Credit cards solve our needs and each time, we need to get back to something lighter and more portable. If we want to apply for a credit card, several factors play a role in it. Your annual income, debt habits, and credit scores play primary roles in your credit card approval.
But mostly all of these credit cards can also make your life difficult if you do not end up paying them off on time.
Too many of them can mean too many bills to handle and each of them has to be paid on time. But for that people have to remember the credit card they used to make the payments.
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How often can you apply for a credit card?
It is here that people with a lot of credit cards question how many credit cards are considered a good number? More than one, yes, but how many can be the right number. According to many surveys, three seems to be the number of choices.
Next, people want to ask how often can you go ahead and apply for a credit card? Can you apply for two or three credit cards in a month or once each year? The frequency of the credit card application is important as well, since that too, has a role to play.
If you apply for a credit card too often, you can even be rejected as there are certain laws or regulations per se that govern even the process of lending.
The best frequency for a credit card application is mostly twice a year. You could either drop a credit card and pick a new one or apply for an additional new credit card altogether.
How long to wait between credit card applications?
Frequent credit card applications can create an air of doubt about you rather than putting you at ease. Credit card owners might start seeing you as a dubious bet and reject you outrightly.
What is the best thing you can do before you apply for another credit card? Give it half a year or more so, a full year before going for the next credit card application.
There are certain take-home messages you need to consider before filing a credit card application.
- Your credit scores could be damaged if you applied too many times for a credit card in a year.
- Credit cards are good for maintaining a good credit score and yet, you must keep a low balance on your credit cards for the purpose.
- You might need to see if there are some restrictions on frequent credit card applications from some companies before filing your application.
- If you were recently denied a credit card, you might want to reconsider applying as it can prevent you from getting the application approval.
How long should I wait to apply for another credit card?
The best duration is 6 months to a year before you apply for another credit card. There are multiple different types of credit cards in store for people- store credit cards, Mastercards, VISA, and AmEx and credit building credit cards. Credit cards are of two types- secured credit cards and unsecured credit cards.
Secured credit cards will mean a lot of different types of fees but are good for building credit scores. Those who already have a steady credit card can go for an unsecured credit card. These come with a lot of rewards and discounts including points and fees.
If you want to go for store credit cards that are not Mastercards or VISA credit cards, you can apply within six months.
Or else, it is always good to wait for one year before applying for a credit card.
Also read: How Often can you Apply for a Credit Card [Latest Guide]
Why to wait between credit card application?
There are a lot of reasons why one needs to wait between credit card applications, some of them being;
- Credit card companies can take your credit card application as a red flag if you apply too often for credit cards
- As per FICO (Fair, Isaac, and Company), a person with more than six inquiries could be eight times more susceptible to declaring bankruptcy.
Exception: People with the best credit scores, a high annual income, and a good debt habit can get away with frequent credit card applications.
- By applying all too often, you might miss some of the credit offers that come with many credit cards only when someone applies for them at a 6 12, or 24-month interval.
- A hard pull on your credit scores could impact your credit scores negatively and that could be disastrous if you just have the right credit scores.
- Applying for credit cards before essential processes like mortgage and other stuff could raise doubts.
Does applying for multiple credit cards affect credit?
Applying for multiple credit cards affects your credit scores deeply and that is because each credit card application ensues a formal inquiry into your credit history. It also means that there will be a hard pull on your credit card scores every time you apply for a credit card which might not be the right thing for you.
A hard pull means a credit score loss and that can be depleting if just have enough scores for yourself.
Is it bad to have a lot of credit cards with zero balance?
Having a lot of credit cards with zero balance is a good move to improve your credit scores. Too many zero-balance credit cards will show a positive impression on your credit report. It will be because all of these accounts will be current and that will serve you good.
It also results in a low utilization ratio of your credits and that could reflect in a good way in your credit card.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
How much does your credit score go down when you apply for a credit card?
FICO states that there are two criteria under which a new credit card application is measured.
- New Credit will include the duration between your old and new credit account as well as your recent application. It will make up almost 10% of your FICO scores.
- The credit history length will also come into effect and it would incorporate the oldest credit account age and your newest credit account age which makes up almost 15% of your credit scores.
Based on this 25% of your FICO scores, your credit scores for a year will go down by almost 5 points or less than that. It will also depend on your credit habits and also on your annual income.
How often can you apply for a credit card without hurting your credit?
The best practice or the thumb rule to set could be one credit card in a year or two-year span. Since your credit scores come down only for a year, you can try for another credit card in a year. Within that one year, you need to ensure to pay your bills on time, not use too much credit and keep open the credit cards.
How many credit cards can you apply for in one day?
In one day, you can just apply for one credit card and it would be wise to apply for another the next year.
Is it OK to apply for multiple credit cards at the same time?
If your credit scores are 750 or more than that, you can go ahead and apply for more than one credit card at a time. When they do a hard pull on your credit scores, you will still have a good amount of credit scores in your account.
Can you apply for 2 credit cards in one month?
If your credit scores are more than 750+, you can go ahead and apply for credit cards as that can reduce your credit scores by a maximum of 10 points and that should still not hurt your credit scores in general.
Conclusion
If you want to learn more about credit cards and the way you can take them, read this informative article for every information you want. Here we talk about the length of time you must wait between putting forth two credit card applications with a certain time gap between the two. Also learn what happens when you don’t give a gap between the two cards.
