topic Re: Do I have too many credit cards? in Credit Cards

Do I have too many credit cards?

PharmaStockman — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:10:49 GMT

I feel that I may have too many credit cards. Below are my the cards that I currently have all have a 0% balance. Do any stick out that should consider closing?

BOA Americard CR ('11) -- $5000

PenFed VISA Plat CR -- $10k
HSBC Best Buy ('08) -- $2000

Bloomingdales ('08) -- $1500
CITI Forward ('09) -- $10k

CITI Platinum Select MC ('09) -- $4850
Chase Amazon Visa ('09) -- $2900

Discover More - $7500
Chase Continental OnePass Plus MC -- $7500 ($95 AF)

Walmart ('09) -- $2050
AMEX Blue Cash Everyday -- $7000

AMEX Zync - no preset limit
Chase Sapphire Preferred -- $18.5k ($95 AF)

PenFed AMEX --$10k

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

DaveSignal — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:13:58 GMT

yes, you have too many. Not that it hurts your FICO or anything, but if it were me and I had your credit, I would close all the ones under $10k, just to make it easier to keep track of them all.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

jcx808 — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:17:53 GMT

I don't think so, but others may. I have 9 credit cards and I plan on opening one more later this year.

Citi Student $1,700

Citi Diamond Preferred $20,000

Discover More $9,400

BoA Platinum $2,000

BoA World Points $11,100

Sams Club $10,000

Sams Club Discover $6,000

Best Buy $10,100

Capital One $1,700

Gonna apply for the Chase United in September.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

Repo-ed — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:25:51 GMT

I'm not very happy with having the 6 I have.

I hope to one day be able to have 3 very solid CCs.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

android01 — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:28:53 GMT

In my opinion, you can never have too many credit cards as long as you can keep track of them and use them responsibly. :smileyhappy: When I say "keeping track" I don't only mean paying them responsibly, but also aquiring them responsibly. As credit is a long term game, strategic applications over time, that do not adversely affect your ability to obtain credit when needed, is paramount. Think strategically rather than tactically.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

namvet — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:31:47 GMT

No IMO you don't have too many cards. As long as you can manage a large portfolio i don't see any problems. I've got 28 active cards.

For higher scores only 2 or 3 cards should report a balance. That's the hard part.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

skyisthelimit — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:33:03 GMT

Ok I would rather have 3 - 25k limits, then 10 cards split in the 75k limit in my opinon. So if you are considering closing the cards, bump some of the high limits up higher; you don't lose out on overall limit. I have 3 cards and plan on maxing out at 4, really do not care to keep track of more then this.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

webhopper — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 03:07:05 GMT

You may be able to transfer the limit from the amazon visa over to the chase continental and close out the amazon visa or vice versa. Do you travel enough to justify a continental card? Also you may be able to consolidate the limits on your two cities accounts and just keep one open. I would sock drawer all of the store cards instead of closing as they continue to contribute positively to your Aaoa. You may also see if chase will transfer limits from both amazon card and continental card to csp. That would allow you to close two chase cards.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

clocktick — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 03:12:20 GMT

I have more cards than that but I don't think it's too many (although I want to get rid of some too!). In your case, I would combine the PenFed ones if possible and get rid of Best Buy, Bloomingdales, Citi Plat Select (maybe combine the limit on the Forward), Zync and possibly the Walmart if you don't care about the FICO. To each their own though of course - it depends on which ones you use, how you use them and where you shop.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

jordanmedical — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 03:19:51 GMT

You can keep your limits by combining cards that are held my the same bank. I agree with others though, it's only too many if they're not managed well. Also, I have a closed walmart and can still view my score on their website.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

BigDaddy18 — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 03:27:14 GMT

Yes you have to many cards!!

My gosh that's a lot of cards!!

My humble opinion only, I mean really what's the actual purpose or need for that many cards. I'm sure you only ever use like 3-4 anyway!

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

clocktick — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 10:54:26 GMT

Reasons are sign-up bonuses/points - you can earn money, free hotel stays, etc. Another reason is to lower your overall utilization. Amex backdates. Walmart gives you a free FICO. Cap One/Discover/Chase Sapphire Preferred have no foreign transaction fees. There are many reasons why people have the cards they do. Some could be rebuilders too.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

discernment — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 03:36:56 GMT

android01 wrote:
In my opinion, you can never have too many credit cards as long as you can keep track of them and use them responsibly. :smileyhappy: When I say "keeping track" I don't only mean paying them responsibly, but also aquiring them responsibly. As credit is a long term game, strategic applications over time, that do not adversely affect your ability to obtain credit when needed, is paramount. Think strategically rather than tactically.

WELL SAID and I thoroughly concur!

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

Wolf3 — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:51:02 GMT

IMO, 13 cards is just right, so you have 1 too many. I'd close the AMEX zync.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

AF_23 — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:59:35 GMT

Its a personal choice, but if you have to ask then its probably too many

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

marty56 — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 08:41:17 GMT

IMHO The number of CCs is not important. Keeping track of the ones that are used and when the need to be paid/their util is the hard part. I might consider closing CCs with AFs provided your AAoA won't hurt if the closed CCs are droped from your CR early.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

ztnjpv — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:20:33 GMT

It's all a matter of Average of Age of Accounts.

Look at your average age listed on your credit report and then take all the cards that are younger than that average. Any stick out that are useless or expensive to keep? Get rid of them. Start with the youngest and work backwards. As each younger card comes off, your average account age will go up....and so will your score.

That being said, useful cards that you want to keep that happen to be younger, should stay....obviously.

Do some math. Convert all your cards into months and do the ol' add up and divide with various scenarios to see what works for you.

**PS: I just removed a useless AU account from my report that my wife put me on. The card was opened in 2/12. At the time, I didn't mind becauee my scores were suffering. But now that I got rid of my baddies, I realized what a drag it was on my AAofA. I just came off all 3 in the last 2 days and my scores shot up cosniderably

TU 754--->789, EQ 764--->777. I'll see the effect on my EX in a few weeks when PSECU comes out. It was 755. I'm expecting to be in the 770s.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

RockinRay — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:42:15 GMT

ztnjpv wrote:
It's all a matter of Average of Age of Accounts.

Look at your average age listed on your credit report and then take all the cards that are younger than that average. Any stick out that are useless or expensive to keep? Get rid of them. Start with the youngest and work backwards. As each younger card comes off, your average account age will go up....and so will your score.

That being said, useful cards that you want to keep that happen to be younger, should stay....obviously.

Do some math. Convert all your cards into months and do the ol' add up and divide with various scenarios to see what works for you.

**PS: I just removed a useless AU account from my report that my wife put me on. The card was opened in 2/12. At the time, I didn't mind becauee my scores were suffering. But now that I got rid of my baddies, I realized what a drag it was on my AAofA. I just came off all 3 in the last 2 days and my scores shot up cosniderably

TU 754--->789, EQ 764--->777. I'll see the effect on my EX in a few weeks when PSECU comes out. It was 755. I'm expecting to be in the 770s.

This is actually excellent advise! If you are an AU on a newer account that you do not need, have yourself removed.Thanks for posting.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

FrugalRican — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:54:04 GMT

Who am I to be objective about your subjectivity?

To me. Yes, you have too many. To others, no, you don't. To Goldilocks, you have it JUST right.

What matters is what YOU think and whether YOU can handle them.

Re: Do I have too many credit cards?

DonGonzalo — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:09:17 GMT

You do not have too many cards. As long as your AAoAs can withstand new tradelines without causing a significant drop in your scores your'e good. I have 12 credit cards with $66,700 available credit, plus an $18,0000 line of credit.