Is it bad to have too many credit cards

Anonymous · ‎08-08-2017

Is it bad to have too many credit cards? Would I appear to be high risk by having access to a high credit limit? Is there an ideal number of credit cards to have? My annual income is about 55k and I have 6 different credit cards right now with a combined credit limit of 34k with about 12% being utilized. My credit scores range from 735-750. think i want to apply for the citi double cash card to start taking advantage of rewards. If necessary, I'd be okay to close an account I don't use to put myself in a better position for the double cash card.

Any advise would be appreciated, thanks!

Anonymous · ‎08-08-2017

There is such a thing as too much credit. There is probably such a thing as too many cards. You are no where near either of those limits though. App away.

csryang · ‎08-08-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Is it bad to have too many credit cards? Would I appear to be high risk by having access to a high credit limit? Is there an ideal number of credit cards to have? My annual income is about 55k and I have 6 different credit cards right now with a combined credit limit of 34k with about 12% being utilized. My credit scores range from 735-750. think i want to apply for the citi double cash card to start taking advantage of rewards. If necessary, I'd be okay to close an account I don't use to put myself in a better position for the double cash card.

Any advise would be appreciated, thanks!

I do not think there's a standard answer to your question. It all depends on how each lender views you. Most people say your can achieve the best credit score with just 3 credit cards. Some need 3-5 cards to get best cash back bonus from each category. Some only need one to two cards... What's "ideal" is different for different people.

My personal example. I have 20+ cards. Income is slighly higher than yours. Tototal credit limit from over 20+ cards is more than 4 times my current income. I do play this game carefully though over the past 3 years and know that the rules and tricks are with each lender. For me, Citi seems to be tricky to be approved and get more credit.

In generally, you need to know why you need a card before you apply for the card. Second, you need to make sure you do not carry balances or being late.

On your other post, you said you recently applied for Citi Costco, Chase CSP and FU. With Citi, you need to make sure each Citi application is at least 8 days apart from each other. Otherwise, your application will be denied. Citi is also somewhat inquiry sensitive. Some say keep your Experian inquiries in the past 6 months below 6 before you apply with them. You can definitely try applying Double Cash with them. If denied, just wait 6 months to apply again. A good suggestion is applying no more than 1 card per lender per 6 months to start with. However, you do not need to follow that suggestion if you really need a certain card badly and know why you need the card.

Anonymous · ‎08-09-2017

I agree that the OP is nowhere near being overly concerned but I disagree with " no such thing as too much credit"

Every institution and/or UWer will indeed determine if there is TOO MUCH credit for them to extend even more credit.

So it's like saying there's no such thing as too many girlfriends, true... until one of the girls says so😎
Same thing with credit Bank A says no thanks Bank B says no problem ...no absolutes

HeavenOhio · ‎08-09-2017

I'd say that cjfuller125's numbers are well within reason and that they could easily be more than doubled.

That said, I think its possible for lenders to decide that one's limits are enough, at least for the time being. For instance, they might be more cautious if one has added a lot to his or her limits fairly recently. But they're likely to be OK once the dust settles and the customer has some "experience" with those limits.

Chickenpotpie · ‎08-09-2017

I agree that it will be up to the lender to decide how much is too much. Lots of factors into this including income.

Just my opinion though: you have 6 cards with have 12% UTL. Adding an additional card will bring it down nicely if the CL is decent, however, if my UTL was that high across 6 cards, I would take a look at my spending practices first. Thats not to say 12% is really bad, but its still double digit UTL. You can of course game the system (there's more than one way to skin a cat!), but you need to make sure you have enough money to do so.

Also before opening any additional cards, know how many inquiries you currently have, some banks count those as a reason for denial of credit.

Anonymous · ‎08-09-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
I agree that the OP is nowhere near being overly concerned but I disagree with " no such thing as too much credit"

Every institution and/or UWer will indeed determine if there is TOO MUCH credit for them to extend even more credit.

So it's like saying there's no such thing as too many girlfriends, true... until one of the girls says so😎
Same thing with credit Bank A says no thanks Bank B says no problem ...no absolutes

Um, yeah, that's why I said there is such a thing as too much credit. Read again.

@Anonymous wrote:
There is such a thing as too much credit. There is probably such a thing as too many cards. You are no where near either of those limits though. App away.

Anonymous · ‎08-09-2017

I don't think it's bad. Everyone's lifestyle and habits are different..