What is the benefit of an 800+ credit score?

[Walt34]

If you have a high credit score you can be assured that your mailbox will always be stuffed full of offers for credit cards.

Strangely enough, I just bit on one of those since I was thinking of applying anyway since the cash back stuff fits our spending style. First time in about ten years I've applied for a cc and it was already approved. The credit limit is absurd given our income and other available credit lines - if we ran them all up I doubt we'd live long enough to pay them off (well, DW might) I guess that's what the bank is hoping for.

They're going to be disappointed. We pay them off every month.

 

[Shanky]

18.3 % of FICO scores are 800 - 850.

That doesn't seem to be that exclusive of a "club"

 

[purplesky]

Is there anything in particular that you have received as a result of your 820 credit score that you would not have been able to receive with, say, a 750? Or does it just make you feel good to have a high score?

I never check my credit score. I pay my bills on time but I could care less what my credit score is. I guess if I got denied some credit that I wanted, maybe then I would look into it. But that has never happened, and I doubt it will.

I receive the best possible interest rates on loans and credit cards and a better car insurance rate.

I check my credit score in 30 seconds on credit karma each week just to monitor for fraud. ITS FREE!

There was a time when I carried credit card debt in my life and my credit suffered.
So now its just nice to see all zeros on balances and a score of 820.

Its just nice to know I am now winning with money. I spent many years losing with money.

 

[Amethyst]

My score never goes above 820 because we currently have no mortgage and I often apply for new "rewards" credit cards. Indeed, my credit age score is "Poor"! As others have said, though, a higher score would not garner any bennies.

 

[Dreaming of Freedom]

We did not have a clue what our credit scores were until we qualified for 0% financing through Toyota. 825 & 830. The salesman was very suprised, though we do dress like bums and were driving older cars.

 

[scrabbler1]

Late last year, I applied for an increase in the limit on my main CC. It was rather low and I wanted it higher in case I needed to use my CC to pay the hospital bill following my July hospital stay. My credit score was between 810 and 820 which probably led to an instant approval during a quick call to a bank rep. I didn't end up using the CC to pay the hospital bill months later.


Oddly, after 6 months of my credit score being between 810 and 820, it took a small hit down to 805 in May. I'll be a little curious to see what happens when it gets updated in the next few days. My CC use hasn't changed recently.

 

[rodi]

My credit score dropped a few points on both transunion and equifax this past month per creditKarma.... I assume it's because a slightly higher balance. I pay in full every month - but this month I renewed my annual homeowners/renters/umbrella/car insurance and used a CC to get points. I assume this higher balance dinged my credit scores. Next month I assume it will go back down.

It's either that or the issuance of the new costco visa.... It doesn't even go into effect till tomorrow.

 

[jfn111]

I also check Credit Karma weekly to see if anything has changed. Currently at 833 but it has dipped into the 820's with large credit card balances. We pay the cards off monthly but I have no control as to when CK does their pull so sometimes it lists current balance as $500 and other times $5,000.

 

[ABQ2015]

+1

I thought it would be a huge pain renting after FIRE with no rental history. But it's been very easy, even with a dog. I can't prove it's due to credit score but I can't see what else it could be.

That's nice to hear. I have a cat and plan to rent two years from now in a town with a 1% vacancy rate.

 

[Walt34]

+1

I thought it would be a huge pain renting after FIRE with no rental history. But it's been very easy, even with a dog. I can't prove it's due to credit score but I can't see what else it could be.

That just reminded me - when the 1st wife and I went to rent an apartment it was my credit score that got us in. According to the manager hers alone would have been rejected.

Should have been a huge red flag but I didn't know better at the time.

 

[Aerides]

Mine is stuck in the 780's- according to the monthly update I get via Amex, I have two things counting against me:

Not having loans (because oh hey i don't, my car is long paid for, no mortgage).
Too few accounts (because I don't have a wallet full of plastic, 2 amex and a visa is all).

So I got another credit card, but then I can never remember to use it, and I though what am I even trying to prove? But it does annoy me that I'm not over 800....

 

[mpeirce]

Mine is stuck in the 780's- according to the monthly update I get via Amex, I have two things counting against me:

Not having loans (because oh hey i don't, my car is long paid for, no mortgage).
Too few accounts (because I don't have a wallet full of plastic, 2 amex and a visa is all).

I'm not sure about this. We're down to three credit cards as well - one each of AmEx, Visa, and MC (well, tomorrow it'll be two Visas thanks to Costco) and no loans since we paid off the mortgage seven years ago.

I ignored FICO since having stopped using most credit around the time FICO became important. But our BofA Travel Visa offers a FICO score, so I glanced at it recently and we're at 824 (down from 827 last month, it seems to vary a few points each month according to the graph at BofA).

I have no idea why we have this score.

 

[NW-Bound]

This thread made me curious. I have not logged into Credit Karma for a while, so just did that.

It says 823 from TransUnion, and 827 from Equifax. I don't know what it is all good for, but it should not hurt. I guess lower insurance premiums would be one of the benefits.

 

[kitesurfer2]

thanks for the credit karma info. i jus
t registered on the site. 826 credit score. it was 835 back in jan according to the car dealer.

 

[gauss]

My barclays CCs offer free Fico scores. I was in the 820-840 range or so with one of the relevant items being no recent balances. The problem is that I would send in a check before the statement closed resulting in a negative balance each month.

As soon as I stopped doing that and would show a balance at the end of the month that was paid within a few days, my score shot up to 850. It has been there for the better part of a year except for the time when I started pre-paying/running a negative balance again and within a few months the score dropped. Repeating the process of paying after the statement closed again restored the score to 850.

-gauss

 

[tryan]

Definitely saving on insurance (homeowners, life and car). Then there's the cheap car loan thing.

I have my rental applicants email a screen-shot of the credit karma score. When they can't/won't I drop the ap .... credit must be REALLY bad. It's free!

 

[athena53]

Agree the fanmail from CC companies is ridiculous. Why would I want double digit percentage cards?

DH and I are blissfully ignorant of what the interest rates are on our cards because we pay in full every month. We've gotten some generous sign-on bonuses for cards with steep interest rates but with the first-year annual fee waived. One year American Airlines offered 75,000 miles for signing up for the Visa, another 75,000 for the MasterCard. It was a good year!

 

[audreyh1]

I'm too nervous to register my sensitive info at Credit Karma.

All my credit cards are offering free FICO scores now.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I'm too nervous to register my sensitive info at Credit Karma.

All my credit cards are offering free FICO scores now.

Your info is already out there. There is no inherent risk to accessing information that is readily available to just about everyone. But yes, if you have a CC, odds are you can review the score for free.

In regards to the FICO...there isn't just "one score" or even just "three scores"...there are many, MANY models that are used for different things. Mortgage tri-merge report scores. Auto loan scores. Auto insurance scores. Prospective tenant scores. Our society is now obsessed with this "score." Yes, it's a good idea to keep tabs on your reports but to obsess over a 780 vs. a 850 is ridiculous.

 

[audreyh1]

Your info is already out there. There is no inherent risk to accessing information that is readily available to just about everyone. But yes, if you have a CC, odds are you can review the score for free.

I disagree. I don't know that anyone has compromised my name, DOB, address and SS# as a package, and I'm not going to provide my SS# and DOB anywhere that I don't have to.

 

[Dash man]

Earlier this year DW and I bought a Florida condo on the beach. The association required a background and credit check on us to approve the purchase. Their minimum score for approval was 760 even though we paid cash for the condo. I suppose it was a combination of ensuring we would pay the quarterly fees and perhaps keep irresponsible people out. Even renters have to be approved, though standards are a bit lower with a 720 score.


Enjoying life!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I disagree. I don't know that anyone has compromised my name, DOB, address and SS# as a package, and I'm not going to provide my SS# and DOB anywhere that I don't have to.

Count yourself VERY lucky, or unaware. Our own fabulous government has been responsible for releasing that very information from several different agencies.

And...I will further pontificate that there are those that HAVE been compromised and those that WILL be compromised.

 

[audreyh1]

Count yourself VERY lucky, or unaware. Our own fabulous government has been responsible for releasing that very information from several different agencies.

And...I will further pontificate that there are those that HAVE been compromised and those that WILL be compromised.

Yes, but they generally send you a letter to tell you such information has been exposed.

I'm not going to contribute to additional possible exposure by spreading my personal information around even more.

 

[Aerides]

I agree Audrey. My data may have been compromised, all or in part, but as of yet I don't have any damage to show (knock on wood). Yes it's always a matter of how much and when, no longer "if" for any of us.

The only thing in my control is to continue to limit incremental exposure of my PII. It's valuable, so I treat it that way.

 

[jazz4cash]

Earlier this year DW and I bought a Florida condo on the beach. The association required a background and credit check on us to approve the purchase. Their minimum score for approval was 760 even though we paid cash for the condo. I suppose it was a combination of ensuring we would pay the quarterly fees and perhaps keep irresponsible people out. Even renters have to be approved, though standards are a bit lower with a 720 score.


Enjoying life!

I am curious to know exactly how a purchase could be denied based on a score that is generally considered "good", but not excellent. It seems discriminatory if no credit is involved and it's not like a landlord who is putting their asset at risk. I never had 800+ until very recently and I still got lots of offers and never paid more for loans or insurance. I believe FICO is overhyped.


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