CC churning - equifax scores

[mviy]

Depends on whether you see any value in Qantas Point Club - unlike QFF status, points club wasnt automatically extnded, so at least one churn might be required to retain Points Club.

Good point. I currently have SG status but some of the perks of Points Club look nice. Being able to earn status credits on a points booking would be nice though once international travel resumes getting a classic reward J fare to LHR on QF metal I suspect will be difficult.

 

[brenty80]

Long time follower first post. Want to dip my toe in CC churning. Have never got a CC score, always pay off every month, no mortgage. Safe to start applying for the 2 or 3 on offer or should I do my due diligence and get score, assessment etc. first?

 

[I love to travel]

Long time follower first post. Want to dip my toe in CC churning. Have never got a CC score, always pay off every month, no mortgage. Safe to start applying for the 2 or 3 on offer or should I do my due diligence and get score, assessment etc. first?

Start applying. One at a time make sure you understand minimum spend requirements.

 

[Scr77]

Long time follower first post. Want to dip my toe in CC churning. Have never got a CC score, always pay off every month, no mortgage. Safe to start applying for the 2 or 3 on offer or should I do my due diligence and get score, assessment etc. first?

Start applying. One at a time make sure you understand minimum spend requirements.

....and keep a spreadsheet of date applied, card details, date spend met, date card cancelled etc

 

[brenty80]

Start applying. One at a time make sure you understand minimum spend requirements.

Thanks! Got my credit score - 692. Assume it’s not an issue to start applying? There’s a couple I’m keen to apply ... one at a time - apply, spend, cancel, rinse & repeat?

 

[Jacques Vert]

Don't worry too much about the credit score, the banks are more interested in your ability to pay. Keep the credit limits on existing cards to a minimum as the banks will assume the existing cards are maxed out when assessing your application.

 

[GSP]

Thanks! Got my credit score - 692. Assume it’s not an issue to start applying? There’s a couple I’m keen to apply ... one at a time - apply, spend, cancel, rinse & repeat?

I've not had problems applying for multiple cards in one go.

Supporting that, in my view if there are a few you want that are available now, then I'd go for it, the update on your credit report will take longer than each of your applications to be assessed, so the multiple applications should not affect one another.

Due to my constant churning, my credit report has never reached outstanding levels, but never fallen to bad levels (Illion - Credit Simple borderline), so unless your rating plummets (I'm talking 250 point plus plummet) then you'll probably be OK to keep on going after the initial sorte.

Good luck.

 

[albyd]

Be aware that some cards shave more off your score than others. I saw over 100 point decline after I applied for my Amex Platinum vs smaller declines after applying for other cards.

Took about a year to re-gain my 100 points.

YMMV depending on your person situation.

 

[Dr Ralph]

the update on your credit report will take longer than each of your applications to be assessed, so the multiple applications should not affect one another.

This may no longer be the case. Over night update for a HSBC card for me.

 

[andye]

My understanding and experience is that the record of enquiries updates in real time. Customers can only enquire to see what the score was at beginning of month but lenders can see the whole thing
(No inside knowledge so happy to be corrected)

 

[GSP]

I've seen some enquiries come up quickly (i.e a few days) and some take weeks, I'm not sure about real time. It's possible that for one credit reporting agency they will see the enquiry early but another may lag behind by a period of time.

 

[brenty80]

Is it unusual to have two credit scores that are not close? I have 692 and 837 from two sources.

 

[Lynda2475]

Is it unusual to have two credit scores that are not close? I have 692 and 837 from two sources.

There are 3 main agencies and they use different scales, as they use slightly dfferent criteria. Look at the descriptor that goes with the score - if you are Good, Very Good or Excellent then you shouldnt have a problem getting a card prpvided you meet the other criteria.

 

[andye]

Is it unusual to have two credit scores that are not close? I have 692 and 837 from two sources.

My Credit Simple is always much less than the others (709 v 867 v 848) despite having identical credit information to Experian.
Credit Simple also has me at 71st in my street (comprising 32 houses including only a couple of unit blocks) and bottom 21% of my age group which is nonsense.

 

[Lynda2475]

Credit Simple also has me at 71st in my street (comprising 32 houses including only a couple of unit blocks) and bottom 21% of my age group which is nonsense.

The charts with rankings on Credit Simple do seem to be crazy, they rank me in bottom 15% for my Street, Gender, Age and State all whilst telling me my score is Good (randomly dropped from Very Good even though I havent added or removed any cards) - seems to be backwards.

Meanwhile Credit Savvy tells me Im Excedllent and puts me in the top 25% percentile for all rating groups - age, postcode, state, gender - which i tend to belive.

The difference in scores has not impacted my ability to get cards.

 

[coolstepslg]

tip if your loans and card limit exposure is high and the number of credit products you hold are high or number of entry's on the file are high i wouldnt bother applying for new credit as the banks can now see everything. Its the first time i have ever been declined a card. I guess ill stick to using my current credit products until at least 5 years and then hopefully some of those 30 entries will drop off the file so i can apply for some new offers.

 

[mviy]

You need to cancel cards if you have too big a credit limit before applying, but you ideally want to be reasonably confident of approval before cancelling cards. I have had a decline as well which sets back my points accumulation plans (not that I'm likely to be able to use my points for international travel anytime soon).

 

[robtemt]

As an American expat, I don't get credit reporting here at all....

I had never heard of Credit Simple, but just checked and my score with them is "good", while my Experian and Equifax are both excellent and says I am in the top 5% of age/state/post code...

I hadn't had any inquires since March 2019 for a credit card that was opened and closed after 11 month. Prior to that was 2017. But, I applied for HSBC card last year, and was declined. I've never been declined for credit. Have 2 home loans that we've never been late on, all payments are on-time for credit cards (I don't know why they don't report paying in full vs. paying minimum or partial balance here, as we pay everything in full each month).

I suppose I could cancel some things we never use.... GO (harvey norman/domain) that just sits waiting for our next redecoration, an overdraft that I've never used. Will that increase my score though? They both report "on-time" every month though.

 

[mviy]

Banks examine serviceability, so if you have a 50k overdraft they assume you will max that out and consider whether you can service your existing credit, max out the new credit card and pay the credit off within a few years realistically on your income.

 

[exceladdict]

As an American expat, I don't get credit reporting here at all....

A couple of things I've found along the way - very well could be wrong but these are my impressions

• Credit scores are relatively meaningless - it's the details that count when a bank makes an assessment, not the score itself (that said, i still keep track of mine for interest)
• Overwhelmingly, scores are based on number and type of credit enquiries (assuming no adverse events). Never apply for credit you won't need
• AFAIK, comprehensive credit reporting has delivered no benefits to consumers yet i.e. there seem to be no positive impacts to your score by having an account open that you pay off regularly. But, the banks now have more options to reject you on the basis of (they see the total reported current credit limit but not utilisation, and they can see if you only keep accounts only open for short periods of time).

All of this to say, from what I've gathered, having accounts open "to prove you're creditworthy" seems to be a myth in AU.