What are the reasons to get more than one credit card?

Question

I currently have one credit card, and I was thinking of applying for another one since my current card is Amex, and not many stores support that, so I'm thinking of getting a Visa or Mastercard one.

Aside from the said reason, what other benefits or reasons are there to consider getting more than one credit card?

Take note that this is not about switching to a lower interest rate credit card, but it's about holding and using separate cards simultaneously. I've seen some people with lots of credits cards but never fully understood why they needed more than 2 or 3.

Answer 1

• In case one card is rejected for a payment, whether for a valid or invalid reason
• In case one card company suffers an IT failure and that card can't be used at all
• So that on holiday you can carry one card with you and keep the other in your hotel safe, and you won't be left without means of payment if your wallet is stolen
• To get a higher credit limit than one card alone will give you

Answer 2

In the case of reward cards, different cards may offer different rewards for different kind of purchases.

For example, in the UK, one of the Amex cards offers 1.25% cashback on all purchases, whereas one of the Santander cards offers 3% on fuel, 2% or 1% on certain other transactions, and nothing on others. Of course, you then have to remember to use the right card!

Another reason is that a person may use a card for a while, build up a good credit limit, and then move to a different card (perhaps because it has better rewards, or a lower interest rate, etc) without cancelling the first.

If it costs nothing to keep the first card, then it can be useful to have it as a spare.

Answer 3

Another reason is that the amount of unused credit you have is a positive factor on your credit score. It's generally easier to open several different accounts for $X dollars each with different banks than to get your current bank to raise your limit severalfold in a single go. Your current bank has to worry about why you suddenly are asking for a large additional amount of credit; while other banks will be willing to offer you smaller amounts of credit in the hope that you transfer your business from your current bank to them.

Answer 4

A friend of mine has two credit cards. He has specifically arranged with the card issuers so that the billing cycles are 15 days out of sync. He uses whichever card has more recently ended its billing cycle, which gives him the longest possible time between purchase and the due date to avoid interest.

Answer 5

I have a fair number of cards floating around some reasons I have opened multiple accounts.

• Sign up bonuses which range from $100 to $500. I am not generally interested in bonuses less than $250
• When a card gets locked because of fraud having a couple of cards makes life much easier. I don't use cash and don't want to deal with my bank over an issue with a debit card so I never use a debit card.
• More credit across more cards diminishes the affects of high utilization on a single card. Particularly when carrying a bunch of 0% balances. There used to be significant arbitrage opportunities with 0% offers that don't currently exist right now.

I am not saying that it is for everyone but there are valid scenarios where multiple credit cards can make sense.

Answer 6

Many reasons mentioned already. The reason why I have multiple is missing:

I have a personal card for my private use and a company card for company use.

Answer 7

Another good reason: if you have to replace a card due to damage, loss, or identity theft it's nice to have a backup you can use until the new card for your primary account arrives.

I know folks who use a secondary card for online purchases specifically so they can kill it if necessary without impacting their other uses, online arguably being at more risk.

If there's no yearly fee, and if you're already paying the bill in full every month, a second card/account is mostly harmless. If you have trouble restraining yourself with one card, a second could be dangerous.

Answer 8

• When you travel abroad, some places only take one type of card, so carry multiple cards (e.g. carry a Visa and Mastercard)
• One for work expenses so they don't get mixed up with personal

Answer 9

3 reasons I can think of:

1. I once worked for a bank and when credit scoring for loans, if you had been approved by different institutions, you were given a better score. So if you held a Visa and Mastercard (as opposed to two Visa cards) your credit score would go higher. More than 6 cards though looked suspicious and your score would take a big hit.

2. Having more than card has helped me when getting special offers multiple times from some websites where it was limited to "one per customer" though most just used your address or email account.

3. If you owed $1000 in total which you can't pay off in one go, it is better to have that split across two cards. You would be paying interest on $500 on each card but when you have one card paid off, the interest you would be paying on the other would be based on the original debt to that one card of $500 (not $1000). I hope that makes sense.

Answer 10

1- To max out rewards. I have 5 different credit cards, one gives me 5% back on gas, another on groceries, another on Amazon, another at restaurants and another 2% on everything else. If I had only one card, I would be missing out on a lot of rewards. Of course, you have to remember to use the right card for the right purchase.

2- To increase your credit limit. One card can give you a credit limit of $5,000, but if you have 4 of them with the same limits, you have increased your purchasing power to $20,000. This helps improve your credit score. Of course, it's never a good idea to owe $20,000 in credit card debt.

Answer 11

I keep one card just for monthly bills (power company,car loan, etc.). This one is unlikely to get hacked so I won't have to go change the credit card information on my monthly bills. I pay the credit card from my bank account. I just don't want a lot of businesses with direct access to my bank account.

Answer 12

Someone mentioned sign up bonuses but only mentioned dollar values. You might get points, sweet, sweet airline points :) which some might find compelling enough to churn cards so they always have a few open.

Answer 13

I got a Capital One credit card because they don't charge a fee for transactions in foreign currencies. So I only use it when I travel abroad. At home, I use 3 different credit cards, each offering different types of rewards (cash back on gas, movies, restaurants, online shopping etc).

Answer 14

There is almost no reason to get a second credit card - this is a very good arrangement for your creditor but not for you.

Credit cards have high rates of interest which you have to pay unless you pay the credit off every month. Therefore, increasing your total credit capacity should not be your concern.

Since internet technology lets you pay off your balance in minutes online, there is no reason to have multiple cards in order to avoid running out of a balance.

If, on the other hand, you do not pay your existing card off every month, than getting another card can be even more dangerous, since you're increasing the amount of debt you take on.

I'd say at most it would make sense for you to grab a basic VISA, since most places do not accept AMEX. I would also considering cancelling the AMEX if you get the VISA, for reasons above.