tonrob

I don't know for sure but I think this might not matter. My credit limits for individual acccounts go up and down like a bride's nightie during the course of any given year as I trade off limits with credit card company's approval teams in order to get new cards approved. I also have some high balances recorded as well I work to meet sign-up bonuses on the cards - so if this was an issue I think it would have jumped up and bitten me before now.

I apply for anywhere between 10-15 cards each year and seldom get declined.

Michael

At any given time, revolving debt to credit limit can be high or low causing your credit score to go up and down. Usually these temporary moves have little or no effect but if you were to apply for a loan for a home or a car, your credit score at the time it is taken can have an effect on the interest rate that you'll be paying. Therefore it is advisable to pay off or reduce the amount owed on credit cards about a month prior to applying for a loan.

Canceling a credit card can also reduce your credit score if you don't pay off balances monthly or if a new credit is not acquired to replace the cancelled credit card since the debt to credit limit will increase permanently if the same balance is maintained.

Bink

But I'm guessing your total credit limit stays constant and that you're merely trading limits between cards from the same provider?

It has a much more profound affect when you have a low credit limit. I spent much of the first year of having a secured credit card with my credit score fluctuating up and down every time I used the card. Now, I have a much higher total credit limit it hardly affects it. There are certain percentages ranges of credit to debt ratio that they use and within those ranges it doesn't affect your credit score. I think 90% or above is considered maxing out your credit.

The small changes don't appear to have any longstanding affect on the credit score though. I also think it depends on if your score is checked during that time - I monitor my score quite closely so see these changes but I suspect if I didn't they wouldn't appear.

Tonrob - How do you apply for so many cards without it killing your credit score due to hard hits on your credit? Since each hard hit lasts two years - this has actually limited how high my credit score can go, it hasn't made it a bad score however.

hungryhorace

Just as a quick tip, i'm sure others are aware of this, but i'll list in just in case they're not: if you're an AMEX customer in the UK for >=12 months, you can simply switch your account (along with its credit history) to AMEX, US.

I'm going to do this with my Platinum AMEX card when I relocate in a months time. The thought of having an inferior credit card in the US, when I am used to the very best CC's here in the UK is something I don't want to even think about.

bah

I'd be interested to hear how that works out in terms of improving your (non existent) US credit history as I'm planning to do the same in ~2 months time. I'm used to being able to apply for (and be accepted for) most credit cards (and the awesome sign up bonuses) in the UK.