If you have a high credit card balance, the best move might be to consider
opening a new card with a zero percent introductory rate.
How disappointing to go to the trouble
of opening a new card only to find you can't use it for the thing you most wanted to use it for.
Do
not open new cards if you plan on applying for a mortgage or loan within 2 years since scores may drop substantially after opening new credit.
You can accomplish this
by opening a new card prior to (or even soon after) cancelling your existing card.
I
regularly open new cards for the initial bonus air miles and book free trips but you have to use the cards wisely and cancel before annual fees start piling up.
The ABA found consumers with prime and subprime credit scores
opened new cards at their most sluggish pace in three years.
So that means you'll likely be using whatever pre-existing reward cards you have or, perhaps, waiting to
open new cards until after your mortgage has been approved.
Besides temporarily lowering your score for each application you submit,
opening a new card lowers the average length of your credit history — which is an important factor in your credit score.
Once it increases or you become comfortable with
opening a new card due to expanded resources, you can move on to Step 6.
However, many of the
consumers opening new cards are subprime cardholders who previously had a hard time qualifying for credit in the first several years after the Great Recession.
The major credit card issuing banks have all made it more difficult to earn sign up bonuses
when opening new cards.
But what if you were given the chance to
open a new card with the agreement that you'd pay off an old debt?
Sure, it can be lucrative to
open new cards for hefty sign - up bonuses, but that could also mean a higher mortgage rate.
Tip # 3: If you've
just opened a new card, the easiest way to get a jump on your points is to bank your introductory bonus!
The exception to this rule is if you have to close one card to
open a new card as part of a CCC round of applications.
«It reflects the bank's belief that customers who
frequently open new cards are less profitable, because they tend to move on to the next hot product after a few months,» he said.
While a request for an increased limit may count as an inquiry just
like opening a new card would, it won't reduce the average age of your credit accounts, which is also important for your FICO score.
She and her
husband open a new card, earn the sign - up bonus through their everyday spending, redeem the points and then close the card before the annual fee kicks in, a strategy known as credit card churning.
First of all, if we have
recently opened a new card and there is a minimum spending requirement to earn a signup bonus, we will put all of our spending on that card until meeting the minimum.
However, they remain more generous than similar language from Chase (which prevents you from
opening new cards altogether) or American Express (which will never let you get the same bonus again).
Opening a new card also increases your total credit history (the number of data points available for creditors to gauge your credit - worthiness).