Manage Three Credit Cards

[Anonymous]

Depends on the bureaus the inquiries fall on.  Citi is known to commonly deny due to inquiries, so depending on what state you're in and what bureau(s) Citi pulls (check the credit pulls database) I may advise against that app.

[Anonymous]

Thanks
My INQ situation is :
TU 11 INQ
EQ 7 INQ
EX 12 INQ
So you advice me that I do not proceed with these two offers?
for me, being that I am new so I wanted to know if these two cards or one of her, will help me in my credit score or voila I have 3 cards and it is sufficient

[Anonymous]

I abused the number of INQ because I did not know it was a factor to consider in my credit score

[Anonymous]

How many of those inquiries are from the last year and how many are between 1 and 2 years old?

Inquires less than 1 year old are much more impactful, both upon a MR and in terms of FICO scoring.  In fact, when it comes to FICO scoring, inquiries older than 1 year are not a scoring factor at all.

[Anonymous]

yes that's the problem, I started for 10 months with my credit score, but last week I was approved for Amex Gold Delta Skymiles.
The real question for me now is that if I will be approved with these two cards, it will help me in my credit score or you think that with my current 3 cards will be enough for credit cards in my credit score ?

[HeavenOhio]

Three cards allow less than half of your cards to report a positive balance. Some say five is better. But you don't want to rush to get there if it means grabbing cards you don't want or need. Letting your current accounts and inquiries age will help a lot too.

As mentioned above, check out the SSL from Alliant. That's done on a soft pull, and it's an easy way to boost your score when you don't have the financial need for an installment loan.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for you advice

[Anonymous]

Do the SSL first.  Then calculate your AAoA.  Then post what your AAoA is and how many accounts and we can tell you what day your next app should be.

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

Three cards allow less than half of your cards to report a positive balance. Some say five is better. .

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I believe 5 to only be "better" with respect to EQ, as you can get dinged there for less than 50% of cards reporting small balances where you can't on EX/TU.  I think most believe that point to be 33%, so in theory 4 cards with 1 reporting a balance would suffice [for AZEO on EQ].  When I let 42% of my cards report a balance on EQ I get a 3-4 point ding, where if 28% of them report a balance I receive no ding.  This leads me to believe that the 33% break point exists.

I personally wouldn't recommend that someone get an additional card or cards though in order to grab 3-4 more FICO points, but that comes down to what something is "worth" to someone relative to others.

[HeavenOhio]

My EQ score was dinged when two of eight cards reported positive balances. I'm now down to six cards. The ding for two cards reporting positive balances is the same as it was before.