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Finance :: Credit :: Personal :: Credit Hacking
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readme.md

Finance :: Credit :: Personal :: Credit Hacking

⪼ Made with 💜 by Polyglot.

About

Getting Started
Authorized User
Real-Time Monitoring
Deletion, Blocking & Suppression
Paying Collections
Illegal Tactics To Avoid
Secured Credit Cards
Benefits
Wealth Building
Increase Score
Travel Specific
Collections / Charge-Offs

Build Business Credit

Jack McColl
Herman Dolce

Expert Insiders

John Ulzheimer

Trade Line Types

  • Installment Account (Auto Loan)
  • Revolving Account (Credit Card)

Cards

Secured Credit Cards

Discover IT Secured
  • $0 annual fee
  • $200 deposit
  • Begin to build credit
  • 6-9 months, graduate to unsecured
  • Beginner Friendly
  • 22.99% Interest Rate
  • 2% cash back on gas stations & restaurants
  • 1% cash back on all other purchases
  • Unlimited cash back match (matches all cash back you got in first year)
Apple Card
  • $0 annual fee
  • Made of titanium
  • Issued by Goldman Sachs
  • Can apply from iPhone
  • 10.99% - 21.99% Interest Rate
  • 2% cash back on apple pay use
  • 3% cash back at select merchants
  • 3% cach back on apple products
  • 1% cash back on everything you purchase
  • Spending Transparency
Visa Petal 1
  • $0 annual fee
  • APRs 19.99% - 29.49%
  • 2% - 10% cash back at select merchants
  • $500 - $5000 limits
Visa Petal 2
  • $0 annual fee
  • APRs 12.99% - 26.99%
  • 1% - 1.5% cash back
  • $500 - $10,000 limits
Wells Fargo Cash Wise
  • $0 annual fees
  • 1.5 cash back on everything
  • 0% interest rate for first 15 months, then 14.9%
  • $150 cash back after first $500 of spending
  • Easy application (go into well fargo and ask for application)
CITI Double Cash Card
  • $0 annual fees
  • 2% cash back on everything

Motivation & Benefits

  • A better FICO score "generally" means you qualify to live in a higher income area. If you have kids, this is absolutely paramount because higher income areas means your kids qualify to attend schools that are better funded, meaning, better teachers, and thus, better education. In other words, your FICO score directly affects your children's education or lack thereof. There are no ifs, ands, or butts about it.

Terminology

  • Credit Limit Increase
  • OPM (Other People's Money)
  • Debt-To-Income Ratio (DTI)
  • Sign-Up Bonus [Points] (Key To Travel Hacking)
  • Minimum Spend Requirement (Usually $3K within 3 months)
  • Bonus Points
  • Collection
  • Charge-Off
  • Credit Utilization Ratio
  • Available Credit
  • Credit Used
  • Annual Fees
  • 5/24 Rule (opened 5 or more cards in last 24 months)
  • Credit Age
  • Credit History Anchor
  • Credit Card Churning
  • Reconsideration Line
  • Trade Line
  • Credit Score: A financial report card which tells financial institutions how likely you are to pay them back. A good credit score not only saves you money, but it can earn you more money.
  • Credit Bureau
  • FICO Score
  • Vantage Score
  • Hard Inquiry / Hard Pull
  • Soft Inquiry / Soft Pull
  • Pre-Approval: pre-approval is how you find out if you may be eligible for a trade-line without impacting your credit score.
  • Pre-Qualification
  • Unsecured / Secured Credit Card
  • Inquiries
  • Good Will Letter
  • AZEO FICO Scoring Method
  • Purchase protection
  • Credit Freeze
  • Credit Lock
  • Cash Back Rewards
  • miles
  • introductory offers
  • interest rates
  • premium travel rewards credit cards
  • Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover
  • Shopping benefits
  • Price protection
  • Return protection
  • Extended warranty
  • Event ticket protection – American Express
  • Complimentary ShopRunner membership – American Express
  • Cash at checkout – Discover
  • Rental car insurance
  • Mobile phone insurance
  • Travel and emergency assistance services
  • Auto rental collision damage waiver
  • Roadside dispatch
  • Zero liability for fraudulent charges
  • Year-end summary statement
  • Emergency card replacement and emergency cash disbursement
  • Creditworthiness
  • 609 Dispute Letter
  • 2x Points
  • 10x Multiple
  • Transfer Partners
  • Leverage
  • Delinquencies
  • APY
  • Burden of Proof
  • Method of Verification
  • e-oscar
  • Metro 2 Compliance Standard
  • FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act)
  • ECOA (Equal Credit Opportunity Act)
  • Five C's of Credit: Character, capacity, capital, collateral, conditions

Study Resources

Flashcards

The Credit Card Playbook

  • Don't spend extra money on things you would't normally buy just to meet the minimum spend
  • Strategically plan your credit card application and mimimum spend around an expected large expense/bill (this expense may meet or get you closer to meeting the minimum spend requirement)
  • Call credit card company and ask for the fee to be waived
  • If you plan on having more than 5 cards and plan to apply for chase cards, apply for your chase cards before applying for other cards
  • Do not carry credit card debt; pay off balance in full each month to avoid paying interest.
  • Treat credit cards as if they are cash. If you cannot pay for it with cash, do not pay for it with a credit card.
  • Best days to fly with points are Tuesday & Wednesday for best point redemption
  • Know which credit card to use for which purchase in order to maximize the number of points given
  • Block Lexis Nexis
  • Block SageStream
  • Experian Boost
  • TransUnion Boost
  • Ensure that Rent & Utility payments are being reported
  • Get added on as an Authorized User (2 - 4 Years Old, No payments missed in past 2 years)
  • Start with unsecured pre-approval cards
  • Avoid Credit Sweeps (credit repair company marketing term -> they erroneously claim fraud which is illegal)
  • Avoid Credit Privacy Number (erroneous social security number -> illegal)
FAQ

UnSecured Pre-Approval Cards

Pre-Qualification Soft Pull (no hard inquiry)

  • Milestone
  • Reflex (Mastercard)
  • Indigo (Mastercard)
  • Surge (Mastercard)
  • Fit
  • Total (Must have a checking account)
  • Deserve EDU (no SSN)
Bank (Secured) Credit Cards
  • Wells Fargo (open personal & business checking account and a secured business card)
  • Discover Student Credit Card
  • Capital One (Go through Walmart -- best time to apply is holidays)
  • Capital One Business Cash Card (not reporting on personal unless you miss payments)

How To Choose The Best Credit Card for You?

  1. Know Your Current Situation and the available options pertaining to your situation.

Increase Your Score Tips

Resources
Playbook
  1. Know Your Score
  2. "Improving your credit utilization ratio is one of the quickest ways to boost a credit score."

Tracking

  1. Credit Card
  2. Open Date
  3. Minimum Spend Requirement
  4. Minimum Spend Deadline
  5. Bonus Points
  6. Close Date

Scales

Credit Utilization
  • 0-9%: Excellent
  • 10-29%: Good
  • 30-49%: Fair
  • 50-74%: Poor
  • 75%: Bad

Reconsideration Line Phone Numbers

  • Chase: 1-800-945-2006 (Press 0)
  • Bank of America: 1-866-422-8089
  • American Express: 1-877-399-3083
  • citibank: 1-888-201-4523

Tools, Websites, Apps

Rewards
Credit Builder Apps w/ Credit Card (Secured)
Research

Services

Credit Score

  • Between 300 - 850

Score Factors

  • Payment History
  • Credit Inquiries
  • Credit Usage (Utilization)
  • Length of Credit History

Credit Reporting Bureaus

  1. Equifax
  2. Transunion
  3. Experian
  4. Innovis

Access To Credit Score, Credit Report, & Credit Monitoring

Monitoring Credit Reports
Credit Monitoring Apps
  • CreditWise: TransUnion Vantage Score + Access reports from Experian & TransUnion, Alerts, & Advise
  • NerdWallet
  • WalletHub: TransUnion Vantage Score
Free Report Websites
Research

Dispute

METRO 2

Law

  • It is against the law to consider demographic data (address, race, gender, sexual preference) as part of the credit worthiness evalutation.
  • It is not illegal to consider age; and it is on the credit report; however, it is not considered in the credit scoring system.

Credit Repair Software

Scoring Systems

FICO
Vantage Score

Resources

Credit Freeze Landing Pages

Letter Templates

Fax Services

Fax Numbers

  • Equifax: 888-825-0589

Uploads

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