How Many New Cards Before Score Drops?

[bfranklin825]

I applied for 5 new cards in a 2-3 month period last year. When I checked my report some time after that, the score was something like 670 maybe... then 4 of the accounts aged to over 12 months (still waiting on the last one) and my score jumped up to 719.

I'm assuming that the score won't budge too much (if at all) once that last one ages. My question is how many new cards is too many before your score starts to be affected? Is one or two not a big deal? Does it start to drop after 3? Or are ANY new cards a bad thing?

[scenery_guy]

I typically see 4-5 point drop per new card (or inquiry). Sometimes a third card seems to be a larger drop and sometimes the third card causes no effect I can see on my scores. After a couple months those points are back plus a little more depending on ULT number that happens to show. 

[takeshi74]

Your score isn't calculated based just on number of cards so you can't fixate just on number of cards.  You can calculate the impact on AAoA and the impact is going to vary depending on current AAoA.  Someone with a much higher AAoA will have less of an impact than someone with a much lower AAoA.  The inquiries also factor in but their impact tapers off much more quickly.

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@bfranklin825 wrote:

My question is how many new cards is too many before your score starts to be affected? Is one or two not a big deal? Does it start to drop after 3? Or are ANY new cards a bad thing?

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Generalizations like that aren't useful.  I have 4 new cards since March and my score is higher than it was prior to applying for the cards.  Again, you have to consider your whole credit picture.  The answer to your questions vary depending on the person's current credit and how new cards will impact that specific person.

[bfranklin825]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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Generalizations like that aren't useful.  I have 4 new cards since March and my score is higher than it was prior to applying for the cards.  Again, you have to consider your whole credit picture.  The answer to your questions vary depending on the person's current credit and how new cards will impact that specific person.

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I figured that it was more of a general picture thing... becuase I know that my AAoA got better once the new cards aged and my UTIL and balances were better as well at that time. I was just wondering how my score would react to some new cards. I guess there are a lot of things to consider when getting new cards...