Building good credit: Does it help to have various types of credit cards?

Question

I currently have two Mastercards-- one from my bank, and one from Capital One. My credit has been steadily improving. Would it help to have other cards, ie. Discover, American Express, etc??

Answer 1

As many of the answers above have pointed out, you do not need to open more credit cards to have better credit. There are other ways to build your credit like having a mortgage, paying your auto loans, taking a loan from the bank.

What having more credit cards do is simply increase your "available credit". If you do not use these cards and maintain your current expenditure, then what is does is to improve your debt to available credit ratio, which is one important component in assessing your credit score.

But having said that, you need not apply for more credit cards just to improve score, though I guess that since you only have 2, having a third one may not hurt.

Answer 2

The short answer is "no". I have only two credit cards, a mortgage and a very long history of paying on time. My credit score is 783 (well at least it was a couple months ago anyway).

It could actually hurt your credit rating by having too much credit even if you don't use it.

Here are your homework assignments :

http://money.howstuffworks.com/credit-score.htm
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/credit-scoring/20031104a1.asp
http://www.equifax.com/sitePages/mycrediteducation/index.jsp?siteGroup=home&partnerCode=

That should be enough to get you started.

Cheers,

Edward Gause
Honesty in Internet Marketing
http://honest-marketing.com

Answer 3

The short answer is No. Too many cards suggests redundancy and a tendency to overspend. To build good credit, use your card(s) wisely and pay off the balance in full, on time, every month.

I have 2 cards but use only my Frequent Flyer card and pay it off every month. The other is a backup in case the first one is lost or stolen. My credit rating is as high as they go. That's the secret, Sport!

Answer 4

The best way is to show steady on time payments. Too many cards will not improve your credit. It may harm you in the long run as they will say you are overextended

Answer 5

No more credit cards!!! Keep one paid off and don't worry about it. When you need to buy something with "good credit", put your foot down and they'll desperately sell it to you.