topic Re: More store credit than bank credit=bad? in Credit Cards

More store credit than bank credit=bad?

cellymoon — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 07:36:49 GMT

I went through the pre-approval for a Synchrony co-branded retail card with a $400 purchase in my cart. (Just curiosity, it's SP and they tell you what your limit would be.) And somehow, with my profile and after I burned Synchrony around ~2016, I was pre-approved with a $4,000 SL.

This is higher than any other limit on my cards currently, and I already have a $3500 Macy's store card.

If I were to apply and be approved, I would have only $5,325 available across 3 bank-issued cards / $7,500 across 2 retail cards.

I'd imagine this would stand out to anyone manually reviewing my report, but at the same time it would increase my total available credit by 45% with 1 card. (Until Synchrony randomly closes it next month )

Notes:

- Currently @ <1% total utilization, and I do AZEO. So I know at the moment the FICO score benefit would be 0.

- In case anyone's wondering, the card has 10% "cashback" (store credit) and it's a place I shop regularly, so there's that benefit.

- For anyone who also saw my eager-sounding thread about applying for a new C1 card the other day, I'm not trying to make any reckless moves—quite the opposite. I over-think every move to death now. I'm asking *before* I do anything that feels odd like this because I don't fully understand what the consequences would be, and you all are smart.

I've searched and read mixed opinions on whether having too much store credit matters to anyone (i'd have only 2 retail cards, so it's not an unusual number of retail accounts open). If anyone has any insight on this kind of situation, I'd be grateful to learn. Thanks.

Re: More store credit than bank credit=bad?

SouthJamaica — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 12:19:50 GMT

@cellymoon wrote:
I went through the pre-approval for a Synchrony co-branded retail card with a $400 purchase in my cart. (Just curiosity, it's SP and they tell you what your limit would be.) And somehow, with my profile and after I burned Synchrony around ~2016, I was pre-approved with a $4,000 SL.

This is higher than any other limit on my cards currently, and I already have a $3500 Macy's store card.

If I were to apply and be approved, I would have only $5,325 available across 3 bank-issued cards / $7,500 across 2 retail cards.

I'd imagine this would stand out to anyone manually reviewing my report, but at the same time it would increase my total available credit by 45% with 1 card. (Until Synchrony randomly closes it next month )

Notes:
- Currently @ <1% total utilization, and I do AZEO. So I know at the moment the FICO score benefit would be 0.
- In case anyone's wondering, the card has 10% "cashback" (store credit) and it's a place I shop regularly, so there's that benefit.
- For anyone who also saw my eager-sounding thread about applying for a new C1 card the other day, I'm not trying to make any reckless moves—quite the opposite. I over-think every move to death now. I'm asking *before* I do anything that feels odd like this because I don't fully understand what the consequences would be, and you all are smart.

I've searched and read mixed opinions on whether having too much store credit matters to anyone (i'd have only 2 retail cards, so it's not an unusual number of retail accounts open). If anyone has any insight on this kind of situation, I'd be grateful to learn. Thanks.

I've never had experience with it, not being a big fan of store cards personally since I don't spend much, but I seriously doubt anyone anywhere would look askance at it. Certainly as far as FICO is concerned, a credit card is a credit card.

Re: More store credit than bank credit=bad?

JoeRockhead — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 12:29:30 GMT

The name on the credit card doesn't matter whatsoever to your credit scores. The only limitations are that you may be limited as to where you can use a store card vs a regular bank issued card, but they have the same effects on your credit score and profile as any other type of credit card.