Does having multiple secured cc help?

[Apexdv]

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@claus wrote:

well many years ago, when I was young and innocent, I was pretty sure there werent "secured" cc's. In fact, if I didnt watch youtube, I wouldnt even know they existed. 

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Cool. Can be a decent place to find things like that however, for actual advice i suggest avoiding the Tubes.

[claus]

For what it's worth, I confirmed my TU fico score dropped from 730 to 700 after adding almost $3000 of credit line from a secured credit card. There was one additional hard inquirty.

I just think it's hilarious. I basically paid to lower my credit score. 

[Horseshoez]

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@claus wrote:

For what it's worth, I confirmed my TU fico score dropped from 730 to 700 after adding almost $3000 of credit line from a secured credit card. There was one additional hard inquirty.

I just think it's hilarious. I basically paid to lower my credit score. 

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I submit your score would have dropped by the same amount if you had gotten an unsecured card with a $3,000 limit; the fact your card was secured had exactly zero bearing on your scores.

[Apexdv]

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@claus wrote:

For what it's worth, I confirmed my TU fico score dropped from 730 to 700 after adding almost $3000 of credit line from a secured credit card. There was one additional hard inquirty.

I just think it's hilarious. I basically paid to lower my credit score. 

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As stated previously, this is a normal temporary dip: you decreased AAoA if it was a new TL and received a HP. It'll bounce back.

[Bmom]

The consensus seems to be that you want 3 credit cards for optimal scoring, so you probably did the right thing. As the accounts get older, your credit will bounce

[MeredithLepore]

If used responsibly, the secured credit cards should eventually help your credit, however, you could have established credit with the unsecured credit alone. Keep your credit utlization low, pay off your balances in full and on time every month, and hold off on applying for new credit, and your score will steadily increase in time.

[Horseshoez]

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@MeredithLepore wrote:

If used responsibly, the secured credit cards should eventually help your credit, however, you could have established credit with the unsecured credit alone. Keep your credit utlization low, pay off your balances in full and on time every month, and hold off on applying for new credit, and your score will steadily increase in time.

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Not that everybody can afford it, but I would argue one's ability to land prime unsecured credit cards will be greatly enhanced if one starts with at least one high(ish) value secured card.  After my Chapter 13 discharge I got the ball rolling with a secured card with a $5,000 limit, and nine months after that, not only had the card graduated to unsecured, but I had two others giving me a total credit limit of about $15,000.

[OmarGB9]

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@Horseshoez wrote:

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@MeredithLepore wrote:

If used responsibly, the secured credit cards should eventually help your credit, however, you could have established credit with the unsecured credit alone. Keep your credit utlization low, pay off your balances in full and on time every month, and hold off on applying for new credit, and your score will steadily increase in time.

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Not that everybody can afford it, but I would argue one's ability to land prime unsecured credit cards will be greatly enhanced if one starts with at least one high(ish) value secured card.  After my Chapter 13 discharge I got the ball rolling with a secured card with a $5,000 limit, and nine months after that, not only had the card graduated to unsecured, but I had two others giving me a total credit limit of about $15,000.

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Definitely not affordable for everyone. I know I for one couldn't afford to put down $5k on a secured deposit when I began my rebuild. I could only afford $500.

Anyway OP, yes, Vantagescores are quite volatile. I'd ignore them. And no, you don't need to keep adding secured cards and no, it doesn't matter if they report as such, despite what some YT credit "guru" says.

[Lurker22]

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@Horseshoez wrote:

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@MeredithLepore wrote:

If used responsibly, the secured credit cards should eventually help your credit, however, you could have established credit with the unsecured credit alone. Keep your credit utlization low, pay off your balances in full and on time every month, and hold off on applying for new credit, and your score will steadily increase in time.

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Not that everybody can afford it, but I would argue one's ability to land prime unsecured credit cards will be greatly enhanced if one starts with at least one high(ish) value secured card.  After my Chapter 13 discharge I got the ball rolling with a secured card with a $5,000 limit, and nine months after that, not only had the card graduated to unsecured, but I had two others giving me a total credit limit of about $15,000.

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completely agree - I put $1K on NFCU nRewards card that followed the data points on graduation and auto cli which lead to me obtaining a CO QS with a $10K limit as my first unsecured (so i don't think it has to be a giant secured card)