billsfan14 wrote:
As far as mix of credit, an American Express Charge card might fill the role of a store card... can any of the experts chime in on this?
No, the AmEx charge cards aren't the same kind of charge cards people refer to for credit mix purposes. Why should anything be simple, right?
Store cards used to be like AmEx cards, in that you were expected to pay your balance in full every month. That's how both types of cards came to be known as "charge cards." Then store cards allowed you to start revolving your credit, but they have kept their special category in credit mix; I really have no idea why. The confusion carries over to credit reports, which call AmEx charge cards "charge" but pure retail cards "revolving." (Which they are.)
AmEx charge cards do nothing special for your credit mix. They're just another TL (tradeline.) For credit mix, it's one store OR gas card that doesn't say Visa, MC, Discover, or AmEx on it anywhere.
maks1806 wrote:
You also want to have at least 1 card of each major brand, so get Visa, MC, Amex and Discover.
Sorry, not to keep carping, but while this is fun to do, having one of each does nothing for your scores. And yes, having a retail card does help.
One lesser-known fact is that it's not good to have all CU cards, despite the fact that they're now doing much better than commercial banks. So for anyone who has CU cards, you should probably get a couple of bank cards to balance them out.
@maks1806 wrote:Are your grades high? You might qualify for BofA NSCS card.
I actually have a cumulative 4.0 in college, so I would say my grades are high. 
Anyway, I'm not sure what that card is.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Sorry, not to keep carping, but while this is fun to do, having one of each does nothing for your scores. And yes, having a retail card does help.
One lesser-known fact is that it's not good to have all CU cards, despite the fact that they're now doing much better than commercial banks.
Does it make a difference whether you have a variety of MC, Visa, Discover, and AMEX as opposed to having just one type? Right now, both of my cards are Visa. I'm just trying to figure out which store card I would like to get. I've decided that I'm definitely going to get a store or gas card. Would you guys recommend getting more than just a store or gas card though?
jreddick wrote:
...Does it make a difference whether you have a variety of MC, Visa, Discover, and AMEX as opposed to having just one type? Right now, both of my cards are Visa. I'm just trying to figure out which store card I would like to get. I've decided that I'm definitely going to get a store or gas card. Would you guys recommend getting more than just a store or gas card though?
Having a variety of Visas, MC's etc. doesn't affect scoring at all. The only reason I can think of to diversify card types is if you travel overseas, and that's really a stretch.
My youngest was in Ireland last summer, and we were advised ahead of time that it's handy to have both a Visa and MC, in case one of the processing networks goes down, which perhaps happens more often than in the US. But she cheerfully and successfully used her cards everywhere, with maybe one network outage, so that might be a belt-and-suspenders worry.
As for store vs retail, the main thing is to sit down and imagine how you might use a given card over the years. For store cards, you want to find out if you get killer financing deals, heads-up on sales and early access, points rewards for future purchases, additional discounts, and so forth. Always plan to PIF them, as store cards have ungodly APR's, unless they have 0% deals. Even then, will you use it? I have 0% options on my Best Buy and Home Depot, but I'm so averse to balances that I never use them, so they might not be the best option for me. A Macy's might have been better, except for the minor fact that the nearest Macy's is 100 miles away.
And it goes without saying, make sure that it's a store that you actually use. I'm not familiar with gas cards, but I'd imagine that some of the same considerations apply.Five or ten years from now, you don't want to be stuck with dud cards, pondering how long before you can close them, and wondering why on earth you got them. So it's handy to project into the future a bit.
I'd say that you could stand to have one more bank card eventually, including a card from a credit union. With time, we're bound to see new credit card products appear, and that might be the time to add something in. My feeling is that if a particular card (and its rewards structure) doesn't hit you smack between the eyes and keep you thinking about it, then you don't need it. This thinking runs directly contrary to that of many members of these forums, though, lol.
Good luck in your credit journey. You have the envy of many of us here who are thinking, why didn't I figure all this out back then??