Can you have too many cards?

[kdm31091]

Even SD cards have to be managed in some way. But everyone has their own opinion on whether its too much hassle or not. Yes you "just" have to make an occasional purchase or monitor the account online but some people don't want to bother when the card does them no benefit.

[Anonymous]

So the only acceptable answer to this question is..

Only have as many cards as you can handle.

/thread.

[takeshi74]

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@giosan32 wrote:

My question is there a point where you can have too many credit card accounts where it can start to drag your fico score down?

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This is a very common topic.  Don't overlook prior discussions as well:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=too%20many%20ca...

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@Josh2942 wrote:

It deffitenetly does not hurt you to have them. 

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Not entirely true even though that seems to be the opinion of many on myFICO.  If one can't actively monitor cards that aren't actively used then runs the risk of missing out on the window to report fraud.  You can't just assume that the "keep everything open" or even "keep all with no AF" mantra applies to everyone.  Each needs to make decisions based on thier own specific needs/wants/preferences/goals/priorities/etc.

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@Anonymous wrote:
Online management has made this so much easier.

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People vary.  Online management may make it possible for you to manage X but that doesn't mean that the next person can also manage X.  It's not just a matter of the availability of online management.

[longtimelurker]

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@newhis wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Short answer is no. There never comes a point where you get a penalty for too many cards.

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That's what I thought, but on my EX report I have a red flag (and this is the only one) by total number of accounts (46 open and closed) with the legend: "Marks an aspect of your credit that is hurting your FICO® score"

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So that's why your EX score is 841 instead of 850? And the only way to "fix" this is to wait for some closed accounts to drop from your report?

I don't see myself with over 30 open/closed accounts. Do you know when the legend started? Maybe it is new with FICO 08? Thanks

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I don't recall seeing it on the 04 reports, but there were other factors on those, so not sure.

While EX does show 9 more accounts than the others, the other difference is two recent EX inquiries.  While those aren't flagged, I wouldn't be surprised if they have some contribution to the score difference