I got approved recently for a plat card(which has the limit of all my other cards combine) and now have a total of 6 CC, 4 of them with very good limits, good brands, etc with what I believe too much credit..
The other 2 are the lesser companies, Providian(no grace period) and orchard bank (heard bad things).. Is it wise to cancel the lesser 2 esp Providian which I had for 3 yrs so this way the other companies wont think i have TOO MUCH credit?.
a card with no grace period is useless in my opinion and why keep that orchard one if your credit score takes a short term dive so what
you have already gotten what you wanted and its not like you plan on getting a house in a month
if you are really worried about it make a list of everything you want (credit wise) within the next year
i think the list will be very short and if there isnt much on it i would cancel the crappy cards
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also what other cards do you have - if you dont have a good rewards one you may want to apply and get that one first and then start to cut out the crappy ones
According to FICO's brochure: http://www.myfico.com/Offers/Brochure/Credit_Scoring_booklet_2002.pdf it will NOT help you to close out old accounts. Also, it doesn't help to open up accounts just to have "more accounts" or "more available credit".
I just got my credit report today. I got a 725 score. My #1 negative reason was that i "don't have enough credit history". I believe the credit agencies LIKE it the OLDER your average account age is. So, unless you're closing an account that's been opened up a few months, i'd just keep it open. My #2 negative reason was a high AVERAGE balance on my credit cards (d@mn that 0% balance transfer! ). My #3 negative reason was using more than 50% of my limit on 1 credit card (d@mn that 0% balance transfer again!).
So, I guess that also means you shouldn't call to ask the banks to LOWER your credit limit (like i've erroneously done in the past), as you don't want to go over that magical 50% point.
i still cant believe people are scared of having "too much credit".... THIS IS FALLACY. 6 credit cards is not too much credit...I have over 50, and havent been rejected for "too much credit"...
Just bc you receive a preapproval letter saying they are giving you a platinum card with "up to 30k or up to 100k" credit limit, etc, chances are you will only get a 5-15k limit depending on what you list for household income.....
If you dont want the other 2 cards, put them away and dont use them, but theres no need to close them
but the 0 grace period makes the card useless not that he would auctually use it
another option is to call prov.. and get them to upgrade your card to something decent that way you would have another back;up card and you would keep your long account history with prov...
You can never have to much credit, you never know when you will need a huge some of money for a short term and it will hit your rating when you close old accounts as others have said.
<< I got approved recently for a plat card(which has the limit of all my other cards combine) and now have a total of 6 CC, 4 of them with very good limits, good brands, etc with what I believe too much credit..
The other 2 are the lesser companies, Providian(no grace period) and orchard bank (heard bad things).. Is it wise to cancel the lesser 2 esp Providian which I had for 3 yrs so this way the other companies wont think i have TOO MUCH credit?. >>
Close the Providian account now... what a useless card that is. I signed up about year ago by accident... for some reason I signed up for them thinking it was Juniper. Anyway, it was too late before I realized and got the card. Providian is a total waste. For one thing, they don't have any rewards program. Worst of all is there is no freakin grace period. They charge interest on the charges, the minute it posts into your account... I didn't realize that for 7 months and all this time I was paying interest to these bastards. Anyway, I closed it immediately and I suggest you do the same, considering that you seem to have a good credit history to qualify for a high limit credit card. Don't worry even if it's one of your oldest accounts, just close the Providian card! It's a lot better than closing it 2, 3 or even 10 years later!
<< 6 credit cards is not too much credit...I have over 50, and havent been rejected for "too much credit"... >>
wow!!! why do you need so many cards? Just curious...I always pay my balance in full, and there are not many good reward cards now, so I tought there was no reason for me to get more cards, but maybe I'm wrong? For me having an extra credit card means only more mail in my mailbox
I have 7 cards, a deal comes along that's better than my current deal, and I get that card. No point in closing that last deal, just don't carry around the card if you don't need it. I use an aggregation service, so I would see if there is any spending, and I can set a relatively low alert to let me know there is spending on a card that I didn't expect to see it. No balance = no statments. And if there is an emergency, it's there for me.
Closing credit cards is personal opinion. Unless the account is the oldest on your credit history and/or you have a relatively short credit history, there shouldn't be an adverse affect.
Many people choose to close accounts which are no longer used. It's simply preference. I can vouch for this. Would mine be higher if I had left them open? The answer is no, in my case. For what it's worth, of course.
In the event you have a large number of accounts open, it may actually boost your score nominally, dependent on your income.
The bottom line is that you should identify your own personal credit history and specific circumstances. Do not rely entirely on opinions presented here. You will get conflicting views, despite the possbility that both may be correct to their respective holders.
<< 6 credit cards is not too much credit...I have over 50, and havent been rejected for "too much credit"... >>
I have a large number of cards also, although not near 50. I imagine that you have accumulated a large number of cards for the same reason as I have - for the rewards and the 0% balance transfers. I would like to open more cards as additional 0% balance transfers become available. My question to you (having 50 cards) is whether you have more than one identical credit card with the same company. Will they issue a second credit card to the same person if an initial identical credit card is still open?
yes primarily for rewards, not for 0% offers (I dont flip CC balances)...
many of us are constantly solicited with CC offersn (I easily get 5-10 per week) and I pick the few which offer rewards I feel are valuable...they have been amassed over the past 10+ years, so its not like I applied for dozens at a time, maybe 5-6 per year when I received an interesting solicitation...
I have several Discover cards (5 or 6), 5 or 6 AMEX cards, several Bank One cards, etc....and with the exception of just 1 or 2 , i NEVER seek out the application, I only respond to solicitations... much less likely to get the response "we're sorry , you already have an account with us" if THEY solicited me to apply for yet another one of their cards...I wait till they want me to get an additional line, I dont seek it out...
Several people wonder "why"? Its entirely a personal preference. I like the feeling of having $1M+ available credit, even if I never choose to use it...It also has its advantages:
1) I get to pick the particular card for my particular need (if I want best rental car protection, I use the one with primary rental car coverage, If Im travelling I use the one with excess luggage insurance and common carrier insurance, if I need extra airline miles so my existing ones dont expire, I use that one, etc). 2) There are times when you may need/want to make large purchases (recently I purchased 90k in savings bonds for 3 family members within 15 minutes...this is very easy when you can put it on 5-6 rewards-earning cards, instead of charging up to your credit limit, then waiting to payoff the balance and then charging more, or the complications of prepaying 1 card, only to find out you cant charge more than the credit limit in any 1 month)
Dont get me wrong, there was a time when I believed having too many accounts was bad too (I listened to the myths everyone repeated about "too much credit" and I actually closed 10-20 accounts several years ago, only to regret it later when I discovered:
1) IT DID NOT HELP MY CREDIT SCORE 2) IT DID NOT MAKE OBTAINING NEW CREDIT EASIER 3) I could have used the old cards to increase my limits on new cards with the same bank (reallocating credit lines, etc)
I learned from my experience, and I'm hoping others can benefit from my hindsight....
Many people are "scared" of theft or loss of the cards, or that things are too complex if they have too many cards...If you keep them at 0 balance, you dont get statements, so theres no recordkeeping involved....Obviously I dont carry all these cards, and a simple list of all your cards is all thats needed in case of theft, etc. Theres no liability for fraudulent charges so theres no worries...
In the end, you will do what you desire...but just dont fall for the myth that there is something "bad" about hanging onto these 6 cards...
I'm really intrigued by your situation. 50 cards..I didn't think *anyone* had that many cards lol
I have to wonder though...doesn't it have anything to do with your income level? You are a lawyer right? What if someone who worked at an income level of say 19,000 tried to accumulate that many cards...wouldn't that be where the problem occurred?
When I was in college I had 11 cards and I ended up being told I had "too much revolving debt" and "too many open accounts"
my mother was also told the same thing recently she tried to apply for a car loan and was told she had too much open credit. She had a sears card, lane bryant, jc penneys, and a mastercard.
I think DaveHanson and some other FW members are approaching my card count...
My card count has NOTHING to do with my profession or income. 90% of these cards were given to me while in college or law school (not earning any money). They dont ask to see any income documentation, and I have NEVER put "attorney" on any application (except for the 3 business credit cards i have). My credit report still lists me as a "student" in the "employment" section of the credit report. Remember, credit apps only ask for HOUSEHOLD income...this can be interpreted VERY liberally, and can include scholarships, income of family members , friends (if they have ever been in your household, etc)...
glad to hear that too many cards don't hurt your rating. I got about 10 cards over the last 6 years or so and was going to cancel some because i heard that too many cards ruin your credit. I am lazy or actually, I have no time to spend with those CSRs to cancel.
<< yes primarily for rewards, not for 0% offers (I dont flip CC balances)...
many of us are constantly solicited with CC offersn (I easily get 5-10 per week) and I pick the few which offer rewards I feel are valuable...they have been amassed over the past 10+ years, so its not like I applied for dozens at a time, maybe 5-6 per year when I received an interesting solicitation...
I have several Discover cards (5 or 6), 5 or 6 AMEX cards, several Bank One cards, etc....and with the exception of just 1 or 2 , i NEVER seek out the application, I only respond to solicitations... much less likely to get the response "we're sorry , you already have an account with us" if THEY solicited me to apply for yet another one of their cards...I wait till they want me to get an additional line, I dont seek it out... >>
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whatever you do, please don't use discover cards. reasons are here: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/arcmessageview.cfm?start=41&catid=24&threadid=136936
read my experience with them. They didn't handled themselves well in the cyberrebate scam and fought the victims in the court and even appealed winning judgments against them. I am still using Discover but only spend $2 (actually $1.98 or $1.99) per card per month on gas. So I get nearly $8 in free gas each month. pretty cool.
I used to have more than 10 credit cards. I started to closed off most of them, leaving with only one card for day to day spending and paid in full every month. I think I made a mistake because right now there are so many cards that offer 0%, 1.99% etc for current card holders and I am not a current card holder and therefore not qualified for the offer. I have a large student loan at higher interested rate, and recently (thanks to FW) learned about my ways people can do TB. Where I only have one card. so my hands are tight. I just applied for a couple cards and hope fully get approved with high credit limits. I could have been in a better situation if I hadn't chopped off all my cards. I could have my TB done already....Istead i am sitting waiting for my new cards...to arrive. So, I don't think it hurts to have about 5 cc available as long as they are used responsively. BTW, say your current card A at 0% BT is up in May, can you apply for a different card B (assumming rate is low and available for BT) and transfer balance from A to B? And repeat for a few times until the balance is paid off (assumming low rate will still be available for the next couple years)
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). My #3 negative reason was using more than 50% of my limit on 1 credit card (d@mn that 0% balance transfer again!).
and I actually closed 10-20 accounts several years ago, only to regret it later when I discovered:
