Hi! I am a new user of this forum and not sure if this kind of similar questions has been asked before or if it would be relevant in this forum…I understand in order to take advantages of obtaining the bonus points from credit cards, we need to apply for them however every time a person applying for credit cards will need to be credit checked and in order not to have major impacts on the personal credit history when it comes to time to apply for other loans e.g. car loans and mortgages, how many credit card application/approval/credit limit per year is generally deem to be a safe range?
This is a good question but I don’t think anyone really has a factual/specific answer. What is safe for you may not be safe for me.
Credit file/score is a ‘mysterious’ subject. Many experience ‘Point Hackers’ still don’t understand the subject fully as the way credit score is assessed is not publicly publicized.
If you are interested to learn more, check out this Point Hack link on Managing Credit.
You could also check/gauge your credit score before each application from websites such as creditsavvy.com.au or getcreditscore.com.au. Bear in mind, it takes some time for the score to update and reflect any changes.
as w-hiew says it is a mystery. what is known is that different credit card providers have different criteria in assessing card applications. in fact different providers use different credit rating agencies.
As per the previous comments, the lending criteria differs between the institutions so there’s no hard & fast rule. Factors include the amount of secured and unsecured lending you have already, your payment history, assets, cash reserves (savings), income and so on.
I prefer to have a max of 2 active (open) credit cards at any one time and ensure the credit limit provided is the minimum required for the card in question. One thing I try to avoid is multiple credit inquiries in a short period e.g. more than 2-3 applications within any 6 month period.
You can also obtain your Veda file for free via email which shows you all inquiries; however this is generally only necessary when you have an issue or discrepancy. I don’t think the financial institutions tend not to tell you the reason if for declinal so your credit file is probably a good next step.
Agree with previous commenters. Best method I’ve found is to check your credit score, and keep a record of it and the date, then check it again periodically. You can do this for free via Veda’s https://www.getcreditscore.com.au website. This will let you see if it’s tracking up or down in response to how many applications you do. I have found 2-3 to be easily manageable and see your score continue to slowly improve, however when applications are made in quick succession it can drag you down, so try to space things out.