How many CCs is considered Optimal for FICO Scoring?

[wfreeman3]

I can tell you that I had 4.  Cancelled one and added 2.  No score change whatsoever.

TU - 687

EX - 612

EQ- 632

[Anonymous]

The ones dropping off are computer generated items from my credit union that I have been doing business with for about 14 years.  They admit that these are errors and are removing them.  According to them, any little mis-step is setting up a payment can cause this.  (the CU ast manager and I go back 14 years!) 

[Anonymous]

I am down to 10 cards-

8 Visa/MC/Amex

1 Amex charge

1 Store-

A year ago I had 3 cards-

[fused]

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pushedtoofar wrote:

I have 2 majors with 2500/3800 CLs.  Is this enough????

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I believe in keeping it simple! If I could do it all over again, this what I would have done:

2-3 Visa or MC

1 Amex or Discover

1 store or gas card

My sister-in-law has a thin file and her scores are in the low 800's. This is all she has:

1 Visa 15% util

1 Citi Sears card 0% util

1 LOC (OD protection) $0 bal

1 paid auto; clean

1 consumer finance loan paid; clean

Her credit history length is 11 years with an average-age not far away. Simple can work!

[RobertEG]

Well, I will throw my fish into the pond.  It is not the number of CC's that you have, it is rather how you manage them.

FICO looks first at overall %util, which has nothing to do with the number of cards you have, but is the most important factor.  But the thrust of this thread is not about overall %util, but rather upon the effect of having many cards.  So I will regress to the discusssion of having bucho cards, vs. only a few.

So, with that in mind, be aware that FICO also looks at %util of each TL.  So any card, regardless of percent overall util of all cards, will have a neg effect if its individual %util is high.  If you put a charge on a low CL card, it will affect your score more than putting that same charge on a high CL card.

Additionally, FICO also looks at the percent of the number of cards (not how much balance is above zero) that have balances at th reporting period.  So ten cards, with seven having any balance, regardless of the overall %util or %util or each, is a factor.

So, this is my understanding.  Having bunches of cards requires bunches of effort to ensure that each maintains a low reported %util, and further that at least half have reported balances of zero.

Dat beez a lots a woik!

If you have more than a few cards, then you will either need the Mind of Mensa to keep track it all, or be fluid in Excel spreadsheets, and thus be able to monitor each CC before its report date.

OK, if that does not convince you, then let me put you at the shopping mall tomorrow.......

You see this really neat new gizo.  Only $200.  You plunk out your wallet of ten cards, and whip out the one on top.  It happens to be your new Platinum Blue Neat $300 CL card!  Neat, huh?   But, bud,  you are now instantly at 67% util on that Plat Blue Neat card!  It reports.  If you had put in on another card, then it would be a different credit score.  I dont have the Mind of Mensa, and dont carry my lptop to the mall each day so that I can evalutate the %util of each card, and thus where to place my purchase.

I dont want ten cards. 

So, for me, getting a new, low CL card just is a pain in the butt to control. I dont have the time to absorb further minor credit hemmorhoids treatments that require daily Preparation H.

How many cards should I have?  The answer is, how much time do you have to maintain them?

Message Edited by RobertEG on 03-18-2008 12:05 AM

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Message Edited by RobertEG on 03-18-2008 12:42 AM

[thinkin]

You may want to be careful about closing your extra card accounts.  I thought the conventional wisdom was once an account is open, it's best to leave it open.

[Anonymous]

Go ahead and get 2 more cards.  Atleast one a visa!  Im in the navy and use my visa everywhere!  But I have 3 visas and one mc.  visa 1 $5000 limit visa 2 $7500 limit visa 3 $3000(which when my score boost hopefully up to $5000 and the mc is at $6000 limit.  If i didnt have so much ran up on them my score wouldnt be a 632.

But get them if you know your a good spender.  the 2 inquirys wont hurt you if you havent had to many.

good luck

[Anonymous]

How does not using most of the cards you have affect the scoring ? I have about 6 or 7 but only use 1 of them for almost everything (amex,high CL), one for everything that doesn't take amex and one at a department store that issues it. The rest never really gets used. I always pay the cards in full. Should I use the rest of the cards for small amounts? Or don't bother ?

[Anonymous]

I agree that closing accounts is not the best idea. Apparently, your CS is affected by the length of time you have had accounts open and the number of inquiries for new accounts. The longer you have had an account open the better. The fewer inquiries the better. I used to close accounts so that I could open others with better rates but this had the effect of lowering my credit score.

[Anonymous]

optimal FICO scoring is best achieved by having a 1%-9% CC utilization.  It measures how you USE credit...not how well you STORE it in your sock drawer.