Do I have a good mix?

[Anonymous]

My current CCs are as follows:

Chase Visa      $1,000

Capital One     $300

American Express Blue $1,000

Bank of America $10,000

HSBC      $750 (soon to be cancelled if I don't get resolution on this annual fee nonsense)

Royal Credit Union $500 (soon to be 2,000 after my CLI request this week)

WaMu $1,300

Should I throw in a store card or something?  I just got CrapOne and HSBC.  I took a hit with adding WaMu, HSBC, and CrapOne just in the last 30 days.  Definitely probably too soon.  But I'm wondering in the long term.  Like maybe next spring.

[Anonymous]

Cynical, the pie chart in the "Credit Education" section of the menu bar says, types of credit account for 10% of your score.

I believe they are talking about the various types of credit instruments, not a variety of credit card accounts. CC accounts are classified as revolving credit.

Examples of other credit instruments: mortgage, auto loan, etc. Installment loans vs. revolving acct. loans.

As far a revolving accounts you have a very good mix, with several prime lenders.

I think that opinions vary, if you should or should not have store/gas cards. I have both of those's and happy as a clam with them. They help me meet my purchase objectives without tying up my other MC or Visa cards.

Just my opinion.

[Anonymous]

I'd have to say it depends on your goals, spending habits and comfort levels.

I understand dept store cards offer specific promos that you normally wouldn't get otherwise. For example, I don't think I need a Victoria Secret card, but I really like a lot of their products (which can be pricey) and I would like more coupons/offers for their products. I am considering their card, then again, I keep coming across stories of people having issues trying to straighten out account problems with them. So for now and for me, I'm going to wait it out a little.

I'm currently liking the sounds of the Home Depot card, where you can get 6 months of no payments and no interest for purchases over $299. And supposedly, this is every 6 months. Heh, and that Best Buy card sounds good too.

[Creditaddict]

The final factor affecting your fico score is the type of credit used. While this isn’t critical, fico scoring does look at the mix of types of credit in use, and will score someone higher who has experience with different types of accounts such as mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and more. If your credit profile is limited to just credit cards, your fico score may be lower than someone with a better mix. It also takes into account the total number of each type of credit account. So if you’ve got 10 credit cards, and no other types of accounts, your fico score could suffer, or be held back from A+ levels. But even if your credit mix doesn’t affect your fico score, most lenders want to finance people with experience with a certain type of loan, so if you already have an auto loan or a mortgage, you’ll probably have an easier time getting a second one.

This is off of howcreditworks

[Anonymous]

Thanks for breaking up the answer in separate section.  I meant as far as revolving lines are considered, was it a good mix.  The whole prime/subprime thing confuses me so I wanted you to do the work for me, lol.

[Anonymous]

Double post! I hate double posts, but I'm going to do it anyway.

I posted before I saw the last answer.

This is why it was stupid for me to put my car on my credit card.  Which is what I'm using my BoA for.  I need to get an auto loan in the next couple of years.  I'm thinking of getting a personal loan just to mix it up.  Maybe even do a Rent-to-Own type thing.  I know the rates are outrageous, but they report as installment loan, right?

[haulingthescoreup]

Well, that's that other thing that I can't find current, authoritative documentation on: the belief that FICO penalizes or rewards less "consumer finance" installment loans. And there's no good definition I've found of what makes a loan "consumer finance." I know a car loan isn't, I know a mortgage isn't. It is supposed to depend on how your lender codes it.

And are they really marked down after all? That and the store-cards-are-necessary thing are making me crazy.

I saw one reference to store cards being handy, but that was specifically giving advice to those trying to build/ re-build their credit, since supposedly store cards are easier to get.

I feel like I'm back in college, huddled with friends outside the classroom door before the final exam, asking each other, "Where does it say that?? I don't remember the book ever saying that!?!?!"

[MidnightVoice]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
Well, that's that other thing that I can't find current, authoritative documentation on: the belief that FICO penalizes or rewards less "consumer finance" installment loans. And there's no good definition I've found of what makes a loan "consumer finance." I know a car loan isn't, I know a mortgage isn't. It is supposed to depend on how your lender codes it.

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It can be a negative comment on a CR - too many consumer finance loans.

And yes, I think it is the coding that tells FICO what is what

[Anonymous]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
Well, that's that other thing that I can't find current, authoritative documentation on: the belief that FICO penalizes or rewards less "consumer finance" installment loans. And there's no good definition I've found of what makes a loan "consumer finance." I know a car loan isn't, I know a mortgage isn't. It is supposed to depend on how your lender codes it.

And are they really marked down after all? That and the store-cards-are-necessary thing are making me crazy.

I saw one reference to store cards being handy, but that was specifically giving advice to those trying to build/ re-build their credit, since supposedly store cards are easier to get.

I feel like I'm back in college, huddled with friends outside the classroom door before the final exam, asking each other, "Where does it say that?? I don't remember the book ever saying that!?!?!"

---

It really does comfort me to know that someone else is a little confused as to where the lines are drawn.  Everybody seems to have a different story.

It's kind of like Aesop's Fables.  Hundreds of variations, it all depends on who you talk to.

[Anonymous]

Now Im wondering, they always ask if we want to change our Sams for a Discover, should I do that?  Hubby also has a Home Depot cc.  Would that be a hard inq to make that change, they said they give higher CL on the Discover than they do on the Sams.  We really dont need anymore credit than we have.  Tks Vicki