topic Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four? in Credit Cards

Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:00:08 GMT

Visa
Mastercard
Amex
Discover

Do you have at least one of each? If not, which are you missing?

I have a Visa by way of a local bank card backed by Elan, and a Quicksilver Mastercard. That's it so far. I want an Amex BCE next, so would there be any benefit to having a Discover too? I like the Chase Freedom revolving categories better than the Discover It categories, but I'm wondering if I should get an It card to have all four for any decent reason. Does it help in building a more well-rounded profile or increase your score to have them all?

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:11:24 GMT

I don't know this for sure, but I can't imagine card network diversity matters very much, if at all. Card issuer diversity can matter a bit, but mostly to make sure you aren't putting all your eggs in one basket in case a particular bank decides you are too much of a risk for whatever reason and kills your limits and/or closes your accounts. Amex and Discover are also issuers, so there's certainly no harm in diversifying with one or both of them, but having all your cards at Capital One or Chase, for instance, is more of a problem.

That said, each network has its own pros and cons. So, get the cards you want based on what they offer, including the issuing bank and card network benefits.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

pipeguy — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:14:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Visa
Mastercard
Amex
Discover

Do you have at least one of each? If not, which are you missing?

I have a Visa by way of a local bank card backed by Elan, and a Quicksilver Mastercard. That's it so far. I want an Amex BCE next, so would there be any benefit to having a Discover too? I like the Chase Freedom revolving categories better than the Discover It categories, but I'm wondering if I should get an It card to have all four for any decent reason. Does it help in building a more well-rounded profile or increase your score to have them all?

Short and sweet... Yes... Visa (many), MC (more than a few), AmEx = 2 (one actual, one co-branded AmEx network), Discover, just one, but that's all I need.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:15:05 GMT

I have 3 of 4.

Discover It

Bank of America Cash Rewards (Visa)

Capital One QuickSilverOne (MasterCard)

(I have another MC and Visa but they aren't solid rewards cards and won't be long-lasting either).

And a smattering of store cards.

No AMEX yet. Maybe one day, when my profile supports it.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:16:01 GMT

Card network diversity matters because networks sometimes go down and you probably still want to use a card. Yes, I have at least one of each, although two of four is probably enough.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Viva-LV — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:17:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Visa
Mastercard
Amex
Discover

Do you have at least one of each? If not, which are you missing?

I have a Visa by way of a local bank card backed by Elan, and a Quicksilver Mastercard. That's it so far. I want an Amex BCE next, so would there be any benefit to having a Discover too? I like the Chase Freedom revolving categories better than the Discover It categories, but I'm wondering if I should get an It card to have all four for any decent reason. Does it help in building a more well-rounded profile or increase your score to have them all?

Like many members, I have all four, and then some. Discover is worth having: customer service is top-notch, and many do well with building their limits. I make use of the quarterly spend for 5% back. Third quarter this year was home improvement stores, so I got a decent amount back. Well-rounding profile or increasing your score?

I doubt it. Not everyone has all four to do well with their profile or scores, its what works best for you. Happy hunting!

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

sarge12 — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:18:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Visa
Mastercard
Amex
Discover

Do you have at least one of each? If not, which are you missing?

I have a Visa by way of a local bank card backed by Elan, and a Quicksilver Mastercard. That's it so far. I want an Amex BCE next, so would there be any benefit to having a Discover too? I like the Chase Freedom revolving categories better than the Discover It categories, but I'm wondering if I should get an It card to have all four for any decent reason. Does it help in building a more well-rounded profile or increase your score to have them all?

1 Amex BCE

1 Discover It

2 Mastercard

11 Visa

All Visa cards are sig. except two which are low interest...Mastercards are WEMC, and WMC. Do not know if it helps score, but doubt it.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Kevin86475391 — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:20:54 GMT

I have Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. Years ago I had an Amex, but am not really interested in getting another. I find there's very little difference between Visa and Mastercard, and it's the issuing bank that mostly matters rather than the network. By contrast of course Discover and Amex really do matter both in terms of network and bank.

LOL, if anything my personal 'Big Four' would be something like Discover, Amex, Chase (Visa), and Citi (Mastercard). Or maybe instead of Citi, Capital One (although they issue both Mastercard and Visa).

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Creditplz — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:21:15 GMT

2 Amex, 1 MC, 9 Visa and 1 Discover

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

skimmie48 — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:22:31 GMT

I have three out of four. Have never gotten Discover. No reason other than I have enough credit cards and have the Freedom for category spend.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:25:45 GMT

yes.

Chase Hyatt , Discover, Amex Everyday, Capital One Quicksilver.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

sarge12 — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:24:04 GMT

@Viva-LV wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Visa
Mastercard
Amex
Discover

Do you have at least one of each? If not, which are you missing?

I have a Visa by way of a local bank card backed by Elan, and a Quicksilver Mastercard. That's it so far. I want an Amex BCE next, so would there be any benefit to having a Discover too? I like the Chase Freedom revolving categories better than the Discover It categories, but I'm wondering if I should get an It card to have all four for any decent reason. Does it help in building a more well-rounded profile or increase your score to have them all?
Like many members, I have all four, and then some. Discover is worth having: customer service is top-notch, and many do well with building their limits. I make use of the quarterly spend for 5% back. Third quarter this year was home improvement stores, so I got a decent amount back. Well-rounding profile or increasing your score?
I doubt it. Not everyone has all four to do well with their profile or scores, its what works best for you. Happy hunting!

Maybe Discover is great to some people...but they have been the stingiest of them all for CLI to me. I hear that the want to be your everyday use card, and with me they are not, so that may be why.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

CreditDunce — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:27:25 GMT

FICO doesn't care what network your cards run on. There is not FICO benefit for having cards from the different networks.

There used to be some cachet for having Amex. If anything, young folks probably consider Amex out of fashion. The BCE card is a meh card. Not bad, but the BCP beats it for most profiles. If you haven't looked at TheManWhoCan's sticky on cash back credit cards, I would do so. The BCE and BCP probably have the same underwriting requirements.

Chase and Discover both change their categories. Personally, I have found Discover's categories slightly broader than Chase Freedoms. For example, Home Improvement vs. Home Depot. If you like category cards, I would get both. Discover has one of the best cash back websites. It can be very lucrative when combined with the first year double cash back promo. Chase Freedom really shines when used for UR points as opposed to strait cash back.

Discover does have slightly lower acceptance rates. However, there are times when Discover is accepted when visa/MC are not . Most in Asian countries where China's Union Pay dominates. Not that credit card acceptance is that good in China. Discover has not FTF when accepted overseas.

To answer your question, I have 3 Amex, 7 Visa, 5 MC, 1 Discover and 2 store cards. My diversification goal was mostly for different CCC's, not different networks. The different networks just happened.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

irving_magik — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:28:41 GMT

CSP - Visa

TYP - Visa but being converted to MC soon

BCP - Amex obviously

never been intreguided by Discover.... guess my perception is that it's not accepted anywhere... I know that's false but it's probably less accepted than the other 3

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:28:53 GMT

OP here, and for the record I app'd with Discover a few months ago and got instantly denied for a Student Chrome card even though on paper I was a better candidate that two of my friends that had gotten them recently before that. So I am hesitant to try again with them and it showed me first-hand how seemingly random they can be.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

TaterDawg — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:30:13 GMT

4 Visa (DCU, USAA, Chase Freedom, Chase Amazon)

4 MC (Barclay CF World, Cap1 QS WE, Citi DC WE, Citi Simplicity)

2 AmEx (EveryDay, USAA Cashback Rewards+)

1 Discover

Also have another MC (Barclay Ring) pending, though I expect it to get denied. Went on a bit of a binge the last couple of weeks and added 4 of the above cards to my wallet, sending my total CL from around $51K to $115K, along with several other CLI's.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:35:40 GMT

@CreditDunce wrote:
FICO doesn't care what network your cards run on. There is not FICO benefit for having cards from the different networks.

There used to be some cachet for having Amex. If anything, young folks probably consider Amex out of fashion. The BCE card is a meh card. Not bad, but the BCP beats it for most profiles. If you haven't looked at TheManWhoCan's sticky on cash back credit cards, I would do so. The BCE and BCP probably have the same underwriting requirements.

Chase and Discover both change their categories. Personally, I have found Discover's categories slightly broader than Chase Freedoms. For example, Home Improvement vs. Home Depot. If you like category cards, I would get both. Discover has one of the best cash back websites. It can be very lucrative when combined with the first year double cash back promo. Chase Freedom really shines when used for UR points as opposed to strait cash back.

Discover does have slightly lower acceptance rates. However, there are times when Discover is accepted when visa/MC are not . Most in Asian countries where China's Union Pay dominates. Not that credit card acceptance is that good in China. Discover has not FTF when accepted overseas.
.
To answer your question, I have 3 Amex, 7 Visa, 5 MC, 1 Discover and 2 store cards. My diversification goal was mostly for different CCC's, not different networks. The different networks just happened.

For what it's worth, when I got a pre-approval for the BCE, I decided it wasn't such a great card, so I took a gamble and applied for the BCP instead. I was approved with only a $1000 limit, significantly less than my other cards, but worth it. I think they're the same requirements, but you'll just get a lower limit, which you can increase 9x within 8 to 12 months.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

CreditDunce — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 03:56:42 GMT

I have never seen any evidence BCE is easier to get than the BCP. I really think they have the same requirements. If anything Amex has been trying to get me to upgrade my BCE to the BCP. If most of my grocery spend wasn't covered by the SM, then I would upgrade to the BCP. I currently have the BCE and ED because they have a good MSD backdate.

ETA: Amex is good about growing credit limits. However, you may need to be patient if they start you out at 1k or less. They may not be comfortable giving you a 3x CLI after 60 days and then another in 6 months. It may take more time.

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

colinstu — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 04:02:23 GMT

I have one of each, yep.

If I had to pick faves it would be

MC: Citi DC

Visa: Chase Freedom (also the Chase AARP)

Amex: BCE

Discovert: IT

Re: Do you have one from each of the Big Four?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 04:05:52 GMT

I currently have 2 Visa, 1 MC, and Discover. I burned Amex so I know I can't go there, and I'm not sure I even want to. My very first card I got on my own when I was about 19-20 years old was the Amex charge card which Amex eventually upgraded to the gold version, if memory serves. I have fond memories, but I don't feel the need to get another Amex. No, it doesn't help your scores or credit profile. A CC tradeline is a CC tradeline.