Subprime and Retail Cards

[JenW83]

Hi All,

I have a couple of subprime cards (Credit One Bank) and several retail cards. I'm trying to continue to grow my primary cards, which are Amex Delta Platinum, Chase Southwest, and Discover IT.

I've read that if you have subprime cards on your report, you might be seen as higher risk, even if you've paid well. My question is if I closed the two subprime cards, and kept the retail cards, would it do more good, or harm?

[HeavenOhio]

There's no negative effect on FICO by having these cards present. The non-FICO scores used in the determination of insurance rates are negatively affected by retail cards, whether they're open or closed (unless you live in Massachusetts, California, or Hawaii).

Scoring gurus here say that three cards will enable you to optimize your score. Some say five is better.

In your case, I'd close Credit One just because it's worthwhile to be done with them. Evaluate your retail cards on a case by case basis, and go from there.

[Loquat]

I agree with @HeavenOhio.  I'd let Credit One go as I can't imagine that its a fee free card and there's no need to pay for it when you have other cards that are just...better.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Any lender that discriminate  because of the card brand you have on your report isnt worth getting anyway but ime i dont think its really a thing . Ive gotten prime cards with my beloved Fingerhut on my report and it still sits on my report, albeit closed

[Loquat]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

Any lender that discriminate  because of the card brand you have on your report isnt worth getting anyway but ime i dont think its really a thing . Ive gotten prime cards with my beloved Fingerhut on my report and it still sits on my report, albeit closed

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I agree @AverageJoesCredit.  That's my thought when folks mention that lenders look down on store cards.  If ever there were a lender that wanted me to ditch my store card just to get in the door with them, then that's a lender I have no need for anyway.  And for what it's worth, a lot of Amex cards could be considered "subprime" depending on ones definition of the term.  There are enough folks who has posted around these here parts about Amex approvals with scores in the low to mid 600's.

[K-in-Boston]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

Any lender that discriminate  because of the card brand you have on your report isnt worth getting anyway but ime i dont think its really a thing . Ive gotten prime cards with my beloved Fingerhut on my report and it still sits on my report, albeit closed

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LOL +1.  I opened a Fingerhut account at some point in the 90s to add a credit tradeline, made a single purchase, paid it off and never thought about it again - and I am pretty sure I closed it.  Apparently they sold the accounts to another lender around 2003 and that re-dated the opening date on my account to 2003 - on Experian only - and it wasn't noted as closed.  Fast forward a decade to 2013 and they closed my account (that I didn't realize was even open like 18 years after I had last used it) for non-use.  Anyway, it's still sitting on Experian for probably at least another 2 years and has never been an issue with underwriting.  Even though the date isn't actually correct, it's not like an extra 18 year-old closed account in good standing is exactly hurting my AAoA either.  Wonder if I can dispute the accuracy with "Hey, I opened that in the mid-90s not 2003?"  

[Anonymous]

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@Loquat wrote:

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

Any lender that discriminate  because of the card brand you have on your report isnt worth getting anyway but ime i dont think its really a thing . Ive gotten prime cards with my beloved Fingerhut on my report and it still sits on my report, albeit closed

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I agree @AverageJoesCredit.  That's my thought when folks mention that lenders look down on store cards.  If ever there were a lender that wanted me to ditch my store card just to get in the door with them, then that's a lender I have no need for anyway.  

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If it happens it's more you get declined for the stuff on your report (store cards) than a request to close them and then we will reconsider.

And in either case, the problem with such blanket statements is "unless you do have a need for [them]"   From time to time, issuers come out with great cards, and while you might disagree with some underwriting provisions, you might really want the card anyway.