Is it okay to apply for 2 credit cards in the same month?
Key takeaways
As a general rule, you don't want to act in a way that will make potential lenders leery of investing in you. For these reasons, we recommend waiting at least six months between applications if you have a good to excellent credit score (FICO scores of 690 or higher), and up to a year otherwise.
Each hard inquiry can cause your credit score to drop by a few points. There's no such thing as “too many” hard inquiries, but multiple credit inquiries within a short window of time can suggest that you might be a risky borrower.
What is the 5/24 rule? Many card issuers have criteria for who can qualify for new accounts, but Chase is perhaps the most strict. Chase's 5/24 rule means that you can't be approved for most Chase cards if you've opened five or more personal credit cards (from any card issuer) within the past 24 months.
Since hard inquiries affect your credit score and what is found may even affect approval, you might be wondering: How many inquiries is too many? The answer differs from lender to lender, but most consider six total inquiries on a report at one time to be too many to gain approval for an additional credit card or loan.
As a general rule, wait at least three to six months between credit card applications. By waiting this long, the applications shouldn't have too much of an impact on your credit score.
Generally, it's a good idea to wait about six months between credit card applications.
If you find a loan within 30 days, the inquiries won't affect your score while you're rate shopping. The credit-scoring model recognizes that many consumers shop around for the best interest rates before purchasing a car or home, and that their searching may cause multiple lenders to request their credit report.
If you're shopping for a new auto or mortgage loan or a new utility provider, the multiple inquiries are generally counted as one inquiry for a given period of time. The period of time may vary depending on the credit scoring model used, but it's typically from 14 to 45 days.
If you've recently applied for a loan, such as a car loan, mortgage or student loan, you may immediately notice a hard inquiry on your credit report — especially if you're using a credit monitoring service.
What is the golden rule of credit cards?
The golden rule of credit card use is to pay your balances in full each month. “My best advice is to use a credit card like a debit card — paying in full to avoid interest but taking advantage of credit cards' superior rewards programs and buyer protections,” says Rossman.
Owning more than two or three credit cards can become unmanageable for many people. However, your credit needs and financial situation are unique, so there's no hard and fast rule about how many credit cards are too many. The important thing is to make sure that you use your credit cards responsibly.
One of the easiest ways to check your 5/24 status is with the Experian app. You can sign up for Exprian's free credit report service, and within the app, you'll be able to sort all of your credit accounts by the date they were opened.
If you find an unauthorized or inaccurate hard inquiry, you can file a dispute letter and request that the bureau remove it from your report. The consumer credit bureaus must investigate dispute requests unless they determine your dispute is frivolous.
After that, wait a minimum of six months between credit card applications so that you have time to improve your credit before a new hard inquiry appears on your credit report. Before or during the mortgage application process: When you apply for a mortgage, lenders look closely at your debt-to-income ratio (DTI).
For many lenders, six inquiries are too many to be approved for a loan or bank card. Even if you have multiple hard inquiries on your report in a short period, you may not see negative consequences if you're shopping for a specific type of loan.
If you are looking to add more than one credit card from a bank within a short period of time, it can sometimes make sense to submit multiple applications on the same day. Note that inquiries are only combined by bank; applications for credit cards from different banks will always generate multiple inquiries.
A good rule of thumb is to wait at least six months between applications.
There's no limit to how many credit cards you can apply for in a day, but submitting multiple applications at once isn't necessarily a good idea. Applying for and opening several cards can result in hard inquiries and a lowered average age of accounts that can hurt your credit scores.
2/30 Rule. The 2/30 rule says that you can only have two applications every 30 days or else you'll automatically be rejected.
Does a declined credit card application hurt your score?
A hard inquiry from a card application can cause a small, temporary drop in credit scores. A denial or approval won't hurt your credit scores, because decisions aren't reflected in credit reports. When making lending decisions, card issuers use credit reports and credit scores to determine creditworthiness.
Having too many cards with a zero balance will not improve your credit score. In fact, it can actually hurt it. Credit agencies look for diversity in accounts, such as a mix of revolving and installment loans, to assess risk.
Unlike hard inquiries, soft inquiries won't affect your credit scores. (They may or may not be recorded in your credit reports, depending on the credit bureau.) Since soft inquiries aren't connected to a specific application for new credit, they're only visible to you when you view your credit reports.
How Do Hard Inquiries Affect Your Credit Score? Hard inquiries can have a negative impact on your credit score, in the short term at least. While a hard inquiry will stay on your credit report for two years, it will usually only impact your credit for up to a year, and usually by less than five points.
It's not much different than applying over time, as each application will pull your credit (a hard inquiry than does affect your credit score) and the effects can be multiplied if you apply for multiple cards at once.
