Credit Card Savants

[oiprocs]

I might have too many cards, so I'm trying to figure out which ones to upkeep, and which ones to put away. Or maybe I use all of them and build up an uber-pwnage credit line. Only the AmEx has rewards. No annual fees on any.

Card APR Limit
_______________________
CapOne 13.4% $2500
AmEx 16.49% $2000
Citi 13.24% $2400
1FBUSA 16.4% $5000
Wamu 12.99% $2100

 

[xeemzor]

You can't have too many cards. Only cancel your cards if you pay annual fees.

 

[Safeway]

Yep, cancel fee cards. Let the unused cards gather dust in a safe place. (Or cut them up, but make sure you have a $0.00 balance!)

Use the card with the best rewards!

 

[kranky]

Don't cancel any cards since you aren't paying an annual fee.
It's most important to keep your oldest cards active, so use them a couple times a year so the bank doesn't cancel your card for non-use.

 

[DT4K]

You only have 5 cards????

Dude, I've got like 30. You need to get more if you want to be cool like me.

 

[Beattie]

Cancel all of the cards. What do you need them for anyway? If you really like the one with rewards I guess you could keep that but I wouldn't.

 

[Beattie]

Originally posted by: kranky
Don't cancel any cards since you aren't paying an annual fee.
It's most important to keep your oldest cards active, so use them a couple times a year so the bank doesn't cancel your card for non-use.

The bank will NEVER cancel them on you for "non use." They may start harassing phone calls asking you why you don't use them though.

 

[Train]

someone who does FICO scores told me 3 is the magic number for "unsecured debt". No more , no less.

 

[miri]

Originally posted by: Beattie

Originally posted by: kranky
Don't cancel any cards since you aren't paying an annual fee.
It's most important to keep your oldest cards active, so use them a couple times a year so the bank doesn't cancel your card for non-use.

The bank will NEVER cancel them on you for "non use." They may start harassing phone calls asking you why you don't use them though.

I've had a credit card account closed due to inactivity. Sorta surprised me, I think it was inactive for a year.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: miri

Originally posted by: Beattie

Originally posted by: kranky
Don't cancel any cards since you aren't paying an annual fee.
It's most important to keep your oldest cards active, so use them a couple times a year so the bank doesn't cancel your card for non-use.

The bank will NEVER cancel them on you for "non use." They may start harassing phone calls asking you why you don't use them though.

I've had a credit card account closed due to inactivity. Sorta surprised me, I think it was inactive for a year.

Yeah they definitely will drop you for inactivity. Only happened once to me (so far) but I had a card from HSBC that I activated but never used. They gave me a pitifully low limit ($3K I think) so I didn't care enough about it to try to keep it active. It took them ~18 months, but that was literally never a single penny charged on it.

My Dell Preferred Account will probably be the next to drop, I haven't touched it in ages.

Viper GTS

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: oiprocs
I might have too many cards, so I'm trying to figure out which ones to upkeep, and which ones to put away. Or maybe I use all of them and build up an uber-pwnage credit line. Only the AmEx has rewards. No annual fees on any.

Card APR Limit
_______________________
CapOne 13.4% $2500
AmEx 16.49% $2000
Citi 13.24% $2400
1FBUSA 16.4% $5000
Wamu 12.99% $2100

thats too many???????

i have 3x that. and one of my cards has ~10x your credit limit, combined.

why doesnt capital one have rewards? go get/switch to the 1.25% capital one rewards card.

apr is meaningless if you dont carry a balance. and if u do carry a balance, then the answer is obvious

 

[oiprocs]

Originally posted by: Train
someone who does FICO scores told me 3 is the magic number for "unsecured debt". No more , no less.

Any truth to this?

 

[xeemzor]

Originally posted by: oiprocs

Originally posted by: Train
someone who does FICO scores told me 3 is the magic number for "unsecured debt". No more , no less.

Any truth to this?

No.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: oiprocs

Originally posted by: Train
someone who does FICO scores told me 3 is the magic number for "unsecured debt". No more , no less.

Any truth to this?

um.. no.

have lots of credit cards. fico credit score >800 as of last year

 

[IronWing]

Are you planning for something down the road that requires a pumped up credit score? If not, then I would simplify and get rid of cards. I have two. I use the one with kickbacks and the other sits in drawer. The idle one was very useful when my wallet was stolen. I could cancel the missing main card and use the idle card until the main card was replaced.

 

[dsfunk]

I've never had a card closed due to inactivity, but I did have a card send me a letter and tell me to please use their card. It was an mbna card (now bofa), that I opened because I needed a mastercard for something. I didn't use it for the next 3 or 4 years and they sent me a letter stating that they would give me $40 credit if I would please use their card once.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: Beattie

Originally posted by: kranky
Don't cancel any cards since you aren't paying an annual fee.
It's most important to keep your oldest cards active, so use them a couple times a year so the bank doesn't cancel your card for non-use.

The bank will NEVER cancel them on you for "non use." They may start harassing phone calls asking you why you don't use them though.

Incorrect.

 

[wiredspider]

Originally posted by: Beattie

Originally posted by: kranky
Don't cancel any cards since you aren't paying an annual fee.
It's most important to keep your oldest cards active, so use them a couple times a year so the bank doesn't cancel your card for non-use.

The bank will NEVER cancel them on you for "non use." They may start harassing phone calls asking you why you don't use them though.

HSBC canceled my 2% HouseHoldBank card because I never used it

They said it was to reduce chances of fraud....

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: wiredspider

Originally posted by: Beattie

Originally posted by: kranky
Don't cancel any cards since you aren't paying an annual fee.
It's most important to keep your oldest cards active, so use them a couple times a year so the bank doesn't cancel your card for non-use.

The bank will NEVER cancel them on you for "non use." They may start harassing phone calls asking you why you don't use them though.

HSBC canceled my 2% HouseHoldBank card because I never used it

They said it was to reduce chances of fraud....

why in the god's holy name did u not use a 2% rewArds card?!??!

WTF2%BBQ

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: oiprocs

Originally posted by: Train
someone who does FICO scores told me 3 is the magic number for "unsecured debt". No more , no less.

Any truth to this?

um.. no.

have lots of credit cards. fico credit score >800 as of last year

Confirmed.

I have around 18 trade lines with a FICO just under 800.

Only 4 of those trade lines are active, the others have no annual fee and I haven't touched them for years.

 

[spacejamz]

Text


* Don't close accounts. Fair Isaac has made it clear that closing accounts can never help a classic FICO score and may hurt it. With FICO 08, that's even truer. The new scoring formula wants to see evidence that you are actively and responsibly using credit. So you get more points for having open accounts in good standing; conversely, having a higher proportion of closed accounts can hurt you more.

* Keep your accounts active. In the past, the biggest risk from letting accounts be inactive is that your lenders might close them, thus dinging your scores. Now simply having too many inactive accounts could count against you in some circumstances. Once again, the new scoring formula is looking for evidence you can responsibly manage credit. Consider keeping your oldest and highest-limit cards active by charging something to them each month (making sure to pay the balance off in full, of course).

 

[MotF Bane]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: oiprocs

Originally posted by: Train
someone who does FICO scores told me 3 is the magic number for "unsecured debt". No more , no less.

Any truth to this?

um.. no.

have lots of credit cards. fico credit score >800 as of last year

Wow, I didn't think it was possible to break 800.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
Wow, I didn't think it was possible to break 800.

Yep, it most definitely is.

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: oiprocs

Originally posted by: Train
someone who does FICO scores told me 3 is the magic number for "unsecured debt". No more , no less.

Any truth to this?

um.. no.

have lots of credit cards. fico credit score >800 as of last year

Wow, I didn't think it was possible to break 800.

I think that's because you need a very lengthy credit history to get there, and most people with that kind of history don't tend to watch their scores. I'd guess that 80% of the people who know their FICO score are under 40.

 

[imported_surferdude]

Originally posted by: oiprocs
I might have too many cards, so I'm trying to figure out which ones to upkeep, and which ones to put away. Or maybe I use all of them and build up an uber-pwnage credit line. Only the AmEx has rewards. No annual fees on any.

Card APR Limit
_______________________
CapOne 13.4% $2500
AmEx 16.49% $2000
Citi 13.24% $2400
1FBUSA 16.4% $5000
Wamu 12.99% $2100

WOW those are some HIGH APR's

i have 3 cards
amex 4.9% never use dont remember limit
amsouth 4.5 only 1 i use 15000.00
gwfcu 8.9 never use 5000.00