Any reason to keep different "types" of credit cards?

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpeirce >>I'm not sure I follow you. It's an example of what exactly?

Yeah, I should have mentioned that the Visa card was placed on "Hold" until after the phone call. Now, had I been in a "out of service" area, I would have missed the call and would have had the same experience the next time I tried to use the card.

I have since changed this procedure to an e-mail and a text message notification. (We have used that twice since and I like it a lot better.) This way if I "miss the call," I have a saved copy that I can respond to.

But, in any event, I was just sayin.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonBoyd ?? Here is another example: We were in a Safeway store in Pacifica (California) a couple months ago. When we checked out, our Capital One Visa card was declined. What a surprise! This card has a fairly high 5 figure limit and has always been paid in full each month. No problem, I simply pulled out a Citi MasterCard... it too was declined. Panic was starting to set in as many scenarios rumbled around in my mind -- visions of drained accounts and such. Okay, lets try American Express. That was accepted. (The total was around $80, BTW) A couple hours later, I received a phone call from Capital One asking to confirm my last three charges. (This is a common occurrence since we travel quite a bit and my purchases have no logical explanation -- in their opinion.) Anyway, this Safeway charge was among the questionable transactions. I told the operator that one was not authorized. She said there was no problem since it had been declined by the bank. When I asked why, she explained that particular Safeway store was one of those in which (alleged) employees had attached a device that captures CC data. Apparently, AMEX was just not up to speed. Anyway, having multiple cards would not have changed things but it did give piece of mind that at least we still had access to funds... at least, for that moment.

wow!

[mickj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 I pared ours down awhile ago and will be again. Too much available credit can be bad for your score if you care about that. I no longer see a need for our Fidelity Amex, which apparently will go away anyway. Will keep the Fidelity Visa and Marriott Visa (our oldest). Will cancel the Chase Sapphire; we prefer the straight cash back from Fidelity and will also get rid of one more annual fee.

I don't believe too much credit can hurt your score. It is much more about your credit utilization.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickj I don't believe too much credit can hurt your score. It is much more about your credit utilization.

Yeah, singing to the choir:

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