Impact of store card on mix

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have concrete evidence that having at least one store card is better than having none, all else being equal? For example, in your experience, has it ever happened that having 2 bank cards and 1 store card increased your score compared to having 3 bank cards assuming that all else is equal, i.e., the number of accounts carrying a balance, the corresponding utilization percentage buckets, AAoA, recency of credit etc. were identical? I assume the increase would have been small if at all, but I would like to know if anyone has been able to attribute a score increase with certainty to the presence of a store card.

[Anonymous]

I (the OP) should add that I do have closed store cards. So the above question should be interpreted as "does having one *open* store card improve your score compared to having only closed store cards, all else being equal".

On a related note, does mix only depend on open accounts or does it also take closed accounts into account?

[vanillabean]

Chances are you'll enjoy this thread, which answers both of your questions.

 When that is said, my wife's scores are higher than mine because she has a couple of store cards, not because they are open, but because they are old.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the pointer. I had read that thread before, but still find it puzzling that closed accounts in good standing don't contribute to mix.

I take it that you don't know for sure that store cards are helping her score at all. So my original question remains.

[haulingthescoreup]

We've thrashed through this a lot, and my own opinion is that they don't, if you already have bank CC's.

I mean, they're helpful, just as is any healthy TL, but as far as I can tell, there is nothing magic about having a store/retail card in the mix.

Those who have posted score increases from adding their first store card are generally those who only have one or two cards, and their scores "needed" another revolving TL.

But this is just my opinion!

eta: just to clarify: having all store cards, and adding a bank card, helps. Having all bank cards, and adding a store card, meh.