that are expiring on my Best Buy card and then I will have to adjust my budget to allocate for student loan payments that start this fall....JOY!! I recently got a promotion so thankfully am able to put more money into these cards but I guess I have just amassed so much debt that it will take quite some time for me to see any affect from my payments.....at least I'm not living on these stupid things anymore so that's a plus.

Welcome, I'm facing a similar situation and am glad to hear that you got some creditors to lower your APR's. I have been coming to these forums for support and advice for several years, they are a wealth of information. Keep chipping away at it and you'll eventually have an easily manageable debtload again and always remember that Rome wasn't built in a day so stay optimistic, every payment counts towards the bigger picture. Take Care!

I apologize for the goofy title, was supposed to read "So is there any chance of getting APR decrease POST CARD Act" but I typoed it and can't change it....my bad LOL.

Hey guys, I make all my minimum payments on time and always pay more than the bare minimum. I haven't opened a new account in over 2 years and am completely happy with my current credit lines/limits. No lates and have a credit score of about 670 due to extremely high utilization (working on it). It feels like I am just treading water with these payments and not seeing any sizable decrease in balance. When I reviewed my statements from last year with roughly same credit score/utilization my highest APR was 17% with a median of 13%. Now everything is at 24% post CARD Act. I know I should have closed them when they notified me of the APR hike but I didn't want my creidt score to tank and I really didn't think it would make THAT much of a difference but the realization is that going from 13% to 24% on a 8k balance is not a good thing. So what I wanted to ask you guys was, has anyone had any luck post CARD Act of calling the credit card companies and asking for an APR decrease? If so, what credit score is optimal to request this...670, 700, 720? Would love if I could lower some of these bad boys so more of my $$$ could go towards my principal. Of course I could just be SOL in the new "it's just business" world. Comments welcome. For Reference I have the following: Chase Freedom Rewards Juniper Itunes Card Wal*Mart Store Card Thanks, Justin