topic Re: School me: my next Credit Card??? in Credit Card Applications

School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:05:23 GMT

Hi,

I currently have:

Chase Freedom

Chase Shpphire

Company credit card with my name on it. (This is not on my report so I don't think it counts)

All of these are paid off in full each month. My credit score average from three is 760.

1. Should I get another card? would getting another card or two increase my score?

2. What card would you reccomend if you were in my situation? AmEx? please specifiy exact card.

Thank you!

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

kdm31091 — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 14:49:30 GMT

What are the limits on those? What are you looking for? Rewards? Low APR? Can you justify an annual fee or do you prefer a no AF card?

Need a bit more info than your score and what you have. Need to know what it is you feel you are missing.

With your score and PIF habits, I see no reason you can't be approved for something new, but the question is what you are seeking.

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 14:59:35 GMT

Hi,

My limit on Sapphire is $5K. I had it for 3 years and the limit never got increased. Limit on Freedom is $18K and I only had it for 3 months.

My score for EQ 790, TU 750, EP 720.

I really don't have a "need". I just want to hold magic number or ideal number of cards to achive better score. It just seems that many on this forum have more than couple cards to increase there score.

Thanks

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

kdm31091 — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 14:59:40 GMT

With that information the only thing I can think to suggest is a general spending card, since Freedom and Sapphire are both basically for categories.

Maybe a Citi Double Cash -- with your score you should theoretically get a high CL and good APR (theoretically!). Or the Capital One Quicksilver (the no AF version). The latter pays out 0.5% less than the Double Cash, but also offers instant posting of rewards, no FTF if that is important to you, and redemption anytime. If those factors aren't important, you'll get a higher return with Double Cash, just be forewarned that Citi has given lower than expected limits to most people on that card.

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:06:09 GMT

So would getting additonal cards increase my score? How many, addition to my current two should I get for ultimate score?

Thanks

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

kdm31091 — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:09:01 GMT

At your score level, it's not going to be a huge jump, but adding one more decent limit card that is PIF is going to decrease your util % and increase available credit so it will give you a handful more points. I see no need to add more than one, really no need to add ANY if you don't really want to -- your score is already in the upper tier

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

newhis — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:26:25 GMT

It would not help you a lot, but a good number are 3 credit cards. If you want to max your score for a single month, you should let 1 report a balance <9% and the other 2 $0 balance.

Chase will report the $0 balance when you PIF, so if you add another card and change the due date so it reports near the time you pay both Chase cards to $0 then you can have the max score for a few days.

Another question, do you feel your Sapphire limit low? Do you use that card for more than 20-30%? You can send a secure message and ask for a SP CLI, sometimes they will grant that or at least give you something a couple of statements later. If they don't, you can ask them to transfer some of your Freedom limit to your Sapphire, to balance your cards.

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:34:27 GMT

Offer up the Boy Scout Motto: "always be prepared" ... that means having a diversity of lender cards. You say why, you never know when one of the card issuers decides to go rogue on you, or has a website problem, get's hacked or whatever. Good to have a Visa and MasterCard just in case. As to the credit bureau, it will make no difference. Another poster mentioned three cards with a suggested method to maximize your credit file/scores. Good food for thought. Your scores are great now and with a little time will improve more to the 800's. Great job

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:41:21 GMT

As mentioned above, just for diversity I would add something. You never know when chase might blow a fuse in their data center and chase cards stop working lol. With those scores you have choices in lenders and I would assume you have low inquiries. Pick a card or two that fit your needs. Citi DC some sort of travel card if you travel, Barclays, Amex or maybe BOA better balance. 25 bucks a quarter for paying off more than minimum payments is a pretty good deal.

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Uppingmyscore — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:43:27 GMT

You only have 2 cards with Chase....might want to add either Amex, Discover, Capital One Quicksilver, etc just to diversify the lender.

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:47:57 GMT

What is "SP" in SP CLI? Soft Pull?

how would you diversify? Amex or discover?

also, wouldn't applying for new card hurt my score? That would be hard pull and many new accts open in recent month, no?

Thank you very much!

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

kdm31091 — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:51:13 GMT

You'll get dinged a few points for an inquiry, but it will be temporary. The increase in available credit will help you out.

I like both Amex and Discover. It's going to come down to what you would get more benefit out of right now.

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 19:45:27 GMT

So, would it better for me to request Credit Limit increase on sapphire or just open another credit card? Or both?

I just called Sapphire and they say I will need to request increase which means they will pull my account.

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 19:47:23 GMT

Does APR really matter if I'm paying off full every month? Does having credit card with higher APR affect your credit score?

thanks

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Uppingmyscore — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 19:56:11 GMT

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Uppingmyscore — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 19:57:55 GMT

Request to move over some of your credit limit from your Freedom over to your CSP. They will do it

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Uppingmyscore — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 19:58:51 GMT

No and no

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 20:30:13 GMT

Thanks.

im curious. How would moving credit from one card to another increase my score? I mean my overall limit when combined is not going to change right.

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Uppingmyscore — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 20:36:26 GMT

Your overall limit remains the same, but depending on how much you spend on your CSP it could get to close to maxing out... Regardless if you PIF.

Why waste a HP for something you can just request to be moved over from your Freedom?

Re: School me: my next Credit Card???

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 20:45:50 GMT

The number and type of cards you need comes down to personal preference and your tolerance for card management. At the very least, I think everyone should have at least 2-3 credit cards from two different issuers. This way a fraud alert won't potentially freeze all your lines of credit. 3-5 cards is probably optimal for most people for having a variety of cards to avoid issues when one or more gets declined due to bank fraud alerts and the like. 3 cards is good for variety and 5 or more is good for people looking for a solid rewards strategy. Since you PIF, low APR cards are not a concern, but having one high limit low APR card (like a CU card) might be a good idea.

Let's look at three different types of consumers who all have good financial habits (i.e not going to max out the cards and spend irresponsibly due to available credit).

1. The minimalist: The person who wants to minimize management of cards and only wants to use credit cards for convenience. 1-3 cards makes sense for this person. At least two different CC issuers (banks) should be represented among the cards if the person has more than 1 card. If only 1 card, it should be a Visa or Mastercard. If three cards, adding an Amex would be useful for future backdating purposes for additional cards, but an Amex is optional.

2. Easy Cash Back Rewards Hunter: This person wants to maximize rewards without wasting time trying to play the points game. 5 or so cards is sufficient for this. One flat 2% rewards card like the Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Amex would be a good choice. One low APR CU card would make another good choice for an emergency unexpected expense. The other 3 or more cards should be category spending cards like the Sallie Mae, Cash+, Freedom, etc. This person might also consider getting a points based card or two if they want to spend a little more effort for better rewards (note: fixed value point cards like the Southwest RR and Barclay Arrival series are more akin to cash back cards).

3. Max Rewards / Sign-Up Bonus Hunter: This person has an established credit history and likes to maximize rewards. 10-15 or more cards is not uncommon because he or she gets cards, gets the sign-on bonus and then closes the card before the second year annual fee. The extent of this type of persons card application frenzy varies (some apply for 5-10 cards a year, others get many more).

Anyway, figure out what your needs are. For someone PIF each month, the categories above are very broad options to pick from. But one size does not fit everyone. You have 2 solid cards from Chase. You should get 1 more card from another issuer. Preferrably a Visa or Mastercard so you have a backup in case Chase temporarily freezes your account with a fraud alert. If you get 2 or more cards, an Amex as an addition would likely be a solid choice.