3 credit cards vs 1

[Anonymous]

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@dunn2500 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

It all depends on the individual.  Naturally asking this question on a forum where there's an entire section on credit cards where the majority of the members here are card-happy you're going to receive responses that are pro-cards.  Find an anti-credit forum somewhere and no doubt you'd see the converse.  Me personally, I had a single credit card for about 15 years and at no point at all during that span of time did I even consider another card.  My Fico scores hung out in the 780-800 range for the majority of that time.  Could they have been (say) 790-815 if I had 3 cards instead and implemented AZEO the whole time?  Possibly... but even so it wouldn't have landed me any of my car loans, mortgages etc. at better terms.  I do agree with what SJ said regarding not putting all of your eggs in one basket however, as that one card did suddenly get closed down on me and I had to seek out a new card.  After finding this forum I did of course scoop up a handful of cards and now do slightly prefer multiple over a single... but not by much.

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just looking to speed process up .....plus the card i have right now is crap anyway, but yeah CC arent really my deal just a tool to serve a purpose......i have learned a ton about credit though in last month or so......cant believe this wasnt taught in school....should be mandatory

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@dunn2500 You're right, they should teach it in school. Might I recommend that you read the Scoring Primer linked at the top of my signature?

[dunn2500]

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@Anonymous wrote:
They look at a lot of things and it depends on lender but your scores one of the biggest things they look at. And which score they use as lender dependent. The scoring system is waited heavily towards Revolvers as opposed to loans, so having old credit cards is a tremendous benefit and I dare say a cornerstone for good credit, so it’s good to get some and then let them age, not to continue getting them, but it’s nice to have some in the beginning to act as a counterweight for your future needs.

You can also expect them to look at income, DTI and if it goes to manual review, they may consider what other cards you have, but undoubtedly even the computers will consider the credit limits of your other accounts. There’s many things that they consider, credit seeking behavior etc.

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both my DTI and utilization is very very low....like 2%..aside from auto loan and my cheap little $300 card i havent looked for credit.....but yeah only 1 card and will keep it just for age.....i getting offers for chase sapphire card, discover, capitol one platinum that are "matched for me" on experian (whatever that means)....i have 15 inq but all for auto when dealers ran me a bunch last year and couple few months ago when i traded that in for another truck......have 1 old negative collection for medical from 5yrs ago on TU which is why that one is lower but TU dinged me for only using $1 on my card last month where EX barely a hit and EQ could care less...other than that spotless.....but yeah i understand knowing what model an instittuiton uses as a gauge.....my understanding is after 1 year inquiries are still on report but not counted agaisnt you points wise so realistically i have about 5 tops......i just dont want to be denied if i apply or at least reduce that chance as much as possible....

[dunn2500]

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@Anonymous wrote:
They look at a lot of things and it depends on lender but your scores one of the biggest things they look at. And which score they use as lender dependent. The scoring system is waited heavily towards Revolvers as opposed to loans, so having old credit cards is a tremendous benefit and I dare say a cornerstone for good credit, so it’s good to get some and then let them age, not to continue getting them, but it’s nice to have some in the beginning to act as a counterweight for your future needs.

You can also expect them to look at income, DTI and if it goes to manual review, they may consider what other cards you have, but undoubtedly even the computers will consider the credit limits of your other accounts. There’s many things that they consider, credit seeking behavior etc.

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both my DTI and utilization is very very low....like 2%..aside from auto loan and my cheap little $300 card i havent looked for credit.....but yeah only 1 card and will keep it just for age.....i getting offers for chase sapphire card, discover, capitol one platinum that are "matched for me" on experian (whatever that means)....i have 15 inq but all for auto when dealers ran me a bunch last year and couple few months ago when i traded that in for another truck......have 1 old negative collection for medical from 5yrs ago on TU which is why that one is lower but TU dinged me for only using $1 on my card last month where EX barely a hit and EQ could care less...other than that spotless.....but yeah i understand knowing what model an instittuiton uses as a gauge.....my understanding is after 1 year inquiries are still on report but not counted agaisnt you points wise so realistically i have about 5 tops......i just dont want to be denied if i apply or at least reduce that chance as much as possible....

and yes when i got this first card my score dropped 50-70pts, but after a month i got all those plus another 50 pts back...made no sense but my score shot up like a cannon....also paying 3 months ahead on my truck has boosted it as well

[dunn2500]

my DTI is very low like 2% as well as my utilization....1 med collection from 5yrs ago on TU and rest is all good.....excellent history just only have the 1 card.....thanks for all help

experian is recommending chase saphhire, discover, CO platinum says its "matched for me".....whatever that means or is

[Anonymous]

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@dunn2500 wrote:

my DTI is very low like 2% as well as my utilization....1 med collection from 5yrs ago on TU and rest is all good.....excellent history just only have the 1 card.....thanks for all help

experian is recommending chase saphhire, discover, CO platinum says its "matched for me".....whatever that means or is

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@dunn2500 Don't pay attention to what they say that's just marketing. But with that said Discover would probably be a good match as would American Express. how old is that card that you have?

There are some great pre-qualification sites and some poor ones, and there are some institutions that give cards with soft pulls, (but again that penalty goes away in 365 days so it doesn't matter in the grand scheme).

I would recommend seeing what fits your spend and tell us what that is, maybe we can point you in the right direction and maybe check out some of the threads about good prequalification sites and check those, what are your scores now?

[jamie123]

Until you have 3 credit cards, you will always be leaving points on the table.

FICO has an algorithm that penalizes you a few (Maybe 10 to 20) points if more than 50% of your cards report a balance each month. They also have an algorithm that penalizes you points if all your credit cards report a $0 balance each month. You cannot win these points with one credit card. You need a minimum of 3 cards in order to get these points that you are currently losing out on.

Some good cards for a beginner IMHO:

• Discover IT - Discover likes new and thin files. Take care of them and they will take care of you with regular credit line increases.
• Capital One Quick Silver - Capital One is the go to lender for people starting out. They built their business being people's first credit card. They are however, pretty stingy when it comes to credit line increases.
• AMEX Blue Cash Everyday - AMEX seems to like new and thin files the past few years. This is a company that will grow with you for life.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Yeah that’s true, in addition to the too few bankcard penalty, you’re also maxed out on the number/percentage of revolvers with a balance metric!

[dunn2500]

yeah i only use credit cards to build credit....again not looking to live my life off of them.....if they have few perks great but the card i have is only few months old so not much history......i also have construction business and have for last 16 yrs ( residence 11 yrs)...licensed general contractor but just never played credit game....but i understand auto loan has collaterral where CC doesnt so lenders more hesitant....maybe one day i will shuffle cards for perks but for right now i just want higher score....Why? i dont really know it just seems important and since i have ball rolling why not go all the way...i believe business adds another twist to credit game as well but ill look at cards suggested

i know this scenario sounds strange but i have stayed small and stayed in business thru some tough times, if i had debt it would have blown up on me in 2008 and few other times so I am lucky i feel

what about NFCU?....read about their cards here all the time and i am a member with 2 accts in excellent standing...they have been awesome  so far....are their cards decent with easier approval for newbies?

they were certainly far better than banks for my truck loan....easiest process ive ever had tbh

.

[jamie123]

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@dunn2500 wrote:

yeah i only use credit cards to build credit....again not looking to live my life off of them.....if they have few perks great but the card i have is only few months old so not much history......i also have construction business and have for last 16 yrs ( residence 11 yrs)...licensed general contractor but just never played credit game....but i understand auto loan has collaterral where CC doesnt so lenders more hesitant....maybe one day i will shuffle cards for perks but for right now i just want higher score....Why? i dont really know it just seems important and since i have ball rolling why not go all the way...i believe business adds another twist to credit game as well but ill look at cards suggested

i know this scenario sounds strange but i have stayed small and stayed in business thru some tough times, if i had debt it would have blown up on me in 2008 and few other times so I am lucky i feel

what about NFCU?....read about their cards here all the time and i am a member with 2 accts in excellent standing...they have been awesome  so far....are their cards decent with easier approval for newbies?

they were certainly far better than banks for my truck loan....easiest process ive ever had tbh

.

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For sure! NFCU is great! I didn't realize you had accounts with them.

I would suggest trying for the Discover first and then stop back here with the results. The NFCU should almost be an automatic approval as long as you have good history with them, so you want to do that app last. You want to diversify your credit if possible just in case something happens to sour your relationship with one lender you have somebody else to fall back on.

[dunn2500]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@dunn2500 wrote:

my DTI is very low like 2% as well as my utilization....1 med collection from 5yrs ago on TU and rest is all good.....excellent history just only have the 1 card.....thanks for all help

experian is recommending chase saphhire, discover, CO platinum says its "matched for me".....whatever that means or is

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@dunn2500 Don't pay attention to what they say that's just marketing. But with that said Discover would probably be a good match as would American Express. how old is that card that you have?

There are some great pre-qualification sites and some poor ones, and there are some institutions that give cards with soft pulls, (but again that penalty goes away in 365 days so it doesn't matter in the grand scheme).

I would recommend seeing what fits your spend and tell us what that is, maybe we can point you in the right direction and maybe check out some of the threads about good prequalification sites and check those, what are your scores now?

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fico 8 is  690 avg and fico 9 is 723 avg......my bankcard and mortage scores seem to range highest for some reason....think 752 on one bankcard model but older version......all my fico 9 is over 700 .....just paid auto few more months in advanced so they should rise a bit and if i played my card right this time i should get my 14 pts back they snatched over $1 (that was paid on time), lol...not really it pissed me off!.....scores seem fine its just lack of history with cards

just decent cards i can keep and use for along time....i am pretty simple, as life changes so does your needs....card i have now ill keep but never use once a better one comes in.....i do like idea of someone accessing your CC over debit though.....more protection

soft pull is better and ill look into pre qual