How many is too many in 12 months?

[Anonymous]

I went for a long time without using any credit cards.  Last year I opened one and since then I have opened 5 more.  My scores are decent after some work rebuilding, I was recently denied by Penfed and NFCU with one of the reasons being too many cards opened within the past 12 months.  I am fine with gardening for a few months and letting my scores reach 700 before I pursue more cards but I wonder if anyone has a sense of how many are too many in 12 months.  I think if I wait till January or February I should be down to 2 opened within 12 months.

[Anonymous]

I think your post already answers your question.  Penfed and Navyfed both said the 6 you opened since last year is too much.  I'm at three and i'm already sitting uneasy.

[OmarGB9]

It's relative to your own individual credit profile. Someone with a loooooong credit history and several TLs can probably open up 10 cards in 12 months (exaggerating a bit, of course lol) and be fine. While someone who is just starting out in the credit world can open up 5 accounts in 2 months and set off some red flags. The history simply wouldn't be there and further apps for credit would most likely be denied.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I went for a long time without using any credit cards.  Last year I opened one and since then I have opened 5 more.  My scores are decent after some work rebuilding, I was recently denied by Penfed and NFCU with one of the reasons being too many cards opened within the past 12 months.  I am fine with gardening for a few months and letting my scores reach 700 before I pursue more cards but I wonder if anyone has a sense of how many are too many in 12 months.  I think if I wait till January or February I should be down to 2 opened within 12 months.

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That is a very tricky question.  It all depends on ones needs and also comes to one using their judgement.  For some people, 3 credit cards is enough for them.  For others, 30 credit cards is what floats their boats.  So there isn't a definate answer for your question.

[Anonymous]

I think 3-6 good cards spaced out over a year is enough. I'm at 8 and I want to close 2 (Capital One and Chase Slate) in 6 months. I probably wouldn't have gone for them if I'd done a bit more research or waited a bit longer, but I can also admit that there are at least 6 more cards than I want. 

Just make sure you're getting useful cards that you research thoroughly and you're not applying for the high of approvals. 

[stellar]

It depends on the preferences of the bank issuing the card.  Some are new account sensitive, some are not.  And of course your credit profile plays a part, as others have said.

[taxi818]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think 3-6 good cards spaced out over a year is enough. I'm at 8 and I want to close 2 (Capital One and Chase Slate) in 6 months. I probably wouldn't have gone for them if I'd done a bit more research or waited a bit longer, but I can also admit that there are at least 6 more cards than I want. 

Just make sure you're getting useful cards that you research thoroughly and you're not applying for the high of approvals. 

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First that is a subjective Question. But in general. i would say in 1 year. no more than 4 would be safe number. But honestly. Most lenders really look at the last 6 months as opposed to the last year. Even if you got 6 . and have 0 in the last 6 months. you would be good to go. Note. Closing after the damage is done does not make it go away. I think its about what a person is comfortable with. me? 20 is more than enough. and i won't really close any. I just won't be applying any soon. and the 20 is not in 1 year. But over 2 years.

[Anonymous]

As stated before, it depends on your own credit profile. I started out 2015 with only 1 CC, since then I have opened a total of 16 cards and closed 4 of them. Some cards I really don't need now. I've settled in on the ones I find most useful and several are simply SD. I was turned down for DC in July because I had too many INQ and new cards this year. 

My suggestion is you go into the garden for a while, especially if your scores are at or below 700.

[kdm31091]

As others have said it depends on your file/history/etc, but generally if you're starting to get the "too many new accounts" denials, it is time to garden for awhile. "Too many inquiries" is sometimes just an excuse, but too many new accounts is usually valid and means you need to relax for awhile. Your original post basically answers your own question. Waiting til February is good because that's a solid 6 months with no inquiries/new accounts. Even better to wait a year.

[Anonymous]

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@taxi818 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think 3-6 good cards spaced out over a year is enough. I'm at 8 and I want to close 2 (Capital One and Chase Slate) in 6 months. I probably wouldn't have gone for them if I'd done a bit more research or waited a bit longer, but I can also admit that there are at least 6 more cards than I want. 

Just make sure you're getting useful cards that you research thoroughly and you're not applying for the high of approvals. 

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First that is a subjective Question. But in general. i would say in 1 year. no more than 4 would be safe number. But honestly. Most lenders really look at the last 6 months as opposed to the last year. Even if you got 6 . and have 0 in the last 6 months. you would be good to go. Note. Closing after the damage is done does not make it go away. I think its about what a person is comfortable with. me? 20 is more than enough. and i won't really close any. I just won't be applying any soon. and the 20 is not in 1 year. But over 2 years.

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I wasn't giving a definitve answer. It was my opinion which is why I opened with "I think..." and closed with "Just make sure you're getting useful cards that you research thoroughly and you're not applying for the high of approvals." 

I'm not closing my cards in an effort to undo damage. That was just an example of me not doing the research into the cards prior to applying. I don't feel as if, "Oh, crap! I applied for too many cards!" I'm closing them because they aren't very useful to me and I wouldn't have opened them if I had done research. The Freedom and Quicksilver aren't suiting my needs, so I want to cut the Quicksilver. Chase is being conservative with cards now, so I want to combine the Slate with the Freedom for a respectable limit, close the Slate, and PC the Freedom into a CSP which is the card I should have applied for originally...had I done my research instead of relying solely on CreditKarma recs and pre-approval offers from my bank. I didn't think I needed to get into all of that, but I guess I did and it's in line with my advice to the OP-research the cards you're applying for to make sure they work for you so that you aren't applying just to apply to end up with a multitude of cards that you don't need/won't use/regret 3 months later.