Open another credit card to Increase FICO Score more?

[Anonymous]

Currently I own 3 cards and trying to improve my Fico Score. Currently my Ficos score is:

Through MyFico via Equifax: 784

Through Capital One Credit Tracker via TransUnion: 753

Through Recent check from Car Dealer via Equifax: 739

Below are the cards I own:

Capital One Quicksilver Visa
- Current Balance: $0 - Credit Limit: $3000 - APR: 17.90% - Annual Fee: $0 - Card Holder Since 2008 (Recently product changed from a Platium Card, also currently have 13% APR 7 month promo)

Best Buy Store Card (Store use only)
- Current Balance: $0 - Credit Limit: $1000 - APR: 24.27% - Annual Fee: $0 - Card Holder Since 2009

Amazon.com Reward Visa (Chase)
- Current Balance: $0 - Credit Limit: $700 - APR: 18.27% - Annual Fee: $0 - Card Holder Since 2011

I recently got a offer in the mail for Discover It: https://www.creditkarma.com/creditcard/CCDiscover1301

Which has a APR Rate of 10.99% (which is nice compared to what I have) according to the letter. Is it a good idea to open a 4th credit card based on the above information or should I just work on trying to increase my credit limit on my current cards?

What I'm getting at is, should I even try to open another credit card? I don't really need a 4th. My credit score is good I believe but I want to improve it even further. I think my credit limit on some of my cards are low. And I do wish I had better APR on some of them.

So Should I or shouldn't I open another card based on the info provided?

[CreditDunce]

It is not an either or question.  You can get more CC's and ask to increase your CL's.  FICO doesn't give you a higher credit score for having higher CL's.  But it would make keeping your utilization low easier to do.

Opening any more than 3 CC's will not increase your score.  More cards doesn't hut, it just doesn't help.   Well it might hurt a little for the HP/INQ and it might lower your AAoA.  And it can help if you have high utilization by lowering your overall utilization.

None the less, I think I would get a 4th card.  It is always possible one of your CCC's (or Best Buy) goes out of business in a few years or they just cancel one of your cards.  It is nice to have different credit card companies.

The Discover IT isn't a bad card.  The pluses are it provides a free TU-08 score each month.  Gives you access to ShopDiscover (if you shop online much).  The rotating 5% categories are decent if they match your spending habits.  No AF.  No FTF with good acceptance in many Asian countries and Brazil, but spotty acceptance in Europe.  I ignore the APR since I pay in full each month.  But it does make sense to have at least one CC with a reasonable APR.

However, if you spend time researching, you might find a better card for your needs.  It just depends on your spending pattern and how much effort your are willing to work to earn rewards/cash back.  You might even want to consider app'g for cards that have nice sign on bonuses with your good scores.

[Roarmeister]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I recently got a offer in the mail for Discover It: https://www.creditkarma.com/creditcard/CCDiscover1301

Which has a APR Rate of 10.99% (which is nice compared to what I have) according to the letter. Is it a good idea to open a 4th credit card based on the above information or should I just work on trying to increase my credit limit on my current cards??

---

If you decide you want another card - don't do it on the basis of the first offer you get in the mail.  Do a bit of research on what type of card would best suit your portfolio - whether it be a cash back, points award or low interest, etc., balance transfer fees, annual fee, and all the other benefits provided.  You will take a hit a first because of the hard pull and the lower average age of accounts.  3-5 cards is optimum but people have gotten really high scores with fewer.  You can double down with CLIs as long as they don't require additional hard pulls.  Best of luck.

[HiLine]

I do think that you should open 1-2 new cards if you don't need high FICO score in the short term. The reasons are:

1. When you open a new credit account further down the road, your average age of accounts will decrease less.

2. Your utilization will be lower.

3. You will have more leverage to ask for a higher credit limit on each of the cards you have when you have another card with a significantly higher limit.

[Anonymous]

You might want to carry a small, around 1% balance on one of the cards you have, and leave the other 2 cards at no balance.  From what I understand that will maximize your score.