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Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. SHARE: Adobe Stock March 14, 2022 Checkmark Bankrate logo How is this page expert verified? At Bankrate, we take the accuracy of our content seriously. "Expert verified" means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced. Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content. Poonkulali Thangavelu is a senior writer and columnist at CreditCards.com and Bankrate, addressing debt and credit card-related legal and regulatory issues. Cathleen's stories on design, travel and business have appeared in dozens of publications including the Washington Post, Town & Country, Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Fodor’s Travel, Departures and The Writer. Mariah Ackary is a personal finance editor who joined the Bankrate team in 2019, excited by the opportunity to help people make good financial decisions. Send your questions to Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
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There are some benefits to having multiple credit cards. For one, there is the aspect. This refers to how much of your credit available you are using. For instance, if you have one card with a $5000 credit limit and you carry a $2000 balance, your credit utilization would be 40 percent. If you had the same balance and a second card offering a $2,000 credit line, your credit utilization would dip to 28.5 percent. This credit utilization factor accounts for as much as 30 percent of your credit score. And a credit utilization of under 30 percent is deemed ideal. You can see how your score might get a boost if your credit utilization goes down because you have a bigger total line of credit to draw on with two cards. Of course, this depends on your not racking up additional debt because of the additional credit available with the second card. Another advantage with two cards is that if one card is stolen or misplaced you will have a back-up card to fall back on, until your card is replaced. And you could also get complementary features in a second card, such as your one card doesn’t offer. Building credit
describes itself as specializing in credit programs that help people “looking to rebuild or .” By reporting card activity regularly to the major credit reporting bureaus, the bank provides input that could help raise your credit profile if you are a responsible card user. Considering that its target audience poses high credit risk, the bank charges steep interest rates. For its unsecured Platinum Visa card, all-in interest rates are higher than 20 percent. The card’s initial credit line ranges from $550 to $1350, which could double after seven months of responsible card use. For the privilege of being approved for a card with your bad credit status, you will be of up to $72, along with a one-time account set-up fee of $75. These fees would be directly taken off your available credit line, so that it would be $147 lower than what you are actually approved for from the outset. Linda, you will remain responsible for your Merrick Bank card if you just shred it. If you are only racking up fees on it, and don’t find it useful, you should contact the bank and ask to . Make sure to clear up any fees you have due so that your credit does not get further tarnished. And ask for a written confirmation of this cancellation. If you would like a higher credit line, you could talk to the issuer of your first card to see if it will raise it. If you have a good history with this issuer, that would be something to consider. And if you feel that you were baited with one card and switched over to a Merrick card without your knowledge, you could also with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about this. The bottom line
Having more than one credit card could help boost your credit utilization, and therefore your credit score. There are other benefits too. However, the key to credit building is not necessarily how many cards you have, but how responsibly you use them. Linda, good luck to you! Contact me at with your credit card-related questions. SHARE: Poonkulali Thangavelu is a senior writer and columnist at CreditCards.com and Bankrate, addressing debt and credit card-related legal and regulatory issues. Cathleen's stories on design, travel and business have appeared in dozens of publications including the Washington Post, Town & Country, Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Fodor’s Travel, Departures and The Writer. Mariah Ackary is a personal finance editor who joined the Bankrate team in 2019, excited by the opportunity to help people make good financial decisions. Send your questions to