topic Re: Question.... in Credit Cards

Question....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 07:39:33 GMT

I am rebuilding my credit, fixing what I have messed-up in the past. I have a First Premier card for three months, a Capital One Secured card for two months. I recently got approved for their quicksilver one and the Platinum, both with credit steps and 500 dollar limits. I also got approved for an overstock Store card, just to have a store card in my profile. I know I have more than enough to build credit now. I'm going to be gardening for a while now haha. But Should I cancel the secured card? I don't want to hurt my chances of getting good CLI'S from my other two capital one cards down the road, but I also hear you should never cancel a credit card, unless you really need to. Any advice?

Re: Question....

Revelate — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 07:50:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am rebuilding my credit, fixing what I have messed-up in the past. I have a First Premier card for three months, a Capital One Secured card for two months. I recently got approved for their quicksilver one and the Platinum, both with credit steps and 500 dollar limits. I also got approved for an overstock Store card, just to have a store card in my profile. I know I have more than enough to build credit now. I'm going to be gardening for a while now haha. But Should I cancel the secured card? I don't want to hurt my chances of getting good CLI'S from my other two capital one cards down the road, but I also hear you should never cancel a credit card, unless you really need to. Any advice?

I wouldn't suggest having your entire credit card portfolio with one lender, but the FP card is the one to close - fee structure is ugly and you just don't need it.

Closed the secured card when you diversify, though the QS1 is your go to card and doesn't suck at all but you'll have more options later.

Re: Question....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 07:55:49 GMT

I love the qs 1 for sure. Yeah I definitely want to cancel the first premier card, especially since you pay more in fees the longer you have the card. I just didn't want my score to dip, which it shouldn't, seeing as how I've only had the card for three months anyway. After I close it, should I diversify or continue to garden? I just don't want any more hard pulls for no reason? Thanks

Re: Question....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 08:01:03 GMT

I think I should just garden because I've found that the only other card I have been pre-approved for is the credit one platinum. And I sure as hell don't want to get involved with anything that is worse than first premier lol

Re: Question....

Revelate — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 08:15:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I think I should just garden because I've found that the only other card I have been pre-approved for is the credit one platinum. And I sure as hell don't want to get involved with anything that is worse than first premier lol

Garden for sure. There's some options after six months and a lot more after a year; if it were me (and I'm admittedly conservative on this forum) I'd hang out in the Garden for a year and then go on a 3 card spree for rewards flavor depending on your spending needs. The QS1 is a big shortcut and will serve you just fine over the year.

Closing the FP card isn't going to hurt you score wise if you're doing any sort of reported balance management, and it's just a bad card period: even other lenders know this and won't blink at the short nature of it (or it's an easy explanation if they do) so kick it to the curb.

Re: Question....

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 08:17:50 GMT

Thanks revelate, I appreciate the advice!

Re: Question....

takeshi74 — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 13:40:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I also hear you should never cancel a credit card, unless you really need to. Any advice?

You can omit the "really". If you have no need for a card and have considered the impact from closure then by all means close it. Users here tend to follow the "never close unless there's an AF" approach but that doesn't apply to everyone's preferences/situation/etc.

See also (linked in the Helpful Threads sticky in this subforum):

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&thread.id=117125&jump=true