• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

National Debt Relief

National Debt Relief - A+ BBB Accredited Business - Get Relief From Credit Card Debt, Medical Bills And Unsecured Loans

Talk to a debt counselor toll free:

800-300-9550

Get Relief From Credit Card Debt

Medical Bills and Unsecured Loans

  • Apply Now
    • Qualifications
    • Is This Right For Me?
  • Proven Results
    • Debt Relief Benefits
    • Credit Card Debt Relief
  • Debt Relief
  • Credit Card Debt Relief
  • Debt Consolidation
  • Login
HomeBlog BlogNever Apply For More Than One Credit Card At The Same Time
Video Transcript

Free Debt Consolidation Quote

By clicking "Get Free Quote", you agree that the phone number you are providing may be used to contact you by National Debt Relief (including autodialed and prerecorded calls, as well as text/SMS messages). Msg. and data rates apply, and your consent to such contact is not required for purchase.
  • National Debt Relief, LLC BBB Business Review
  • McAfee SECURE sites help keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams

Never Apply For More Than One Credit Card At The Same Time

February 17, 2013 by National Debt Relief

Long line of credit cards (generic)What is a simple three-digit number that rules your financial life? It’s your credit score. These scores go from 300 to 850. As you might guess, the closer you are to 850, the better. Conversely, the lower your score, the harder it will be for you to borrow money, get a credit card or an auto loan, rent an apartment or buy a house. If you have a really low score, you’ll might even have to pay more for your auto insurance.

The five parts of your credit score

The whole idea of a credit score was created a company that was once known as the Fair Isaac Corporation but is now just FICO. How it computes credit scores is a very closely guarded secret. However it is known that there are five parts to a credit score. They are as follows:

Payment history: 35%
Credit utilization: 30%
Length of credit history: 15%
Types of credit used: 10%
Recent searches for credit: 10%

What this means

As you can see from these percentages, your payment history and credit utilization have the biggest impact on your credit score. Payment history is basically how well you’ve used credit – have you had any late payments or defaults – or have you always make your payments on time. The 30% for credit utilization is a bit harder to explain. It’s basically the ratio between the total amount of credit available to you and the amount you’ve utilized. A simple example of this would be if you had $10,000 of credit available but had balances totaling $2,000. In this case, you would have a credit utilization ratio of 20%, which would be considered very good.

Recent searches for credit

FICO divide searches for credit (credit applications) into two types. There are hard searches and soft searches. Hard searches are those where you actually applied for some type of credit such as a credit card. Soft searches are those that were initiated by someone seeking to give you credit. For example, when a credit card company searches your credit because it wants to offer you a “pre-approved” card, this is a soft search.

Every hard search results in a ding

Here comes the reason why you shouldn’t apply for multiple credit cards within a short amount of time. It’s because every time you apply for a new type of credit, whether it’s a credit card, a revolving line of credit or an auto loan, this reduces your credit score by three to five points. If you were to apply for four types of credit within a month, this could reduce your credit score by 20 points, which might drop you into a new, lower credit range.

Wait at least six months

If you’ve recently applied for any type of credit, you should wait at least six months before you apply for more. While it might be tempting to apply for a couple of those credit cards that come with cash back and great rewards, it’s much better for your credit score to apply for just one at a time.

Multiple types of credit

If your goal is to build a good credit score, there’s not much you can do about the length of your credit history. It is what it is. However, when you add new credit, you should apply as much as possible for different types – a credit card, an auto loan, maybe a personal line of credit. As you have seen, this represents 10% of your credit score and is an area you could actually influence.

Do you qualify for debt consolidation?

National Debt Relief
National Debt Relief

National Debt Relief is one of the largest and best-rated debt settlement companies in the country. In addition to providing excellent, 5-star services to our clients, we also focus on educating consumers across America on how to best manage their money. Our posts cover topics around personal finance, saving tips, and much more. We’ve served thousands of clients, settled over $1 billion in consumer debt, and our services have been featured on sites like NerdWallet, Mashable, HuffPost, and Glamour.

Follow National Debt Relief: Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin

Primary Sidebar

Consolidate Your Debt!
Find out how NDR could help.
  • Get one low monthly payment
  • Avoid bankruptcy
  • Get out of debt in 24-48 months
Get Your Free evaluation
Free Debt Consolidation Quote
By clicking "Get Free Quote", you agree that the phone number you are providing may be used to contact you by National Debt Relief (including autodialed and prerecorded calls, as well as text/SMS messages). Msg. and data rates apply, and your consent to such contact is not required for purchase.
 Trusted By Our Clients

"So far - it’s been amazing!"

I am saving money per month and paying down my debt faster then ever. Tatiana T. was very helpful during the entire process. Can’t wait to fast forward to 4 yrs and be debt free!! What a wonderful feeling that must be. Thank you for existing to help people, National Debt Relief!!

Trustpilot star rating Trustpilot star rating Trustpilot star rating Trustpilot star rating Trustpilot star rating

Birsen Memet
ConsumerAffairs Reviews

Latest Blog Posts

  • How To Write The Perfect Salary Negotiation Email
  • How To Go Back to School as an Adult
  • Is It the Right Time to Ask for Raise?
  • How To Turn A Summer Gig Into A Full Time Job
  • Debt Consolidation: 7 Tips on How to Pay Debt Off
National Debt Relief, LLC BBB Business Review AFCC Top Ten Reviews Gold Top Consumer Reviews Consumers Advocate Trust Pilot
Company
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  • Careers
  • Corporate
  • Privacy Policies
  • Terms Of Site
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
Products
  • Debt Relief
  • Credit Card Debt Relief
  • Debt Consolidation
  • Debt Settlement
  • Calculators
  • FAQs
Debt Resources
  • Credit Card Debt
  • Medical Debt
  • Personal Loan Debt
  • Unemployment
  • Divorce Debt
  • Retiree Debt
  • Veteran Debt
  • Business Debt
  • Personal Finance
Follow Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

© 2021, National Debt Relief, All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Disclaimer