What happens to your credit score if you apply for multiple credit cards?

Credit Score is a score used by lenders, including Banks, for mortgage loans, credit card companies, and car dealership, which finance auto purchases. They use this score to decide whether credit should be offered (it could be a loan or a credit card) and the terms of the offer, including the down payment and interest rate.

When you apply for a credit card, it’s essential to understand what would happen to your credit score. If you already have a few, an understanding of how a credit score is calculated helps determine whether one has too many credit cards, or the few that you have are enough. If you don’t have one, & In case, you’d like to apply for credit card, its always a great idea as they serve an excellent tool for convenience and security to pay for things when you don’t have enough cash or don’t want to carry some money with you.

 Here’s a review of the critical components of one’s credit score vis-à-vis the number of credit cards you carry:

Length of Credit History:

When one has multiple credit cards, it can be tuff to manage all of them, and hence, one needs to be careful about building a responsible history of on-time payments. This will improve your score over time. 

Debt-to-Credit Ratio:

Also known as Credit Utilization, where this ratio measures the outstanding debt on your credit cards concerning your available credit. This implicates, how close you are to the credit limits on all your credit cards. Your credit utilization adds to 30% of your credit score. The ratio harms your score if it exceeds 30%.

New Credit:

When one requests for a new credit account, the creditor will make an inquiry on your credit report & that will cause your credit score to drop a few points & it will again drop when the account gets opened. 

Type of Credit:

Credit bureaus generally want to see how they manage debt across different types of credit accounts. Ideally, your credit portfolio should consist of retail accounts, a mix of credit cards, auto loans, installment loans, or a mortgage.

History of Payments:

One of the most significant factors as this takes into account all the monthly payments from all your debt, but credit card payments happen to be the most significant variable. Credit Card companies don’t show a lot of mercy when you don’t make in time payments and don’t fail to report you to the credit bureaus in case of delays.

What is a Credit Inquiry?

A credit “inquiry” is a review of your credit profile, but only so-called “hard inquiries” can influence your credit score. A hard credit inquiry occurs when you apply for a credit card or a loan, and it will bide on your credit report for almost up to two years, even though it may generally not hurt your score after six months. A small portion of your credit score is determined by how recently you have applied for credit. 

Do you know what happens to your credit score when you apply for too many credit cards?

too many credit card
  •  If you apply for credit card multiple times, it can damage your credit scores. A single application may bring down a few points off your credit score, but multiple applications for cards could suggest you are a riskier borrower than someone who applies less often. 
  • Another thing to note here is that if you have a short credit history and you add too many credit cards, it will reduce the average age of your credit account & can impact the credit score. It can be primarily daunting if you are trying to build a good credit score. 
  • One way to establish credit is by getting a credit card, but you have to use it responsibly. To get a card, one has to apply, and people can and do get multiple credit cards. The best way to do it is to apply strategically for the right cards and space out all the applications.
  • An applicant with a higher credit score and a long history of on-time payments is unlikely to lose as many points, compared to the one who has a lower score & a shorter and imperfect track record. 
  • The points which are lost due to credit card applications return in 6 months if one is planning to apply for a loan for, home or property, it will be a good practice to not apply for another credit for at least six months before that loan’s final approval.

Read on to know if you should apply for a credit card multiple times or not. Also, do you know what happens to your credit score then? Having multiple credit cards can hurt your credit score under any of the following conditions: 


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