Retail Cards and Credit Score

I was just experimenting on the freecreditanalyzer.com site, changing the variables to see what my credit score might look like in a year or so. Since I have a good recent payment record, that isn't an issue. However, there were two things I tried that just demolished my score.

One was having more than 10 inquiries per year, as opposed to 1 or 2. The other, even worse, was a large number of retail accounts. If I tried 10 or 12 retail accounts, the score went extremely low. This was in spite of the fact that I entered a low combined limit of 2000 for retail accounts each time.

I need to rethink my retail card strategy. I now have just one (Macy's), but had wanted to get several more soon, and even more after that. Now I realize I have to limit the number to 3 or 4. Otherwise, I can't get the other credit cards I want.

Also, according to this model, my present 6 bank cards are hurting my score.

Doris K and family, you may find this interesting.

 

About Bank Cards

About the bank cards I mentioned:

With only one retail card, the number of major (bank) cards didn't seem to matter for me, as long as the combined limits on the bank cards stayed the same.

But look at this:

6 major, 1 retail, score=692
10 major, 1 retail, score=692
10 major, 10 retail, score=542
15 major, 15 retail, score=458

Applying compulsively for retail cards may eventually be self-limiting. When the credit score gets too low, even the easy stores may not approve. But success in getting retail cards can continue for some time, well past the point where the credit score has been ruined for applying to prime banks.

Something to think about.