Thread: 3 Cards Do I Need More To Get The Score

I am 24 single male, make 60k, rent with roommates. I carry 3 cards: Amex Blue Cash 14k limit 11.24%, BofA Worldpoints Visa 14k limit 7.24%, Wells Fargo Platinum Visa 7k limit 20.24%. I had my scores pulled at 770, 750, 760. I have no other monthly debt obligations and pay my cards in full each month, never a late. Pushing approximately 25k a year through them collectively, but most going through the Amex. My biggest question is does anyone have an opinion on picking up a Mastercard or Discover card to round out my credit profile? or just stay put and work on getting my limits higher. I am wanting to break the elusive 800 mark but it is difficult w/o a mortgage or auto payment. Any advice helps thanks.

Wells Fargo Opened for 6 years. BofA opened for 4 Years Amex for 6 months. No student loans, paid cash. Thought Master Card or Discover would diversify my cc holdings.

I would certainly say the Discover card. I have it, it's a great card from what you wrote it's a different company than what you metioned.
The Visa and Master card are basicly the same company there bank cards started somewhere around the late 60's and early 70's.
while American express has been around since 58, Having a Discover card on your credit report May look better than the Mastercard.
Discover came around in 85 or 86. The thing you have to think about is Discover isn't accepted everywhere, Mastercard is but you already have 2 visa's you might want to get Discover.

Originally Posted by alsteig

Thought Master Card or Discover would diversify my cc holdings.

The most important things to the credit bureaus are # of cc holdings and the length of those holdings. Discover may look better than another VISA in your wallet, but on paper, the Discover is a brand new line of credit which will negatively affect your average credit line age. My Discover card is by far my best card (best service, rates, rewards, etc.), but unless you absolutely need a new line, I would hold off if you are wanting to break into the 800's. As far as your score is concerned, a VISA and Mastercard look the same on paper.

If you want to move the discussion beyond FICO scores and look at your overall credit management, I'd suggest consideration of a Visa or Mastercard from Citi and from Chase.

Here's the rational. Each issuer will get more or less aggressive over time with general and with unique circumstances. You don't want to be on the short end if someone pulls in their reigns. Each has their own authorization system. Its possible to have a transaction rejected from one if something occurs in the autho process which has nothing to do with you, and you would want a card from a different issuer with a different process. In some countries not all merchants accept both Visa and MC, so having a mix will round out the wallet. Citi and Chase are likely to grant credit lines more generously than Discover and your bureau will over time show more lines open and a lower utilization given greater credit that has been granted.

At age 24, scoring FICO points by age 25 is certainly fun, but building your file for both today, down the road and FICO at 26 and beyond implies a strategy of probably adding Citi first (perhaps the most aggressive in the market today), Chase second and then rounding out the wallet with a Discover card. The considerations from my perspective would be merchant acceptance ( ie Visa or Mastercard), size of the line/spending power granted, pricing, autho and business risk from the issuer. In most circumstances most consumers won't need much customer service attention and there is a very mixed story depending on the nature of what's needed from each issuer's CS.

I don't think an improper credit card mix is holding you back...I'd say the issue lies more in that you're young, so your credit history is limited. And also that you may not have a solid mix of credit types, such as credit cards, auto loans/leases, and mortgages. Don't apply for credit cards simply for the hope of raising your credit score. Your scores are looking good as is...

Originally Posted by scot184

I don't think an improper credit card mix is holding you back...I'd say the issue lies more in that you're young, so your credit history is limited. And also that you may not have a solid mix of credit types, such as credit cards, auto loans/leases, and mortgages. Don't apply for credit cards simply for the hope of raising your credit score. Your scores are looking good as is...

Ditto. I once got into the craze of obtaining CCs when I entered college (which was probably a good idea, considering all those accounts were opened at the same time), however, I know that CCs aren't going to build my CS by themselves. I have a good mix of other revolving and installment student loan accounts.

Some may be against the idea, but I say look into opening a credit at your favorite store and take advantage of the special offers and what not.

But your scores are pretty much perfect. A little more age and you can qualify for the best loans/mortgages once you're ready. Just keep doing what you are doing. The store credit idea is just to diversify a little since store cards are different from bank cards, but usually its a suggestion for people with mediocre/decent credit.