Open a 4th CC in 6 months

[Schwartzinator]

As a fellow college student new to the credit game, I really widh I'd taken the time to think through my application process like you're doing now. I've waisted quite a few inquiries and opened accounts with cards I've quickly closed. Patience appears to be the game, and now it's time to garden.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi, I currently have an unsecured CC from Bank of America for $900, and two secured from Citi and Discover.

These are my first credit cards, and I applied for three in order to expedite the process of credit building.

I had no intention to maintain the two secured CCs for a very long time, maybe for a year, until my credit score becomes goood enough to open up different unsecured CCs.

Today, I received a letter with invitation number from Chase for its Freedom Unlimited CC.

I do not think this guarantees my approval for the card, but on "Terms & Conditions" sheet in the mail, there is a section which talks about "Notice About this Pre-Approved Offer." Further reading suggests that the words "Pre-Approved" and "Prescreened" are used interchangeablly. And the offer has an expiration date as well, so I am guessing this particular mail was not sent out randomly, but rather, sent to people who have at least passed a few criteria that Chase had access to without hard inquiry and deemed necessary. 

Anyhow, my question is should I apply for this card given the number of credit cards I have acquired in the past half a year?

If I do get approved for the Freedom Unlimited, I am going to close an account from either Citi or Discover, probably Citi since it has zero benefits.

Also, if there is anything you can share with someone who has just begun building credit, I will appreciate it very much.

Thanks

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What are your 3 scores, where are they from, number of inquiries, and what is your average age of accounts?  Utilization?  Limits?

Do not close the discover. Citi does not unsecure as far as I know, but certainly can help with future citi approvals.

Did the chase prequal list a specific APR post promo?  Go to chase.com and check their prequalifid offers chase.com/prequalified  if you see anything there, it is almost a guaranteed approval (unless of course you had past dealing with chase credit or checking that are unresolved(

If it does show more than one card, and you have a chase branch within close distance to you, go to the branch.  Folks are getting targeted offers in branch for the freedom products with $300 on the freedom, and 70k points instead of 50k on the CSP.  You never know what can happen, and at this stage in building, one denial isn't going to foil the rest of your credit life.

Have you considered going to where you primarily bank to get a traditional credit card? Generally scores above 650 are all you need with a good limit/apr too.

BOA is awesome. I am so relieved to see that in your lineup.  They unsecure as early as 4 months and grow as fast as discover IMO.  Place all your spending through the BOA pay it off weekly if you have to.  I am not entirely sure on the unsecure process for BOA, I wonder if calling at the 4/5 month mark does anything? Call a sr credit analyst from number located on the backdoor thread here at myfico. The worst thing they can say is no!!!  If you are a stones throw away from 690-720 then certainly don't apply for anything until the BOA is unsecured and increased.

[getrdone1]

I don't respond to a lot of posts but every once in a while i feel compelled to give back a little from the knowledge that i have gained from here..i think that my ability to rebound back from a bankruptcy and able to climb back up to the 800's and as close as 844 right now on transunion and the fact that i have opened a lot of new accounts in the past 2 years(around 15) would qualify me to help someone else who might be looking for some advice..in my rebuild i had accumulated several cards that were fee based and after i had my credit good enough to get unsecured or no annual fee cards,  i closed those old fee based accounts...fico keeps those accounts around for 10 years and after that you take a big hit when they finally drop them from your profile...your file and score will grow on those closed accounts, i have lost several of them already...depending on what you plan on doing with the credit, and by that i mean are you trying to build scores or are you trying to accumulate accessible monies, i would recommend taking early hits on a young or new credit profile so as to avoid the high cost later on of app sprees or acquisition of new credit..by high costs i refer to drops in AAoA(average age of accounts)..in the beginning, every new card i had applied for and got,  my AAoA would drop significantly..That would cause me to lose points, that,  i did not understand at the time...now i only lose a few months or points for every new credit type i accumulate.. i know there are other factors to consider, but to me that was a biggie....for me, there are a few other cards that i could get, from some banks that i already do business with,  but my goal was to have more new relationships with as many good banks and lending institutions as possible rather than have a few banks that i only do business with.. i have read of soo many people who had banks turn on them when they either needed them most or were blindsided by them because the banks had there own personal self preservation to deal with...i am still seeing banks go by the wayside and i am not sure how many more will be taken up in the near future...i give a lot of thought to each and every thing i do now, knowing that there are good and bad consequeces to each and every credit decision...i do more research than ever before so as to make the best decision for me and my goals...good luck and chose wisely as you go....

[Anonymous]

1) You're welcome, but folks wanting info and getting to help ppl dodge...known hazards is great motivation to share.

2) I strongly disagree you should NOT tie up more funds in security deposits, just to fall in line with marketers programming to chase rewards points for a FEW months... c'mon folks the OP has had the freaking cards 6 freaking months
The world isn't going to end because he/she adjust some freaking spend for a few more months.

Hell it might be PRACTICE for how freaking grown up LIFE works.... life causes GD adjustments gimme a break...we should be happy ppl are forced to make chess like adjustments, it teaches composure and a life skill... again we are talking a few billing cycles NOT half a decade for Pete sake.

Lastly, as I mentioned...
the above advice to close 2 prefectly fine secured accounts is NUTS
Those 2 accounts are half a year old, the Discover might be unsecured within 60 days, even if the Citi takes another year...SO WHAT

What is the BIG, Win in opening a new CC account and burning a HP to do it and basically waste the HPs used to get the 2 cards ppl are saying cancel, not mention killing the acquired HISTORY of said cards

For WHAT?
To hold that $400 now, instead of February?

So instead of waiting and having an older account with beautiful payment history, again from very decent vendors (Discover and Citi...aren't chicken liver)
Run kill the history for a 7 day old Chase CC ...makes 0 good sense.

Ok, so they approve a person with a marginal CL and definitely newbie % rates .... ppl make with mistake all the time, not thinking it out.

Just because one will get approved NOW
Doesn't mean now is the time to take ANY offer

It's like a singer or a ball player signing the 1st deal put in front of them....sometimes it makes more sense to chill where you are a bit

And the next offer will be made to a STAR not a 'just happy to be nominated newbie '.

It amazes me the amount of nonsense ppl volunteer for to skip 6 freaking months of 'act right', even if it's 9 months a school year worth of history isn't worth all this gymnastics to avoid just a bit of work.

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have to agree with just keeping your 3 cards for now.

3 is enough to build a solid credit foundation moving forward, and a good start for someone rebuilding their credit. Having a bunch of cards can get out of hand if not properly managed, and when you are still in the early stages of building a strong profile it's much safer to stick with the magical 3 easily into the 700's.

Give those 3 some time, say another year or so with monthly use and keeping the balances pretty much at zero, and then take a look at where your scores are and what type of better rewards makes the most sense to  you. Good cards will still be around, don't worry

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Agree with this. 3 is plenty to build with. No reason to rush into more cards.

[Anonymous]

Another thing I'd like to add, the OP was considering applying for another card because he received an offer in the mail.

Honestly, this is probably the worst reason to get a card.  It's the equivalent of an impulse candy bar buy when your on line at the register.  You didn't go in with the intent to walk out with a candy bar. 

People should only apply for a card that they need or want that they would use and find benefit in.  This should be researched up front so that this person knows exactly what they want before they app.  The only time a mailer offer IMO should be used is if an offer comes to your door for the exact card that you already decided on.  Otherwise it's sort of like an impulse buy, and with many impulse buys in life it doesn't take long before the purchaser says to himself, "why did I get that?" 

Just an additional perspective that could be worth considering.