How many credit cards is too many ? Does having 5 open lines of credit lower your FICO score ? What about cards like Sears, or Home Depot ? If you have cards that are open with 0 balances .. Is it better to just close them down ?
You will need a couple of retail cards. I had 2 credit cards with crap limits and it was not enough. I just picked up 2 much better cards and a target and best buy card and will let you know how they affect my score when they hit although the first cc hit and I gained a nice 18 points. If you have no annual fee and the balance is zero and there is some age on those cards I would keep em. The more credit limits you have the more companies will trust you in the future. Mbna said they loved the credit report but 1500 was all they could give because the other ccs were 300 and 750
IT'S HARD TO SAY...ONE is too many for some...others can have 20+ with no problems... F.I.C.O. CAN BE HURT MORE BY CLOSING ACCOUNTS!!! 2 a year is about the most you should close...IF THEY ARE SOME OF YOUR OLDEST ACCOUNTS, DON'T DO IT!!!
Picantel, EX is my best report with a 602 CE, I have 1 judgement, 6 sl adn 2 cc sharge-offs. No collections. MBNA pulls EX for me. I have on the positive side, 1 amex au, 1 visa 750cl and macy 300cl What say you about MBNA, a 1500cl would be just fine for me.
I should have posted this before I closed a capitol one account with a $3000 cl and an 8 year credit history... .... damn! ... You live and learn
In addition to the other excellent comments on this thread I thought I might add a little nugget that I picked up on Equifax. My top negative reason is "Too many bankcards." But if you read the explanation, you'll find that they include BOTH OPEN & CLOSED accounts in that total. So closing bankcard accounts wouldn't help me, at least for ten years until the positive notations drop off.
One of the positive reasons I have on Equifax is that I have established bank revolving credit obligations reported. What I have is a Discover, 3 Visas and 2 Mastercards open for a total of 6 credit cards. I also have 17 closed credit card accounts with a total history of about 10 years. I do not have any retail cards, loans or mortgages. When this reason appeared my score jumped from 744 to 765. I always thought that I need retail cards but I am not sure now. Here is the complete reason: "You have established bank/national revolving credit obligations being reported This factor can arise if you have no open bank/national revolving accounts, or if there is important information (such as the balance or credit limit) not being reported for your bank/national revolving accounts. The presence of bank/national revolving credit accounts (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diners Club, etc.) on your credit report illustrates that you can obtain credit, such as a bankcard, from a lender. Your ability to obtain credit (and use it responsibly) is evaluated by the score. The score evaluates the types of credit in your credit history and will consider your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgage loans. It is not necessary to have one of each, and it is not a good idea to open credit accounts you have no need for, or don't intend to use." Mark
OK, I had the same reason as a negative reason for a while "Too many bankcards" this includes both open and closed, average is 5 I had (I dunno exactly) nine. Here is the point! That rule is garbage!!! It appeared when another card that was eight years old starting showing a balance. Not when I got a new card! I have had the exact same number of cards since my last addition of Discover in 1999. Since then nothing new. The day I had a local electronics store show a balance (I was taking advantage of zero percent for 90 days) I got the reason from Equifax that I had too many bankcards. That rule is either complete garbage, or has a lot to do with number of cards with recent activity.
MBNA Your scores look similiar to mine..... mine were all in the mid 600s until providian closed my account for no good reason.....sigh. Can't win for losing. I am trying to figure out who to apply for and not get rejected. I have no bk/judgments/coll. I have only 3 lates 18 mos ago. and nothing more than 30. But my meager balances are high ratio to limit. HELP! Who do you recommend applying with?
Re: MBNA Basically Providian notified me they were closing and sent my account to emerge. I have only been late one time 18 mos. ago. I always pay over my payment. They raised the int. to 29.99 and I want to pay them off so I dont have to deal with them... probably shouldn't close the account though huh??
You have too many bankcard charge accounts According to your credit file, you have 11 bankcard charge accounts. On average, U.S consumers have between 4 and 5 bankcard charge accounts (including both open and closed) reported on their credit file. The FICO score evaluates the number of open and closed bankcard accounts you have. Having more bankcard accounts (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diners Club, etc.) than other consumers with credit histories of similar length represents higher risk compared to consumers with fewer bankcard accounts. Bankcards are a great convenience. But having more of them than you need may actually work against your score. We recommend moderation in credit. If you don't need it, or don't plan to use it, you're better off not applying for it.
Re: MBNA Amy, check your statement to see if they really raised the interest rate. I got the letter saying mine would be raised in October if I didn't close the account. Then in October I got the letter where they closed the account. I've checked my last two statements and they have not raised it to the 29.9% and I don't think they will under the circumstances. L
Re: MBNA Unfortunately they did.....I'm wishing I had an extra $1400 lying around to pay them off. I tried to apply to GM today to do a BT and no go.
