Credit cards are at the heart of the business and everyone needs to have credit cards in today’s world. Their worth is derived from what they can do for you. Most people will agree that credit cards have a huge role to play in your lives since they bring the following comforts to their users.
- Credit cards can be more portable and easier to carry wherever you go when compared to cash.
- They are online friendly and payments can be made easily using them towards bills, tickets, even your groceries and market bills.
- Many credit cards come with a lot of rewards and discounts.
- Some of these credit cards also help the individual in building up a credit score that helps the individual in the long run.
- Credit cards can make your travel and purchases cheaper by paying you cashbacks.
One in a million might have a reason different than the ones given above for having a credit card.
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How many credit cards should you have in US?
One of the most debatable questions of all time will be this one. If someone asks you, how many credit cards you need, your answer will vary from the person next to you surely.
The problem people cite for not using one credit card is that not all credit cards cover all the benefits.
Therefore, the most standard answer will be three- most people try to manage with three credit cards.
- One with good travel benefits
- Another for building credit scores
- A third for making purchases, getting discounts, and gathering points for the process.
Some would even argue that just one is enough.
However, in that case, a single credit card cannot just cover all the three widely varying points. Credit cards grow their customer list by merely targeting different groups of people. Some target travel, others target credit score growth and most of them prefer rewards and discounts.
How many credit cards does the average American have?
An average American has four credit cards as per a consumer review done by Experian in 2019. Of course, if you have more credit cards, you can have more rewards, points, and discounts yourself.
But as a consumer, it is wise to remember that the more the number of credit cards, the more risks of forgetting payment of credit card bills on time which could lead to additional charges on your account.
Having or choosing the right mix of credit cards is essential and even if an average American has four credit cards, it does not mean that is the ideal number. You could have less or more depending on your needs.
Also Read: Can you use credit card with Cash App?
Is it bad to have a lot of credit cards with zero balance?
Having too many zero-balance credit cards is a good way to generate positive information for your credit reports as all of these credit card accounts are zero balance accounts.
It also is beneficial as your credit utilization ratio will improve and that is a good sign for your credit scores.
- But there is a catch in this scenario and that is if you open all the credit card accounts within a short span from each other. That way your credit score will decline due to the contributing hard inquiries and that can be a blow for the customer. Evenly spacing your zero balance account opening can help you immensely.
- If you cannot keep a track of the zero balance credit cards, it might harm your credit scores.
- When you can’t pay their credit balances on time it might be an issue for zero balance credit cards.
Also read: Truist Credit card Application Guide [Pre Approval Process]
FAQs (Frequently Asked Question)
How many credit cards should you have to build credit?
Possibly yes, two credit cards will help build the credit score faster only if you remember paying your bills on time.
How many credit cards should you have to buy a house?
Credit cards are not a priority when buying houses but yes, if you want to pay for your house then buy a credit card that has a higher upper limit as that will help you to pay your home loans and with payment of different other bills
Conclusion
Just one credit card is more than enough but if you want to have more, remember that on-time bill payments are essential for maintaining a healthy credit score. Read more about the credit card essentials here.
