@outofthewoods wrote:
"The minimum number of cards needed to get max points for #cards with balance is 3. "
does this mean 3 cards would be best?
It depends on what else you have on your file. If you have any installment loans, you'll need more CCs to offset them.
You basically want more than half of your CCs to have $0 balance on your CRs. You also want at least half of all of your loans to have no balance. An installment loan always has a balance until it is paid off.
If you wanted a mortgage and a car loan and were trying to set up for scoring, you would want 4 CCs. 2 loans and 1 CC with a balance and 3 CCs without a balance. Adding more $0 CCs doesn't hurt, and builds a buffer against mistakes and midcycle balances reporting. it also helps provide a buffer for Adverse Action from creditors. For non-scoring purposes, you always want a couple of backups.
