Why So Many?

[Anonymous]

There should be a recycling tax for people with more than 15.

[MrDisco99]

It's funny, I'm seeing a lot of judgement being levied toward people with lots of cards, but pretty much none the other way.

[K-in-Boston]

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@Anonymouswrote:
I can understand some of it, but I figure more that say 6 and arent you just essentially doubling up with the same lender? I mean more than one from Chase, Citi, Synchrony, Amex. Why is this preferred over increasing your existing card limit with the same issuer?

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This is a question that I didn't see answered and it's an important point on why a lot of us have multiple cards from the same lender.  With Chase, the primary reward currency (URs) is best earned by having the "Chase Trifecta."  That's a Freedom (with rotating 5x categories), Freedom Unlimited (1.5x on all purchases) and either a Sapphire Preferred (2x on restaurants and travel) or Sapphire Reserve (3x on restaurants and travel).  Amex's primary points system would be Membership Rewards, and different cards earn vastly different points depending on the category of spend.  Both lenders also have numerous cobranded cards that earn their own reward currencies (Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, and other hotel and airline partners).  There are also cards that give specific perks and benefits; for instance I charge Delta airfare to my Platinum charge card for the 5x earning but have the Delta Platinum SkyMiles card for the free bags and annual companion ticket.  Too many examples with other lenders, but hopefully that does give a quick rationale.

[UncleB]

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@K-in-Bostonwrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:
I can understand some of it, but I figure more that say 6 and arent you just essentially doubling up with the same lender? I mean more than one from Chase, Citi, Synchrony, Amex. Why is this preferred over increasing your existing card limit with the same issuer?

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This is a question that I didn't see answered and it's an important point on why a lot of us have multiple cards from the same lender.  With Chase, the primary reward currency (URs) is best earned by having the "Chase Trifecta."  That's a Freedom (with rotating 5x categories), Freedom Unlimited (1.5x on all purchases) and either a Sapphire Preferred (2x on restaurants and travel) or Sapphire Reserve (3x on restaurants and travel).  Amex's primary points system would be Membership Rewards, and different cards earn vastly different points depending on the category of spend.  Both lenders also have numerous cobranded cards that earn their own reward currencies (Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, and other hotel and airline partners).  There are also cards that give specific perks and benefits; for instance I charge Delta airfare to my Platinum charge card for the 5x earning but have the Delta Platinum SkyMiles card for the free bags and annual companion ticket.  Too many examples with other lenders, but hopefully that does give a quick rationale.

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+1... Well said. 

[UncleB]

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@MrDisco99wrote:

It's funny, I'm seeing a lot of judgement being levied toward people with lots of cards, but pretty much none the other way.

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I've noticed some recent judgemental posts in this thread and a few others as well, and it needs to stop.

There's no one-size-fits-all solution, and just because something is deemed "not necessary" for one doesn't mean that's the case for others.  We come from various backgrounds and have various needs and goals, and this is a place to share and 'compare notes', not disparage others because we have different needs or wants.

Diverse opinions are fine - and encouraged - however there's a way to share an opinion without being judgemental or elitist, not to mention it's required by the Terms of Service.

As always I can be reached by PM if anyone has further questions or concerns regarding this; in any case the judgement stops now.

--UncleB

myFICO Moderator

[Anonymous]

They can judge all they want but until they can tell me how I can get 12k of value from 1 card in a year I will continue adding a new card every month.

Started to work on Bank bonuses as well. I wonder what they will say when I have 20 bank accounts?

I mean some people have only have 5 cards all that give a higher percentage in a different category.

Other people are worried about interest rates. Some people just want to work on improving score so they can buy a house.

What is great about this site is you can read what is your area of interest and can get all the information you need to achieve your goal. And everyone seems very willing to help others when they have questions.

[LionLaw]

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@Anonymouswrote:

I'm sure it's different for everyone but these seem to be the primary reasons:

1.  More accounts in good standing = higher scores, up to a point.  Some people chase high scores, and have multiple cards/trade lines for that purpose.

2.  Utilization:  more cards = more total credit available, meaning everyday spending doesn't run the utilization up so high to lower one's scores.  This is also related to #1 (high score chasing).

3.  Rewards chasing:  different cards have different rewards for different types of purchases.  People will carry multiple cards and pull out the one that gives the best rewards for the money they're spending and where they're spending it.

4.  Sign-up bonuses:  Much like rewards chasing, but requires opening new cards.  There are some deals to be had out there.

5.  Ego boosting.  Yes, we all have them, and some are "fed" with more cards/higher credit lines.

6.  It's a hobby or obsession for some... much like collecting stamps, or cars, etc.  Some people collect credit cards.  Also related to #5.

7.  Building or rebuilding.  Related to #1 above, but some of us have come out of a bankruptcy or other credit related issue, or are just starting out with no credit and are working to build their credit.  The older cards may be starter/secured cards with low limits, and as scores improve, they apply for better cards, but keep the older ones so that AAoA doesn't take too much of a hit.

The average American (not on MyFICO) generally has 1-3 cards, so the 20+ card jockeys are the exception rather than the rule, overall (though not on this forum).  I'm just average myself, on # of cards, and below average on total credit lines, but that was my choice.  I'm the opposite of most here, I'm happier with fewer cards since it means fewer bills to pay, fewer due dates to keep track of, etc., and lower limits so I don't overspend.

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Great post.  All of these have applied to me at one point or another.  These days, I keep 8 cards open,  but I only ever use the 2 or 3 with the best rewards; the rest are sentimental artifacts from my rebuilding days.

I have started to close out my older, less useful cards and replace them with good rewards cards, but I can only satisfy the spending requirements of one sign-up bonus at a time, so it will be a slow process.

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@fltireguywrote:
Why so many?
Because I can

(37 cards)

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But you could also (presumably) have 6!

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It can be used both ways.

"Why have 37 cards?" "Because I can!" (My income/assets and credit support many cards and high CLs, a sort of collection of trophies.)

"Why only 6 cards?" "Because I can!" (My income/assets and creditworthiness are such that I don't really need to worry about utilization or lender diversification.)

"Why only 2 cards?" "I'm rich have better things to do than keep track of a ton of different CC accounts."

[ecxpa]

It's because we luv'em!  Be nice to your credit cards and they can be rewarding in may ways.  I take at least 2 short vacations a year because of rewards from credit cards (cash back, free rooms, flights etc.) 

A BT card or BT offer can provide free money for a while, comes in handy when you're doing  a flippin' project.  You get other credit offers for long term projects at low interest rates when you can show you can manage a lot of accounts successfully. 

Having a large number of credit cards certainly doesn't make one a better credit risk, some institutions see a lot of available credit as detrimental and consider us with high numbers of credit cards a bad credit risk.  I have had cards denied before because of "you have sufficient credit" then later get a pre-approved offer from these lenders.  This happened early on in my rebuild with PenFed, now I have 3 of their cards and just got a preapproved bank draft for 25K from them.  

I personally had the same question the OP posted when I began my rebuild almost 4 years ago now......in short there is no specific rhyme or reason as to why so many of us have a herd of cards as there is no specific rhyme or reason why lenders keep approving.  For lenders, the bottom line is to get you to swipe their card and for me and other consumers, it's to get a portion of those swipes, or borrow interest free money so everybody's happy.

.........just my perspective.

[Kforce]

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@Anonymouswrote:
1 to 5 lines of credit hurts your credit score.
I had 850 on all 3 bureaues with 5 cards. 

The more lines of credit you have the more it helps. I believe it tops out at 21 though.
Bunk !!

Just be sure to pace yourself as to not nuke your average age of accounts to the stone age as that will hurt your Credit Score along with all those hard pulls.

I would wager that most people here only use 2-6 cards monthly after the sign up bonuses are depleted anyways. The rest are sock drawered.

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