How Many Cards Should Report For Building Credit?

Anonymous · ‎03-12-2016

After going on an app spree, I got approved on all but 1 card, going from 1 single credit card to 12.

Now with having 12 cards, how many should be reporting a balance every month? I have read both on here and on other forums that you should only have 1 card report a balance while the other cards have a balance of $0, though that was to maximize your score for that month.

With that being said, I am not looking to maximize my score at the moment (I am a college student that does not plan on going for a loan of any type in the next 3+ years), so I don't really need to have just 1 card reporting for the sake of that. I have read however that credit card companies go by your statements when looking at things like payment history, utilization, credit card use, etc... and if you have a $0 balance when they post the statement, its as if you haven't even used the card that month, and they don't like that.

So my question is, for the sake of building my portfolio and credit history for the long-term, what is better? Should I have all 12 cards report a balance on their statements or should I have only 1 report?

I'd like to also add that I also keep my utilization extremely low by paying almost the full amount (I leave about a dollar on the balance for statement purposes) before the statement posts. So if I went out and bought a $1200 laptop using my credit card, I would pay $1199 before the statement posts, leaving only $1 for my statement.

So which scenario would be best?

12 credit cards showing a balance of $1 each for the statements with a CL of $20k?

Or only 1 credit card out of 12 showing a balance of $1 for the statement with a CL of $20k?

Thank you.

Anonymous · ‎03-12-2016

only let one report if you want maximum credit points

Anonymous · ‎03-12-2016

I know this, but would that hurt me in the long run when it comes to future CLIs and the accounts as a whole? I've read that credit card companies look at your statements when they look for activity, payment history, etc... and when you have a card reporting a $0 balance, it looks like you aren't using that card.

Anonymous · ‎03-12-2016

just change up which cards report a balance each month. and the company of the card you're using knows how much you use it regardless of statement balance.

Chris679 · ‎03-12-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I know this, but would that hurt me in the long run when it comes to future CLIs and the accounts as a whole? I've read that credit card companies look at your statements when they look for activity, payment history, etc... and when you have a card reporting a $0 balance, it looks like you aren't using that card.

You don't need to use a card to get CLI although it can help. My advice to you is just use the cards how you want and not worry about anything else. Carry 2-3 in your wallet and maximize rewards. Rotate those 2-3 if you want to get usage on multiple cards to keep them open long term. You will drive yourself crazy trying to show usage on 12 cards so do not even bother. This is why app sprees are such a bad idea because not only do you drive your credit score down for 6-12 mo but you have all of these cards to try to juggle.

What I do is PIF right before the due date and keep using the cards as you normally would. Any charges that post before your statement will allow you to avoid a zero balance and it is hassle free.