What credit score do you think I might have?

Question

Today I received a letter stating that I am preapproved for an American Express Preffered Rewards Green Card. I have no idea what my actual credit score is (FICO). What kind of credit score do you think I have if I am approved for this card? I've heard it's difficult to get approved. I'm only 19 years old so I'm really curious. Thanks.

Answer 1

If you look at the pre-approval you will probably see this * sign. It refers you to the fine print that says you might not actually be approved. That you have to call an 800 number to signup.

Nobody can pull your credit without your authorization so they don't know your score. However, American Express can approve you for as little as $250 on a card so they might give you one, even though you're only 19. It's a good start.

If you want more information on credit scores, credit cards, etc. check out www.1-800badcredit.com. You can check out several links to credit report companies. All of them are good and will give you your score, etc.

American Express is a good company to have a card from. They will treat you right and their interest rates are pretty good.

Like everyone else though, they will reserve thd right to increase your interest rate if you're late on payments, so make sure you never make a late payment on a credit card if you can help i!

It's not impossible to get a credit card at 19, it's the bigger loans that are harder (like for a car).

Just don't be surprised if you get approved for a small balance. You have to crawl before you can walk and the creditors don't know you and how reliable you are so they will start out small and increase your credit amount as you prove yourself.

Answer 2

It a green card so most likely your at a neutral point which is about 450-500
if you do get it be sure to only charge thing on it you have the cash to pay it off at end of month which will shoot your credit rating up the fastest as when your establishing your credit showing responsibility is the best way to raise credit score
as running a balance show some you do not have your finances in good order

Answer 3

Usually when you start out you begin with 500 credit score -- though there could be a number of things affecting your score that you are unaware of and it may be lower or higher. There's really no way to know. The biggest problem for you is not having a credit history -- so right now once you know your score you should work on building your credit history slowly so you dont make mistakes. You score will depend on a number of things and it's important to get a comprehensive view of what is actually effecting it...
Your Credit Score (also known as your MyFico score) is calculated with the following breakdown:
35% - Payment History
30% - Credit to Debt Ratio
15% - Credit History
10% - New Credit
10% - Credit Types in Use

If you excel in one area and lack in another, only fixing the areas which you lack are going to improve your score..

Let me share with you my tips that you can use to build your credit score quickly. I raised mine to well over 700 points fro 500 using these steps in less than a year -- :

# Know and Track Your Credit Score (be sure to sign up for the free trial of your credit score tracking listed below. It really helped my get my score up.)
# Never Miss a Payment, Starting Today
# Never use more than 20% of your Available Credit
# Keep Credit Cards that Have No Annual Fees Open For as Long as Possible
# Extend Your Credit Limit on Cards You Already Have before You Get New Ones
# Get Credit Cards that Have CashBack Rewards to Contribute to your Balance
# Transfer Your Balance to a Credit Card with a Lower Interest Rate and a Higher Available Credit-
# If You Think You Are Going to be FORCED to Pay a Bill Late Ask for an Extension or Payment Plan
# Take out a Small Personal Loan and Repay it Over a Year
# Ask Someone With Good Credit if They will Account Shadow you

Read more here:
10-Ways to Boost Your MyFico Score
http://millionster.com/articles/debt/increase-fico-credit-score/


Best of luck to you, I hope this info helps you figure your credit situation out!

Answer 4

Bah... credit card companies send out these come-ons by the millions. They can't know what your credit score is so they can't pre-approve you. They can't check your credit score without your express permission to do so (which you give them when you fill out the form and return it).

My credit score (last I checked) is about 480 (it's been a really rough eight years) and I still get these pre-approved marketing fliers.

Answer 5

Average. The AMEX Green card is their bottom-end card.

Keep in mind that it is NOT a credit card but a charge card. It has a stiff annual fee and the entire balance must be paid in full each month. AMEX is fine if you're on an expense account but is not appropriate for someone looking to pay for purchases on time.

Answer 6

Whatever it is, don't get the card. The "pre-approved" thing is a gimmic... If it were true, then why in the letter is their an application.

If you never listen to anything else in your life, listen to this... Credit Cards are evil, vile, things. They can easily ruin your life. Be VERY careful with them, and if you can live without them DO IT.

Answer 7

There are sites where you can check your credit card score. It will depend on how long of a history credit you have (not long if you're only 19), if you make all your payments on time, ECT. Here's one of many sites you can check your score. It will not lower your score to check it yourself.

http://www.eloan.com/myeloan/viewscore

Answer 8

If you go to www.bankrate.com, they have a fico estimator where you answer a few questions and it estimates what your score is. It is not an exact score, but gives you an idea. It worked for me, I got my exact score, then went there to check to see if it was in the range they gave me and it was.

Answer 9

get a free credit report at annualcreditreport.com and then you can get an idea of what your credit might be.

you have to pay for a credit score

Answer 10

http://creditcard.creditinspector.info has excellent info related to dealing with credit cards. Check it out!