Is there a benefit in diversifying lenders?

[irunfromcredit]

So just as my title implies, is there a benefit?

i ask because the majority of my credit cards are from Chase, 5 cards (I have been banking with them for 10 years).  I have one capital one, one Barclay card, one discover, and one Amex.   I don't find a need to get anymore.  But just wondering if I am leaning bit too much with Chase. Thoughts???

[baller4life]

Lots of people have multiple cards with lenders. Nothing wrong with that unless that's all you have. But since you do have cards with other lenders,you're fine. The problem comes if Chase were your only cards and for some reason closed them all(it has happened). Then you would be stuck out because you had no others.

[Loquat]

The first thing that comes to mind is that if for some reason you and whatever respective lender have a slight hiccup in your relationship, and they happen to shut down your cards, it'd be nice to have a backup.  And by hiccup I don't mean it has to be negative...like say fraud detection/prevention and you need a backup card to swipe while you our dining at your favorite restaurant.   That's one or instance...but it seems like you wouldn't have that issue as I see you have other very nice cards in your lineup.  I'm sure others will way in with a lot more.  I know I was very partial to CapOne as they were the biggest helping hand during my rebuild.  After a while I was started to feel a bit uneasy about having all of my cards with them...added a few more majors just to have options.

[irunfromcredit]

Yes, thanks for the replies. That's what I thought too.  I do hope nothing does ever happen, so far Chase has been very good to me!

[baller4life]

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@Loquat wrote:

The first thing that comes to mind is that if for some reason you and whatever respective lender have a slight hiccup in your relationship, and they happen to shut down your cards, it'd be nice to have a backup.  And by hiccup I don't mean it has to be negative...like say fraud detection/prevention and you need a backup card to swipe while you our dining at your favorite restaurant.   That's one or instance...but it seems like you wouldn't have that issue as I see you have other very nice cards in your lineup.  I'm sure others will way in with a lot more.  I know I was very partial to CapOne as they were the biggest helping hand during my rebuild.  After a while I was started to feel a bit uneasy about having all of my cards with them...added a few more majors just to have options.

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Yep always nice to have options. Never a good idea to have all your eggs in one basket. Anything can happen!

[driftless]

It does not have to be a hiccup in the relationship but a fraud trigger that locks down your card(s). I had Cap One lock down a card(s) twice because of what I thought was normal usage once while vacationing in the Smokies and once while visiting family in Atlanta. While the issue was easily resolved by clicking on link saying that I recognize the charges, what happens if it takes longer to resolve? I don't think that you need cards from a lot of banks, but I would not be comfortable carrying cards from only one bank.

[kdm31091]

I don't think anyone should have cards only from one lender (if nothing else, fraud issues, etc) but I don't think people collecting cards from 30 different lenders is necessary either, at least not just for diversity's sake.

In the real world, the chance of all of your accounts with a lender being closed is pretty rare. It feels like it's a common occurence on here, but most of us on here are outliers with many more inquiries, new accounts, etc than the average person. So to expand on that, the chances of all of your accounts from 5, 10, or 15 issuers being closed all at the same time is incredibly remote. So I don't think people need a million different cards to be protected.

In any case, I think you are fine, OP. I think as long as one has 3 seperate banks in their portfolio (whether that means 3 unique cards or more), that's plenty to protect against problems. Anything else is nice, but not necessary.

[Anonymous]

I would say YES but to each his/her own. I achieved my higher SL when I apped with a different lender. Biggest thing is to keep my applications to a minimum and no spree for me as it's easily can get carry away. 

[icyhot]

Yes, I was once of the opinion that I wanted to have relationships with as little banks as possible. Like I really only wanted BofA and Citi cards. Looking back that was kind of silly lol. But I think if you have cards from the top lenders and maybe a CU or two you're golden

[Themanwhocan]

If you obtain cards from multiple lenders, you can cherry pick the cards with the best rewards.

Also, a lender will have a maximum amount of credit they are willing to extend to you. So if you have a lot of one lenders cards, that limit gets spread out and you end up with all lower limit cards. If you are interested in getting a few very high limit cards, then having one card from a few lenders is more likely to enable that to happen.

Whether these benefits are something you value, is up to you.