How Many Credit Cards For Best Credit Score

[Anonymous]

How many cards should one have reporting on his/her credit reports to optimize their credit score.
Considering that all cards have between
2% & 30 % utilization.
I am sure that after a certain amount of cards, your score stops going up.
* Everything else on your report looks great.
Also, I was informed that retail cards dont really effect your credit score as much as normal bank cards ?

[SBR249]

I'd say that beyond 3 cards the marginal effect of additional cards on your FICO probably drops to close to nil. Assuming that you are optimizing utilization and reported balances of course. 

[Shooting-For-800]

I think 5 major cards, installment loan, and a mortgage would rate very well.

[HeavenOhio]

Three cards will allow you to have less than half of your cards reporting a positive balance, and some say five is better. There's no discernible advantage when going beyond five.

Keep in mind that there's no rush to get there. Also keep in mind that starting with card #3 or #4, there'll be a scoring ding before one starts to see gains. One's first two cards often result in immediate gains, with their mere presence offsetting the dings for inquiries and new accounts. People frequently see those gains and decide to grab several more cards. Then they're unpleasantly surprised to see the fairly major hit to their scores after doing that.

[UpperNwGuy]

Three.

[Medic981]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Also, I was informed that retail cards dont really effect your credit score as much as normal bank cards ?

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Miss a payment, or default on your retail card and see how it affects your credit score. A line of credit is a line of credit... threat them all with respect.

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@Medic981 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Also, I was informed that retail cards dont really effect your credit score as much as normal bank cards ?

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Miss a payment, or default on your retail card and see how it affects your credit score. A line of credit is a line of credit... threat them all with respect.

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This*

[Anonymous]

I wasnt talking about missing a payment.
Everyone knows that missing a payment on any credit card or loan will effect your score !
I was speaking about Chase vs Syncrony bank.
Saphire Prefered vs Lowes etc.
I believe that Regular credit cards are rated higher on your credit report than store cards.
Speaking of points that the CB's give you.

[FinStar]

OP, the right mix depending on your long term goals is key. Anecdotally and IME, having retail CCs mixed with other major bank CCs, installment accounts, etc., did not prevent me from achieving 850 in the past.

It's not like the FICO scoring model is going to turn up its nose and ding your score for having a Lowe's tradeline next to other bank cards and/or installment or mortgage tradelines. That being said, there are specific types of accounts that will impact your overall profile, such as consumer finance accounts and the like.

Choose wisely, though.

[HeavenOhio]

FICO normally doesn't care about major cards vs. retail cards. A possible exception is when a retail card is one's only card reporting a positive balance. Some have reported a tiny ding when compared to having that balance on a major card. If AZEO is your objective, leave the positive balance on a major card.

The presence of retail cards does ding the LexisNexis score used in determining insurance rates. For that reason, one should only choose store cards that bring back value beyond simply being able to use the card for making purchases at a particular store.