What is the real effect of my store cards on my credit?

[Anonymous]

Currently I have 3 major credit cards, FNBO, Cap1, and Citi. I also have 5 store cards reporting. I'm wondering if this is really bad. I'd like to keep my Menards card because it has a $4,600 CL and I buy a lot of stuff there. FNBO finally upped my CL to $600 and it was like pulling teeth and took 2 years to get a silly $300 CLI. CAP1 started as a $300 CL Platinum and recently PC'd to a $850 CL Quick Silver. I will likely close this card down the road when I get something better because we all know it won't grow, I've had several CLI's and I get the feeling $850 is all they will give me, ever. Citi DC has been a great card for me but they only gave me $1,000 and if I charged $800 on it, I'm sure they would freak out and close it on me so only use it a little until they give me a CLI.

Overstock, I'm not sure how it came about. On my credit reports it shows the card was opened on February 12, 2017 but I don't think I ever received the card and according to Overstock, I never activated the card. A couple months ago they gave me a CLI to $750. When I called Overstock they said they would have to send me a replacement card so I could go online to activate it, then I could cancel it. I just received a letter they bumped my CL up to $1,000. I still don't have the card. It's like a bad penny that won't go away.

Walmart and Amazon I should have never applied for, they both only gave me $200 SL. With Walmart I learned never to apply at the checkout. I ended up with a $200 CL card on a $189 purchase. Had to wait for the card to come in the mail to set up my online account and pay it, but I wasn't fast enough and my statement cut before I was able to pay it. A friend told me what I needed to do was make a $10 purchase, pay with my Walmart card, take it to my car then come back in the store and do the rest of my shopping paying with a different card. Screw that! I really applied for Amazon to get a discount, I was able to get a car jump starter for $20 when Amazon had their flash sales for Prime members. Then I made another purchase with the card as my default payment method using 1 click and maxed the card out. I've since stopped using both cards. Citi DC is better in both Walmart and Sam's Club than their own cards that only give 1% back for in store purchases.

Walmart and Amazon could go away as far as I'm concerned because the low limits make them a pain in the arse to use.  Overstock won't go away and they respond by giving me a CLI when I try to close it.  Oh, Victoria's Secret sent me a card about a year ago, I never purchased anything there, never have, never will, but they are showing on my credit reports with a $350 CL.  I thought if I just didn't use them and Overstock they would both be closed, but so far, no such luck.   

I'm thinking maybe just having 5 open store cards compared to my 3 major cards is looking bad on my credit reports.  There must be a way they are coded or something.  Someone told me not to request any more CLI's on my Menards card because when applying for credit, the system looks for CL's on major cards and ignors store cards.  

I just had my eyes opened when I tried to open a checking account at Wells Fargo and they pre-approved me for a secured card.  I wasn't wanting a card today and never asked them to do that so I'll be closing the account and going elsewhere. I can't figure out why I'm getting offers for secured cards when I have several major cards other than I have too many store cards for my major cards, I suppose adding a couple major cards would equal out the equation but it might be easier to dump a couple store cards.   

[Anonymous]

I think the ‘bad’ effect of store cards is over stated.  Certainly you don’t want 25 store cards with $350 limits because of the SCT but you having 5 store cards isn’t hurting your credit.  Not sure who told you not to request a CLI on one of them but you were given incorrect info.  Store card limits help your overall utilization and AAoA just the same as a Visa or MasterCard. As for why you were offered a secured card, hard to tell.  Could be because of WF or something else in your profile.  You don’t list scores, etc but I wouldn’t over worry about the store cards effect on your credit.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Currently I have 3 major credit cards, FNBO, Cap1, and Citi. I also have 5 store cards reporting. I'm wondering if this is really bad. I'd like to keep my Menards card because it has a $4,600 CL and I buy a lot of stuff there. FNBO finally upped my CL to $600 and it was like pulling teeth and took 2 years to get a silly $300 CLI. CAP1 started as a $300 CL Platinum and recently PC'd to a $850 CL Quick Silver. I will likely close this card down the road when I get something better because we all know it won't grow, I've had several CLI's and I get the feeling $850 is all they will give me, ever. Citi DC has been a great card for me but they only gave me $1,000 and if I charged $800 on it, I'm sure they would freak out and close it on me so only use it a little until they give me a CLI.

Overstock, I'm not sure how it came about. On my credit reports it shows the card was opened on February 12, 2017 but I don't think I ever received the card and according to Overstock, I never activated the card. A couple months ago they gave me a CLI to $750. When I called Overstock they said they would have to send me a replacement card so I could go online to activate it, then I could cancel it. I just received a letter they bumped my CL up to $1,000. I still don't have the card. It's like a bad penny that won't go away.

Walmart and Amazon I should have never applied for, they both only gave me $200 SL. With Walmart I learned never to apply at the checkout. I ended up with a $200 CL card on a $189 purchase. Had to wait for the card to come in the mail to set up my online account and pay it, but I wasn't fast enough and my statement cut before I was able to pay it. A friend told me what I needed to do was make a $10 purchase, pay with my Walmart card, take it to my car then come back in the store and do the rest of my shopping paying with a different card. Screw that! I really applied for Amazon to get a discount, I was able to get a car jump starter for $20 when Amazon had their flash sales for Prime members. Then I made another purchase with the card as my default payment method using 1 click and maxed the card out. I've since stopped using both cards. Citi DC is better in both Walmart and Sam's Club than their own cards that only give 1% back for in store purchases.

Walmart and Amazon could go away as far as I'm concerned because the low limits make them a pain in the arse to use.  Overstock won't go away and they respond by giving me a CLI when I try to close it.  Oh, Victoria's Secret sent me a card about a year ago, I never purchased anything there, never have, never will, but they are showing on my credit reports with a $350 CL.  I thought if I just didn't use them and Overstock they would both be closed, but so far, no such luck.   

I'm thinking maybe just having 5 open store cards compared to my 3 major cards is looking bad on my credit reports.  There must be a way they are coded or something.  Someone told me not to request any more CLI's on my Menards card because when applying for credit, the system looks for CL's on major cards and ignors store cards.  

I just had my eyes opened when I tried to open a checking account at Wells Fargo and they pre-approved me for a secured card.  I wasn't wanting a card today and never asked them to do that so I'll be closing the account and going elsewhere. I can't figure out why I'm getting offers for secured cards when I have several major cards other than I have too many store cards for my major cards, I suppose adding a couple major cards would equal out the equation but it might be easier to dump a couple store cards.   

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They only real bad effect is when you move on to prime cards and it could affect your saturation of credit and give you lower limits in the prime cards. So it really isn’t they are “bad”. And also the store cards come with high interest rates so you always want to PIF. If you shop a lot at their stores and they give you good benitits, by all means use the store cards. Value is always relative to each person.

[Anonymous]

If you want real help, we will need the following:

1. FICO8 score from at least one bureau -- NOT a Vantage Score from Credit Karma.
2. The age of your oldest account on your credit report
3. What your overall credit utilization percentage is, as well as the highest utilization on any one card

[Anonymous]

How does it look to have retail cards that have never been used?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

How does it look to have retail cards that have never been used?

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FICO doesn't really know if you use your cards or not.  It only knows what it sees right now, plus any late payment notations.

[DeeBee78]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

How does it look to have retail cards that have never been used?

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FICO doesn't really know if you use your cards or not.  It only knows what it sees right now, plus any late payment notations.

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FICO scoring may not know, but your creditors do. Whether or not they care about that information is up to them. I could see a loan officer asking questions about unused credit accounts.

I was surprised to learn about the level of detail on my credit reports:

High balance listed month by month for the last 7 years.

Credit limits listed month by month for the last 7 years. 

Minimum and actual payments listed month by month for the last 7 years. 

🎶 They know everything 🎶

[Anonymous]

If you really don't know where these credit accounts came from, and are sure you did not apply for them, that would be my primary concern at this point. Is there someone in your family or your household that may have accessed your info and used it to get cards in your name? Nothing was charged on them so maybe they chickened out? No judgement, we have been there, done that with my DH's family.

If you really did not app those products though I would dispute with the CRAs and INSIST that the CC companies remove the products from your report NOW, not wait and make you activate and close. This is not a case of changed your mind, it is identity theft and it is a rampant problem these days.

[HeavenOhio]

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@DeeBee78 wrote:
I was surprised to learn about the level of detail on my credit reports:

High balance listed month by month for the last 7 years.

Credit limits listed month by month for the last 7 years. 

Minimum and actual payments listed month by month for the last 7 years. 

🎶 They know everything 🎶

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Are you sure that detailed information goes that far back? I'm relying on memory, but I believe that detailed info goes back for 30 months on my TU report and 24 months on the other two. I'll be eligible to pull my reports again next month, so it'll be interesting to see if anything has changed since last year.

As far as the original question in this thread, store cards don't directly affect FICO as far as utilization, limits, and all that. But if you're trying to do AZEO, you may (or may not) get a better result with a major card reporting your positive balance rather than a store card.

Store cards definitely affect the non-FICO credit score that insurance companies use. But I'd submit that avoiding traffic tickets, car accidents, household accidents, etc. would be far more important and that nice rewards on these cards would likely offset any insurance ding. If you're in Massachusetts, California, or Hawaii, insurance companies aren't allowed to use credit as part of determining your rate.