How Often Should You Apply For A Credit Card
In theory, you can apply for new credit cards as often as you like. Since the average online application only takes a few minutes, you can apply for a lot of cards in a very short amount of time.
But that doesnt mean you should apply for multiple credit cards all at once. In most cases, waiting between credit card applications is better for your credit scoreand it can even improve your chances of getting accepted.
Does Getting A New Credit Card Hurt Your Credit
Getting a new credit card can hurt or help your credit, depending on your situation. It can help to increase your credit mix and improve your credit utilization percentage, but it will add a new hard inquiry to your account and make your average credit age youngerboth of which could lower your score. For those in the credit-building stage, adding a new credit card will most likely lower your score in the short term but also lead to a stronger credit score in the long term.
Read Up On Card Issuer Rules Regarding Approvals
Finally, make sure you’re not applying for credit cards you were unlikely to get approved for in the first place. For example, Chase has a rule, called the 5/24 rule, that says you typically cannot get approved for one of its credit cards if you have had more than five new credit card accounts within the last 24 months. If you have picked up 15 new cards within the last two years, then applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is likely a lost cause due to this rule.
Citi has a similar rule for its co-branded American Airlines credit cards and bank cards like the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Prestige® Card . This rule states that you can’t get approved for one of their cards within the same family until you haven’t had a card in that family for 24 or 48 months. If you have the Citi Premier already, for example, you can’t apply for the Citi Prestige until you’ve canceled your Citi Premier and waited for 24 months. A similar but longer 48-month rule applies to some of their American Airlines credit cards.
In addition to watching out for card issuer rules, also make sure you’re only applying for cards you’re likely to get approved for based on your credit score. If you know your credit score is around 600 and you apply for a credit card that asks for “good or excellent” credit, for example, you shouldn’t be surprised when your request is denied outright.
In that case, you should look for , then use your card as a tool to boost your credit rating over time.
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Does Applying For Credit Affect Your Credit Score
You may have heard that applying for credit can affect your credit score, but you might not know exactly what the effects will be. Does applying for a credit card hurt your credit? What about applying for other types of loans? How big is the impact, and how long does it last?
Whether youre rebuilding your credit after some slip-ups or trying to take your score from , its helpful to understand what applying for credit cards and loans can do to your score. Heres everything you need to know.
Factors That Can Affect Your Credit Score
The CRAs keep records of your personal information, past and current credit accounts, and your payment history. They use this information to calculate and assign each person a credit score that lenders can use to help them determine whether you are a good credit risk. Your credit score is calculated by considering five main factors, with each factor being given a specific weight.
Payment History Have you always paid your accounts on time? Do you have any missed or past due payments in your history? Have you ever filed for bankruptcy or filed a consumer proposal? These records will help lenders predict your future payment behaviour. If your behaviour poses a risk to future lenders, your credit score will definitely be lower. If you always pay on time, your score will be higher.
Current Debts How much debt are you currently carrying? How much credit do you have available to you? Lenders will look at these amounts to determine if you be able to manage the amount of credit you are applying for. Keeping your usage under 30-35% of your limit will help keep your score healthy.
Account History How old are your credit accounts? Do you have a mix of older and newer products in your file? Creditors like to see that you have been able to manage credit over time. The higher the average age of your accounts, the better the impact on your credit score.
for an in-depth look at how your credit score is calculated.
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Limits Your Requests For New Creditand The Hard Inquiries With Them
There are two types of inquiries into your credit history, often referred to as hard and soft inquiries. A typical soft inquiry might include you checking your own credit, giving a potential employer permission to check your credit, checks performed by financial institutions with which you already do business, and credit card companies that check your file to determine if they want to send you pre-approved credit offers. Soft inquiries will not affect your credit score.
Hard inquiries, however, can affect your credit scoreadverselyfor anywhere from a few months to two years. Hard inquiries can include applications for a new credit card, a mortgage, an auto loan, or some other form of new credit. The occasional hard inquiry is unlikely to have much of an effect. But many of them in a short period of time can damage your credit score. Banks could take it to mean that you need money because youre facing financial difficulties and are therefore a bigger risk. If you are trying to improve your credit score, avoid applying for new credit for a while.
How Your Credit Score Affects You
Suppose you want to borrow $200,000 in the form of a fixed rate thirty-year mortgage. If your credit score is in the highest category, 760-850, a lender might charge you 3.307 percent interest for the loan.1 This means a monthly payment of $877. If, however, your credit score is in a lower range, 620-639 for example, lenders might charge you 4.869 percent that would result in a $1,061 monthly payment. Although quite respectable, the lower credit score would cost you $184 a month more for your mortgage. Over the life of the loan, you would be paying $66,343 more than if you had the best credit score. Think about what you could do with that extra $184 per month.
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Why Does A Good Credit Score Matter
A good or excellent credit score will save most people hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their lifetime. Someone with excellent credit gets better rates on mortgages, auto loans, and everything that involves financing. Individuals with better credit ratings are considered lower-risk borrowers, with more banks competing for their business and offering better rates, fees, and perks. Conversely, those with poor credit ratings are considered higher-risk borrowers, with fewer lenders competing for them and more businesses getting away with criminally high annual percentage rates because of it. Additionally, a poor credit score can affect your ability to find rental housing, rent a car, and even get life insurance because your credit score affects your insurance score.
Why Does Applying For A Credit Card Affect Your Credit Score
When you apply for a credit card, the card issuer reviews your credit history. This puts what’s called a “hard credit inquiry” on your credit file and affects the new credit category that makes up 10% of your FICO® Score.
New credit matters because there’s a correlation between your number of credit applications and your risk of defaulting on debts. FICO has found that consumers with at least six hard inquiries on their credit reports are up to eight times as likely to declare bankruptcy as consumers with zero inquiries.
A credit inquiry is a request for information on a consumer’s credit file. There are two types: hard inquiries and soft inquiries, also known as hard and soft credit checks.
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Does Being Denied A Credit Card Hurt Your Score
If, on the other hand, your , you will likely see a drop in your score that wont be overcome by an increase in available credit. The very act of applying sends a signal to the credit scoring elves that you may want to take on new debt, which is always a risk. In this case, a lender has reviewed your file and your income and rejected your request.
Remember that even with preapproved offers of credit, there are no guarantees that you will be approved. This is true anytime you apply for credit, so keep that in mind. It is one of the main reasons I suggest, as I did in the beginning that you only apply for credit when you need to or it is otherwise to your advantage, like a sign-up bonus of some sort. And only apply when you are relatively sure you will be approved.
Keep Old Accounts Open And Deal With Delinquencies
The age-of-credit portion of your credit score looks at how long youve had your credit accounts. The older your average credit age, the more favorably you appear to lenders.
If you have old credit accounts that youre not using, dont close them. Though the credit history for those accounts would remain on your credit report, closing credit cards while you have a balance on other cards would lower your available credit and increase your credit utilization ratio. That could knock a few points off your score.
And if you have delinquent accounts, charge-offs, or collection accounts, take action to resolve them. For example, if you have an account with multiple late or missed payments, get caught up on what is past due, then work out a plan for making future payments on time. That wont erase the late payments but can improve your payment history going forward.
If you have charge-offs or collection accounts, decide whether it makes sense to either pay off those accounts in full or offer the creditor a settlement. Newer FICO and VantageScore credit-scoring models assign less negative impact to paid collection accounts. Paying off collections or charge-offs might offer a modest score boost. Remember, negative account information can remain on your credit history for up to seven yearsand bankruptcies for 10 years.
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How Is Your Credit Score Determined
What exactly goes into a credit score? While there are several different credit scores out there, the most popular type of the score is theFICO score. This score, like the others, uses several different factors to determine how creditworthy you are.
Your FICO score is figured based on the following factors:
- Payment history 35 percent
- Amounts owed 30 percent
- Length of credit history 15 percent
- New credit 10 percent
FICO scores range from 300 850 with higher scores being seen as preferential. According to myFICO.com, any FICO score over 800 is considered exceptional. Scores in the 740-799 range are considered very good, while scores from 670 to 739 are considered good. Fair scores are considered anything from 580 to 669, while poor credit is considered any score thats 579 or lower.
Keep in mind that these scores arent set in stone , and that your score can change over time. Well talk about some of the best ways to boost your score in a minute.
How Applying For A Credit Card Can Help Your Score
OK, so you applied for that new credit card and you were approved. As noted above, your score may take a dip, but the impact will likely be minimal. This is because you will have simultaneously increased your available credit, which could negate any losses from the hard inquiry. This result is especially pronounced in the case of a consumer with a limited credit history or a thin file as it is known in the credit business.
Because the thin file has fewer data, any change will likely have a more pronounced effect. Let me illustrate: lets say you fill your bathtub with water, then add a few drops of red food coloring. The change in color would be virtually invisible as the dye will be fully diluted by the large volume of water. Now lets do the same thing but this time with only a shot glass of water. The color change from the dye in a small volume of water will be much more pronounced. The same effect applies to your credit report and, thereby your score. More data means less scoring impact fewer data, more scoring impact.
I recommend you add the new debt service amount and due date to your monthly payment calendar. Payment history is the No. 1 factor in FICO scoring, so be careful here. More than one consumer has fallen into the trap of forgetting about a new credit obligation in the beginning.
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Types Of Credit Inquiries
Credit reporting bureaus differentiate between two types of inquiries: hard and soft.
- Hard inquiries occur when a financial institutionlike a bank, credit card company or mortgage lenderaccesses your credit report because you are applying for credit. Hard inquiries are typically only made with your permission and are reflected in your credit score.
- Soft inquiries occur when someone accesses your credit reportbut not because you are applying for new credit. Requesting a copy of your own credit report generates a soft inquiry. Employers or landlords might also submit soft inquiries as part of their background checks. Additionally, a lender may submit a soft inquiry to provide you with personalized loan options and/or pre-approval offers. Soft inquiries can be made without your permission and are not reflected in your credit score.
At Upgrade, when you check your rate for a personal loan we perform a soft inquiry on your credit report, which does not impact your credit score. If you receive a loan through Upgrade, we will perform a hard inquiry, which may impact your credit score. A new borrower may see a small drop in their credit score when they receive a new loan, but the score typically climbs back up with time and on-time payments.
Hard Inquiry: How It Impacts Your Credit Score
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How To Opt Out Of Pre
If you prefer not to receive pre-approved credit card offers, federal law allows you to opt out for five years at a time. To do that, you can either call 888-5-OPT-OUT or visit www.optoutprescreen.com. You can also opt out of pre-approved insurance offers.
It’s also possible to opt out permanently, starting at the website above. After you make your request online, you need to fill out, sign, and return a permanent opt-out election form.
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What If Ive Had Too Many Inquiries
Dont stress if too many credit inquiries have reduced your credit score. This factor carries less weight than others when calculating your overall score. Though credit inquiries may stay in your file 3-6 years, depending on the credit bureau, their impact on your credit score lessens with time. From now on, limit your credit applications to those that are essential and your score will creep back up over time.
Rating of 5/5 based on 8 votes.
Pay Off Some Of Your Debts
The second most important factor that makes up your FICO score is the amount of debt you owe in relation to your credit limits, or your credit utilization. This factor makes up another 30% of your FICO score, so you have the potential to improve your credit if you take debt repayment seriously.
Most experts suggest keeping your credit utilization below 30% for the best results, which would mean maintaining balances of $3,000 or less for every $10,000 in open credit available to you.
Fortunately, paying off debt comes with other benefits. Yes, you can boost your credit score, but you can also save money on interest and free up cash you can use to save or invest.
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Should You Apply For Multiple Credit Cards At Once
Simply put, no. This is a bad idea. It might make sense to apply for more than one job at a time, but thats not the way to go with credit cards. You should pursue credit cards strategically.
Of course, this doesnt mean you cant have more than one credit card. Youll just want to take your time and space out your acquisitions. If you get rejected for a card, pause to figure out why and then take steps to address the suspected weak spots. Once youve had time to improve your credit, consider trying again.
How To Increase Your Odds Of Being Approved
Wait! How can you be sure that you will be approved? Didnt I just say there are no guarantees? I did, but there are actions you can take to increase your chances of being approved when you need or want to take on new credit.
You do this by paying your bills on time and as agreed each and every month because you know that payment history is important to your score. You also keep an eye on how much of your available credit you have used and keep that number below 25 percent across the board . You dont close old accounts without a good reason to preserve your length of credit history. You have a healthy mix of both revolving and installment accounts to demonstrate your ability to handle both variable and fixed payments.
This also means you need to be careful not to apply for too much credit at one time. An increase in your credit score may lead you to think you need to strike while the iron is hot and get every credit card you can while you can. This is a strategy that will cause a lot more harm than good, so it should be avoided at all costs.
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