Should I wait for my Equifax score to recover or should I apply for another credit card?

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Looking for opinions on this. I churn a lot of credit cards. I also monitor my Equifax score and for the first time it has just slipped into the top end of the “Below Average” ranking as a result. I usually sit in the “Average” ranking. But I want a particular sign-up bonus with a certain bank on offer now. I’ve had 4 different cards from this particular bank in the past 2 years with no problems at all. which makes me think they may not take Equifax score into consideration, and I’d probably be successful. I last applied for a card (from another bank all together) 2 months ago (which was not successful). Should I roll the dice and apply again for the present sign-up bonus from this bank, or be patient and wait it out another month for my equifax score to go back up into Average, and let 3 months elapse between card applications? Opinions appreciated.

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Hi Graham,

We don’t want to veer into “financial advice” territory, which (quite rightly) makes the good people who run this website uncomfortable. But speaking in broad generalisations…

  • Applying for credit does put downward pressure on one's credit score. So one could broadly expect that applying for a credit card will lead, all things being equal, to a decrease in one's credit score.
  • The banks and CC providers probably wouldn't want me to say this, but credit card bonus point offers really are a dime a dozen. In my experience I've frequently had to pass, for one reason or another, on a bonus point offer, only to see that offer (or a better one) come up again a few months later. From my observations, the really top-rank bonus point offers have come up at least once per year per card, and generally more often.
  • People never know when they'll need to apply for credit for a genuinely important reason. If that unexpected need comes up, it's a good idea to have a good credit rating so that genuine need for credit can be met.
Speaking generally again: it does no harm to not apply for credit.
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Thanks sixtyeight!  Appreciated your response.

I really needed this particular sign up a bonus offer however for a planned trip later this year, and the fluctuation of my equifax score is not really important to me except to the extent it may interfere with CC applications, so I gave it a go anyway.   Success.  The mystery of how banks accept or decline credit card applications remains just that - a mystery. I have a history of cards with this bank, so maybe that is taken into account to have accepted my application. I hope both responses assist others in similar circumstances.

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