When to apply for second card?

[Anonymous]

I currently have one unsecured visa card thru the local credit union with a limit of $500. Had it for 6 months now, PIF every month with utilization between 5-9%. EX fico is 769.

When should I be looking to apply for a second card?

Thanks all!

[Anonymous]

Thats a great start. Congratulations to you, and in my opinion I would first ask for a credit increase on your current card.(It'll increase the chances of getting a high limit on other cards.) Then apply for Chase or Discover. If you apply for Chase, I would recommend Chase Unlimited Freedom, they have been very good to me and been extremely flexible. If you choose Discover, go for "IT" due to the rewards or Miles (Which I have) From my experience, Chase seems to be much more generous with credit limits. Although since you've had six months of credit, you could even take a chance and apply for one of American Express's charge card just to start a "relationship." with them. (From the research I've done, seems like all the charge cards have the same requirments, and are easier to obtain than revolving credit cards but don't hold me to that.) If by any chance you get denied by Chase, Discover, American Express or whomever it is, go for a store card. One thing I will tell you is, many people on here are fans of Capital One but I have not had a good experience with them at all so I would recommend you to avoid them. Never know though, Capital One could become your best friend. Best of luck to you though and I hope you share what you decide with the fourm.

[newhis]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I currently have one unsecured visa card thru the local credit union with a limit of $500. Had it for 6 months now, PIF every month with utilization between 5-9%. EX fico is 769.

When should I be looking to apply for a second card?

Thanks all!

---

Because you have a Visa right now, EX fico 769 and 3 cards is a good number, I will say go with Amex BCE and Discover. Both cards grow with SP CLI. Amex could grow to 3X your SL in a couple of months, Discover may give a CLI after 3 months. There are people with Amex/Discover cards that started at 1K and after 1.5 years they are over 10K.

For Chase I'll say wait for 1 year and/or cards reporting higher limit. You don't want to start with Chase with $500 limit.

One question, what else is on your reports? I don't think a EX fico of 769 is possible with only 1 card for 6 months. 

EDIT: you can check Amex pre-quals, if the APR is not the max then you may get a SL over 1K. Good luck.

[joltdude]

Chase and Citi like a year at least ..they want folks with a bit more experience under their belt... 

Discover and Amex revolver are where you should be looking, also Capital One...  

All three tend to be accomidating for clean, thinner, credit profiles....  and the 6month mark tends to be where you can get a card from one of those three...

Also realize your score might not go up, it might go down but its temporary after your approved for another card..

-J