Does having more than one credit card help your credit score?

I have a credit card but recently got accepted for another card with a higher balance. If I keep both credit cards but only use one of them, will it help any with making my credit score higher?

Public Comments

1. if you are paying each card in full when it is due or better yet befor it is due it can only help but your credit score is more than credit card related it also contains payment history for your other bills as well auto loans rent utilites any one who reports to the credit companies. USE YOUR CREDIT WISELY AND IT CAN WORK FOR YOU!!
2. no, having a credit card does not help your score. Having a credit card that you use AND pay off the balance in full every month greatly increases your score. When trying to improve your score you want to use the card but keep the balance below the maximum. For example, if your card has a $1000 limit do not go over 800. One of the most important things to do is to pay your bill on time every time, but paying your minimum balance will not do a tremendous amount for your score. Paying your entire balance on time will go a long way towards improving your score. By paying your balance off every month you improve your score and it is like getting a big discount on things you buy because you wont be paying all that interest.
3. There are a number of things that effect your credit score, and the number of you cards is one such thing -- though not how you might think. Really what lenders want to see is if you have different kinds of credit and how much debt you have on your accounts. Usually they take a percentage average over your accounts or calculate what they call your debt-to-credit ratio. The more available credit you have on your accounts versus how much debt you have, the better your score will be. So the trick here is two fold. You want to have varied credit, but you want as a high an available balance as possible. The card with the higher balance at first is going to boost your score because you have more available credit, but later if you keep it open you'll see that the added credit history will contribute to your score too! When you're trying to build a solid credit score it's important to get a comprehensive view of what is actually effecting it... Your Credit Score (also known as your MyFico score) is calculated with the following breakdown: * 35% -> History of Payments * 30% -> Debt to Credit Ratio (available credit) * 15% -> Credit History (length of open accounts) * 10% -> New Credit (are you expanding your credit) * 10% -> Credit Types in Use (varied credit types from loans to credit cards) If you excel in one area and lack in another, only fixing the areas which you lack are going to improve your score. Here are my 10 steps you can use to build your credit score quickly. I raised mine to well over 700 points fro 500 using these steps in less than a year: 1. Know and Track Your Credit Score (be sure to sign up for the free trial of your credit score monitoring listed on the article below. It really helped my get my score up.) 2. Never Miss a Payment, Starting Today 3. Never use more than 20% of your Available Credit 4. Keep Credit Cards that Have No Annual Fees Open For as Long as Possible 5. Extend Your Credit Limit on Cards You Already Have before You Get New Ones 6. Get Credit Cards that Have CashBack Rewards to Contribute to your Balance 7. Transfer Your Balance to a Credit Card with a Lower Interest Rate and a Higher Available Credit- 8. If You Think You Are Going to be FORCED to Pay a Bill Late Ask for an Extension or Payment Plan 9. Take out a Small Personal Loan and Repay it Over a Year 10. Ask Someone With Good Credit if They will Account Shadow you You can read more about these tips on my blog: How Can I Increase My Credit Score * http://millionster.com/articles/debt/increase-fico-credit-score/ Hope I was able to help you understand your situation better.. Good luck =)
4. its good you got accepted just make sure you pay the minimum balance every month even though you wont use one of them. you ideally need to have at least 2 active accounts (hp, credit cards etc) opened to at least 36 months this should help as i recently got my credit report and score and read the notes that came with it. i would advise you get the report done
5. if you pay the monthly due you will help your credit score but don't let the balance more than 50% of your limit. credit limit is a loan with higher interest. so you need to play right game. now credit card are offering 0% INTRO APR for balance transfer to attract new customer. so take advantage of this but just remember nobody give something fro nothing there must be a catch. so watch out for that. if you know what you are doing it will help you so much by having good loan with lower rate than all of the loan out there.
6. Not necessarily. The only thing that makes your credit score good is if you pay your balance in full and on time each month.