Will my credit score be effected by transferring my balance to new card?

Question

I just got offered a card with a 0% introductory APR for 15 months on balance transfers and purchaces and the fixed APR thereafter is much lower than what I have with my credit card now. I only have one card with a balance on it but I figured transferring it to this other card would be cheaper and make it easier for me to pay it off... so my question, will my credit score be lowered just for opening the account? I have two other accounts open already too but they both have 0 balance and haven't been used in a long time. Also, I have a really good score at the moment, so, I just wanted to know if it's a good idea...?

Answer 1

Very good question -- I can say it will most likely affect your score but not how you might think. Credit score's a complicated beast but you've got 3 factors to consider here in transferring a balance to a new card. Initially transferring your debt from one card to another doesn't affect your score because the amount is the same, in this case you are simultaneously opening a new card which means you have more accounts, and you are presumably adding more available credit.

So what is the net affect of this? Transfer:+0, New Card:-10, More available Credit (1 pt per $1000) so lets say +15 points for an additional $15K of credit, Total change: +5 Points. So depending on how much your total available credit will be on all your accounts you will either have boosted your score or have no change.

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/

When you're trying to build a solid credit score 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

Answer 2

Each time you have a hard pull on your credit will negatively impact your credit score, but it might not be significant. The bigger concern I would look at is if the 0% apr introductory rate also has balance transfer fees. Sometimes they charge you a flat fee on the entire balance or a percentage. Just be careful that the fees you pay are less than what you would have paid in interest to your current card.

What you can do is call your current credit card and tgell them you are thinking of transferring your balance for this 0% apr promotion, but would rather negotiate a low fixed rate with them. They may be willing to negotiate and it saves you a balance transfer and gives you a low FIXED rate rather than a promotional rate with balance transfer fees.

Answer 3

getting another credit card will affect your credit score. your credit score is partially calculated based on percentage of available credit and opening a new card will lower that percentage, although the application for a new card my drop you a couple points. so if you have a 2000 limit now and have 1000 on it, that's 50 percent. If you get another card with 2000 with only 1000 owed, that becomes 25 percent (1/4 of 4000). In short, your credit score should be ok, but it could be risky if you start using cards and charging more. How much you owe (in addition to the percentage) will affect your score as well.

Answer 4

Opening an account can in some instances - especially with new credit harm your score.

1) It puts a hard inquiry on your record.

2) Your available credit goes up. Now this dilutes the percentage of your available debt that is taken out, but if you have too much available credit then it can harm you.

However, the actual transfer won't hurt/help your score in that the liability doesn't go away, it just changes banks.

Answer 5

According to our financial planner- yes it will. About the only thing that HELPS your credit is paying off loans in a timely manner (paying in a big lump sum hurts you too!)

The credit agencies will see this as you taking on more potential debt- a bad thing. However, a good history after that of payments is a good thing and helps more than the first thing hurt.

Oh- and close the zeroed accounts or they continue to act as 'potential debt'.

Answer 6

Yes, and No. In my opinion, I urge you to do balance transfer and take advantage of the offer.However, you need to clean up your balance quick then you will be okay with 4 credit cards with 0 balance. Good luck and I wish you well.

Answer 7

Newer accounts can negatively affect your credit rating, but may not have a huge impact on your credit score. The longer an account is open, the better it looks for you.

Answer 8

It will not affect you at all.

If you have a good credit score now, it's going to stay that way and get even better.

Transferring funds from one account to the other has no nagative outcome on a credit report.

Credit reports are based on making payments on time...
How many times you did cash advance, ATM withdrawals, etc.

As for the cards you have not been using: they're really not gonna show up or make your score better. Unfortunately, they are on idle and it's like you don't really have them. Credit is about spending, paying, using money.

Answer 9

i dont think so