topic Re: Viewed the same ? in Credit Cards

Viewed the same ?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 01:21:52 GMT

Suppose 3 different scenarios

1-15k limit card
3-5k limit cards
15-1k limit cards

Assuming all other credit factors being equal, would lenders view each of the above scenarios the same or would one look better than the other(s) ?

Re: Viewed the same ?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 01:51:43 GMT

It's nothing but speculation, but I would say three cards at $5K each.

Re: Viewed the same ?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 02:06:14 GMT

I agree. Lenders look at the whole profile. So if the first one was your only card, some lenders may say you do not have enough credit history (thin file).

The third one is where I am guilty of, and get in trouble a lot. Lenders like Chase see this as a credit risk for too many accounts opened, especially if it is in a short amount of time.
The third one is ideal. Because it shows that not only are you experienced with large limits, you have the ability to handle multiple accounts with those limits

Re: Viewed the same ?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 02:08:07 GMT

Correction: I meant to say the second one is ideal.
This is what happens when you're typing on your phone.�

Re: Viewed the same ?

RonM21 — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 09:39:54 GMT

I agree, the second one is probably more preferred.

Re: Viewed the same ?

olehammer — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 17:38:55 GMT

I would bet that option 1 would best maximise your score. You want at least three tradelines open and higher limits on the three would help your single card utilization.

Re: Viewed the same ?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 18:12:50 GMT

it depends on your personal report I would imagine... you want both higher limits and higher average age...

say you have 1 card with 15k limit that you've had for 5 years let's say for example... yea the limit is nice and high, but now you decide to open another card and boom, your average age just went down to 2.5 years... but if you're the person with low limits, you'd really wanna get the one card with higher limit to establish some history with high limits

opposed to if you have 15 cards with 1k limit, opening a new line will barely even lower your average age... but your limits aren't high so you have no history of being responsible with high limits... but also... if you previously had 2x 20 year credit cards and now you open 15 new accounts, you've pretty much wasted all you credit history with new accounts and dropped your AAoA to nothing

bottom line, you want higher limits... you want to have a lot of old accounts and open few new ones... I think for most people, option #2 is the most ideal... decent number of lines that shouldn't hurt you too bad and limits are decent... but I can see how option 1 or option 3 could be preferable in some cases