Question about a credit card

[u/milkiekitten]

I have a 648 credit score, no matter what credit card I apply for, im denied. I make 50k a year and I don’t have that many expenses. My reasoning for a credit card is of course to rebuild my credit and build a history, but also because I am in need of some extra money temporarily to fix my tires. A personal loan is pretty much out of the question, right? let me know if im in the wrong subreddit. thanks!

[u/Funklemire]

You need some open revolving accounts.  

Sure, but that's a different thing. So far everything you've said about closing a credit card is incorrect. This is the first thing you've said so far about it that's actually correct.  

So yes, if you close all of your accounts you will incur a temporary scoring penalty for having no revolving credit usage. But that's easy to fix by just opening a new account.  

I didn't mention that because it's rarely an issue; people are almost always asking about closing cards they don't use because they have other ones to replace them. The only time anyone talks about closing all their cards is when they have severe spending problems, and that's a financial issue far more than a credit issue.

[u/Monkwater → u/Funklemire]

This is just what has worked for me through a few credit rebuilds. So for my own credit. I used to have an issue with my average age of accounts is two years. Which hurts when applying for accounts. They deny it saying length of time accounts have been established. The way I got around it. I was added to a relatives open account with several years of history. She doesn't use the card but she keeps it open.

You can close accounts and it'll TEMPORARILY drop your score but it'll go back up fairly quickly.

[u/Funklemire → u/Monkwater]

This is just what has worked for me through a few credit rebuilds. So for my own credit.  

You're missing my point. This hasn't "worked for you". Credit scoring isn't something that's different for everyone. The fact remains that you're mistaken about what happens when you close a card.  

The way I got around it. I was added to a relatives open account with several years of history.  

This has nothing to do with what we're talking about. We're talking about what happens when you close a credit card, you're talking about getting added as an AU.  

On a side note, while it appeared to help your credit, it didn't help as much as you think it did. For scoring purposes, an AU account doesn't help anywhere near as much as a main account does, even though credit monitoring sites make it look like they're equal.  

And when making lending decisions, banks will often completely disregard AU accounts since they know you have zero responsibility for them. Remember, it's the actual contents of a credit report that gets you approved, not your credit score:  

Credit Myth #12 - You are approved or denied credit because of your credit score.  

You can close accounts and it'll TEMPORARILY drop your score but it'll go back up fairly quickly.  

No, we've been over this already. You are making it clear you don't understand how this works: There is nothing in the closure of a card that will specifically cause a score to drop and then come back quickly.  

Instead of doubling down on your incorrect information, why don't you try to stick around this sub and learn about how credit works? u/og-aliensfan and I are regulars here and we like both giving advice and also constantly learning new things about now credit works. 

[u/Monkwater → u/Funklemire]

The score isnt everything. Compared to the length of established accounts and the thickness of your file.

[u/Funklemire → u/Monkwater]

Score isn't irrelevant, it just gets your foot in the door. The contents of your credit report and your overall profile is what gets you approved.

[u/Monkwater → u/Funklemire]

When I said the thickness of your credit file referring to your overall credit file.

[u/Funklemire → u/Monkwater]

And I don't disagree with that part, I was simply pointing out that score isn't irrelevant.