Optimal number of cards to raise credit score?

[c3troop]

I have heard three is the magic number. Can anyone confirm our deny that? I have an amex bce and freedom and i'm thinking about getting the CSP if three is a good number to have.

[FrugalRican]

YMMV.

My DGF has about 11 cards and has 800+ scores across the board.

I have only five and if the AAOA were a little better and the utilization, I'm sure I'd as well.

3 is the most cited number, but it could be more.

[c3troop]

So then I need at least 3? I did pick up a couple last year for bonuses and as soon as I got them my score jumped up like 30 points. But they are about to bet canceled so I need to replace them with a card I plan on keeping

[FrugalRican]

For what it's worth, I did have a 760 Equifax with just two cards... just that 1 was less than a year old. So it all depends, really. I just see 3 cards cited almost as a minimum because mortgage brokers/banks usually like to see 3 positive tradelines.

[Crashem]

You can build a nice score with one card. However, at least three will build fico the fastest and best for ideal utilization setup.

[skyisthelimit]

3 is the number that I see often, I went from 1-3 cards in 2 months and noticed a good bump (15 points) in my score.  After the inq fall off, should see a little more bump too.  The Optimal number of cards for the long term would be at least 5+,  The reason for this is each time you take out a loan or anything else your Age drops; having these extra trade lines would keep it high.  Revolving accounts will always stay on your report as long as they are open, where loans will fall off after 10 years.  Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if you can say there is some magic number that will work for everyone, it depends on each individuals credit history.  I know people like simple solutions like "3 cards is the perfect number", but everyone's situation is different.  You can establish plenty of history with 1 or 2 cards, especially if you have other loans on your reports too.  Also, having 4, 5, or even more cards will not hurt much, if at all in the long run.  So if you have 3 and you find another card that you could benefit from, you should go for it.  Also, if you only have 2, you shouldn't go for some random card just to have 3 and have the perfect number.

[remric]

I think the reason why people suggest 3 credit cards is because there are three major credit cards.

Visa

Master

Amex.

When my credit was young (about 7-8 years ago) I went on a credit card application spree. I applied to almost any CC card company that sent me a preapproved letter. I got approved on abou 12 of them and got declined on about 6. (yes on my early days my inquiries reached its peak at about 18 inquiries in total) (inquiries disappear after 2 years anyway) My highest opening credit card limit was 5K which was from chase. I had a lot of credit card in my collection. and luckily I found out that when ever Chase bank acquired a bank they allowed customers to merge credit limits. I was able to merge a lot of my chase accounts until I had about 15K credit limit on one of them.

I also found out that citi and bank of america allowed you to increase your credit card limit without pulling your credit. which I did religiously every 6 months.

I also found out that some banks allows you to change the type of credit card that they have issued you. Chase platinum changd to Chase freedom then changed to chase sapphire.(the only downside is you lose all the points you have in the card if you change the type)

I changed all my amex cards to amex clear.

Now I have about 100K+ worth of credit limits combined from my current 6 credit cards. 2 amex clear 2 chase cards 1 BOA  and 1 citicards.

Moral of the story: Credit score grows over time the more credit cards you open when your starting is good. Make sure you use them wisely and spend what you can pay for. Pay everything on time (automatic bank payments help.) of course you can only pay when you have income to pay for what you spend. As your credit limit grow the more your credit score grows and with it your also giving a good credit history.

Another thing. Make sure you dont use more than 30% of your credit limits. If you can use only 10% of your credit limits its even better.

[Revelate]

---

@remric wrote:

I think the reason why people suggest 3 credit cards is because there are three major credit cards.

---

Nah.  When you are building, you want several positive tradelines to accelerate those pretty green OK's (or whatever your report service colors them as) stacking up for positive payment history... which is unarguably the most important FICO principle: never be late, never be less than the minimum.  Eventually FICO will like you, but it'll like you faster with at least 2, and probably 3 (and maybe more admittedly) cards reporting.  One just isn't enough, and you can easily be denied for having insufficient tradelines.  Probably the minimum there is like 4, but I'd tend to recommend having an installment line somewhere on the report instead of a 4th card from a pure FICO perspective.

[CreditScholar]

The ideal number is between 3-5, but they all need to have high CLs. Having 3 cards as a "magic number" doesn't mean anything if they all have toy limits.

The reason people cite 3 as the number for a high FICO has nothing to do with the actual number of cards. You can have a high FICO with any number, but the number of cards you have says something about you as a consumer.

People who have 10+ cards typically have some with low limits, are in the rebuilding stages, binge on credit at least semi-regularly, etc. Also it's a lot harder for most people to use and manage that many cards properly. The chances of screwing up something increases with each additional card since it's just one more bill, due date and payment you need to keep track of. There are exceptions to this, but it's true in the vast majority of cases.

On the other hand people with 3-5 cards with high limits typically are very stable and conservative. They aren't constantly applying for new cards, don't feel the need to jump on the bandwagon every time there's a new sign-up offer (probably because they have enough cash not to care), are probably pushing a decent amount through their cards regularly, and have an overall long-term card strategy.

If someone has 10 cards with limits of 2000, 2500, 1500, 4000, 5000, 3500... it signifies that they're not fully established yet.

If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred (20k limit), Amex SPG (25k limit), and say an Amex Platinum or JP Morgan card... that also says something about you too. These are the kinds of customers that companies like Chase and Amex go out of their way to get, and it's for good reason too.