How Many Credit Cards are too Many?

sociallive

I always wonder how many credit cards someone may have? Do credit card companies stop issuing more cards if you already have so many?

How can too many credit cards affect your credit rating?

Ideas/experiences are welcome.

kibblerok

sociallive wrote: »

I always wonder how many credit cards someone may have? Do credit card companies stop issuing more cards if you already have so many?

How can too many credit cards affect your credit rating?

Ideas/experiences are welcome.

its not so much the amount of cards (im sure it could play a small factor) but the amount of credit available to you as a whole compared to your salary/payment history.

In addition to that you would also be scored on the amount of credit you have used of your total credit available to you at the moment.

caseyj

I have 10 credit cards,well i did ive gone bankrupt now

Bokkens

I have had 12 mainly for stoozing purposes,I've never been bankrupt and I don't have them for business use.

dc

If you are creditworthy , it doesn't matter how many you have, it is how you use them that matters. Last year I had a total of 17 active and despite being on a moderate income, the offers still drop through the letterbox. It pays to keep some unused as a bolt hole in emergencies and for offers to get existing customers to spend again.

For long term budgeting I use 3 for low interest life of balance loans ( 0% ,2.9% and 5.9%), and one for 0% balance transfer to reduce the interest on the 5.9% card.
For shopping I swop between three for purchases depending on the rewards currently available, eg Abbey 5% supermarket rebate. Plus use a Nationwide for overseas stuff.
Each year the limits go up, but I never get anywhere near them.

HTHs dc