How many store cards should one have.

[score_building]

are ge/amazon, dell & carecredit considered  cc's, charge cards or store cards?

[jmbfl]

If it has a major logo on it (Visa, MC, AMEX, etc.) it is either a CC or charge card depending on other factors. If it does not and is only good in one establishment it is a store card. Some cards - like Macys - may be both at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Big theoretical question about the Macy's account.

On individual CR's, is it counted as TWO tradelines? People have said the store line and regular line report differently and have differently limits, but on your reports, how does this show up? and how does this compare with what Macy's tells you? Do they give you just one combined limit?

I.e. if you had $200 of Macy's spending and $300 of regular spending ($500 total), would this show up on either two "split" tradelines, or two "combined" credit lines (which technically overstates how much credit you have).

What is a useful store card as well? Ideally I would like a co-branded Visa or MC, but I don't want *two* new tradelines instead of one (does this also hit your AAoA?). I have decent (730+) FICOs and I can pay down my utilization reasonably by the time I apply, it's currently at 10-12% but can be lower (1-5%).

[haulingthescoreup]

I'll have to leave the Macy's reporting to others, although I understand that they report as separate TL's.

As for co-branded store cards, once a Visa, MC, Discover, or AmEx logo appears on a card, it's no longer counted as a store card, but a bank card.

For store cards, I like to keep these things in mind:

They can be PITA's in terms of high APR's and squirrelly reporting, so only get one from a store where you actually shop.

Look for benefits that work for you. If they offer 0% APR's but you never carry balances, they're not very useful. Look for early-bird sales, extra discounts, etc.

Many retail cards have low CL's, at least initially, so cards from home improvement, appliance, and electronics stores are popular, as they generally have good-sized CL's to help with their big-ticket items.

Do your research and find out what bank services the cards. There are a lot of upscale stores with terrible cards, because of the bank behind the card. Know how likely they are to grant CLI's and so forth before you get stuck with a dud.

You never want to carry a balance on a store card, as they generally have outrageous APR's, so don't use it unless it has a 0% intro rate or you can PIF it that month.

[JTReserve]

I have 3 - Macy's, Wal-Mart and Target.  Many of the cards I used to have are no longer "good" because a lot of the department stores in my area - the regional stores - have closed.    These are the only stores I really frequent anyway, so I am okay with that.  I foolishly canceled my Penney's card a few years back - it had a long history  - because I just never used it anymore.  

[Anonymous]

The Macy's Visa shows as a completely separate TL as the store card, each with their own CL.

The Visa shows as "VISADSNB" and the store card shows as "DSNB MACYS"

I don't think this is common other than Macy's.

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d09 wrote:
Big theoretical question about the Macy's account.

On individual CR's, is it counted as TWO tradelines? People have said the store line and regular line report differently and have differently limits, but on your reports, how does this show up? and how does this compare with what Macy's tells you? Do they give you just one combined limit?

I.e. if you had $200 of Macy's spending and $300 of regular spending ($500 total), would this show up on either two "split" tradelines, or two "combined" credit lines (which technically overstates how much credit you have).

What is a useful store card as well? Ideally I would like a co-branded Visa or MC, but I don't want *two* new tradelines instead of one (does this also hit your AAoA?). I have decent (730+) FICOs and I can pay down my utilization reasonably by the time I apply, it's currently at 10-12% but can be lower (1-5%).

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[Anonymous]

I'm back on this subject again. Has anyone found proof that a retail account raised their score? (excluding adding accounts to offset UTL and % of balances) Easy question for the pros with retail accounts. I'd do it if I could gaine just 1 point.

[haulingthescoreup]

Timothy said he got a good jump, forgot the exact figure. That's why I keep mentioning it, although the way I read the Credit Education explanation, it looks more like they're being recommended as a means of improving profiles for builders and re-builders.

But by now, I certainly know better than to believe that what works for one person works for all, and vice versa. Way too many variables out there.

[Anonymous]

When My Kay's card (first store card) I went up 16 Points-

UTL wen tfrom 2% to 4%.  The score jump was on the 1st of the month- so I can't rule out aging.

[Anonymous]

Ok. I am going for it. I have enough accounts not to affect avg age.