Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. We may earn a commission from partner links on Newsweek, but commissions do not affect our editors’ opinions or evaluations.

How Many Credit Cards Should I Have?

Aaron Hurd

Aaron is a freelance contributor to Newsweek. He has been credit card and travel rewards enthusiast since applying for his first credit card the day he turned 18. An avid deal-hunter, he leveraged his penchant for collecting credit card rewards and stacking coupons and rebates to build a resale business that helped pay his way through engineering school at Iowa State University. After finishing a Master of Business Administration at the University of Michigan, Aaron used points and miles to travel for six months across five continents, including a month traveling overland through Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China on the Trans-Siberian Railway Network.

He has written thousands of articles about credit cards, banking, travel rewards, and personal finance for other notable publications, including The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Forbes, The Points Guy, Bankrate.com, Rolling Stone, and Robb Report. He enjoys helping others optimize their wallets, build financial security, and fulfill their travel dreams.

Aaron is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Read Aaron Hurd's full bio

Reviewed By

Claire Dickey

Claire is a senior editor at Newsweek focused on credit cards, loans and banking. Her top priority is providing unbiased, in-depth personal finance content to ensure readers are well-equipped with knowledge when making financial decisions.

Prior to Newsweek, Claire spent five years at Bankrate as a lead credit cards editor. You can find her jogging through Austin, TX, or playing tourist in her free time.

Read Claire Dickey's full bio

Whether you’re new to credit or sort through a stack of plastic to maximize rewards on each purchase, you may be wondering if there is an ideal number of credit cards—or, how many credit cards are too many.

Practically, there isn’t a strict limit to the number of cards you should have. However, adding each additional card to your wallet adds a certain amount of complexity to your personal finances. After a certain point, you’ll get diminishing returns on your credit card rewards and perks.

Our Methodology

Understanding the value of cash back is simple, but valuing airline miles or points redeemable for travel requires digging a bit deeper. At Newsweek, we’ve developed a common language to talk about the value of points and miles: our valuations.

Our valuations translate points into dollars and cents in a way that reflects reality. They are based on actual data across a balance of accessible redemption options, not just the aspirational first and business class redemptions that require a PhD in miles and points to book. The upshot is that our valuations help you understand the actual value you can easily get from your miles and points.

The Case for Having at Least One Credit Card

If you’re new to credit, you might be considering getting your first credit card. Responsible use of a credit card can help you build a credit history and earn rewards on your everyday spending. If you’re using cards with no annual fees and paying them off each month, you’ll find that you’re getting these perks at no cost to you.

Building Your Credit History With a Credit Card

Establishing your credit history and building a strong credit score might be your biggest motivation for getting your first credit card. If you want to leverage your credit score to buy a car, purchase a house or access a line of credit, you’ll want to start building your credit history well in advance of your need to borrow money.

Your credit score can directly affect the amount of interest you’re charged on everything from car loans to mortgages. Some landlords will even use your credit score as part of their tenant qualification process or require larger security deposits from those with low or no credit scores.

Fortunately, a credit card can be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to build your credit score. If you get a starter credit card with no annual fee, occasionally put purchases on the card and pay it off every month, that credit card will report an on-time payment history to each of the three credit bureaus each month.

As long as you’re paying on time each month and not running up balances, you’ll establish a solid payment history, show accounts with low balances and build your length of credit history. According to myFICO, these factors make up 80% of your FICO credit score. When you pay your statement balance in full and use a credit card with no annual fee, building your credit score can cost you $0.

Earning Rewards on Purchases

Having a rewards credit card in your wallet can get you a meaningful rebate on the things you buy and provide a more convenient way to pay for purchases than cash or a check. The best part? These rewards are free to you as long as you pay off your credit card balance every month.

Several credit cards with no annual fees offer 2% cash back on every purchase. Many people will find that the rewards from just putting daily essentials like groceries, gas and transportation expenses can really add up. $800 in expenses each month can net you almost $200 in rewards every year using a 2% cash back credit card.

Adding a Few More Cards to Your Wallet

Once you’ve established your credit history and have gotten into the habit of paying off your credit card in full every month, you might consider adding a few more cards to the mix—either to increase the amount of rewards you earn or to access credit card benefits.

Increasing Your Credit Card Rewards

Adding a few additional cards to your wallet can increase the amount of rewards you earn when you use your cards. Many cards offer additional rewards for spending within specific merchant categories. Some cards even offer up to 5% cash back for spending in categories that change quarterly. Adding a card or two that offers increased rewards where you spend the most can boost your cash back and point balances.

Many credit cards offer increased rewards when you use them for purchases in specific categories, with common bonus categories including gas, groceries, dining and travel.

It might also make sense to add a retailer’s credit card to your wallet if you frequently shop at a store and that store’s co-branded credit card offers meaningful rewards and perks. For example, Amazon’s Prime Visa card offers 5% cash back on every purchase at Amazon.com as well as at Whole Foods Market and on Chase Travel purchases.

Shopping for Benefits

If you purchase expensive items like cellphones, appliances or computers using your card, you’ll absolutely want a card with extended warranty protection and purchase protection. An extended warranty benefit can give you up to an additional two years of warranty protection on the items you purchase, and purchase protection can protect you for a few months against damage or theft to new items you buy.

Frequent travelers might consider a travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Both of these cards offer travel insurance protections when you book your airfare or other common carrier travel using the card. If your flight is delayed overnight, a trip delay protection can cover your hotel room and meals. When an airline fails to deliver your baggage on time, baggage delay insurance can ensure that you aren’t on the hook for essentials like emergency clothing purchases, toiletries and medication.

Having a Backup

Finally, having a backup credit card can be useful if you lose your card, your wallet gets stolen or you need occasional access to more credit for large purchases.

If your credit card is lost or stolen, you’ll need to call your credit card issuer and get a new card with a new number. While many banks will mail you a new card overnight, you won’t be able to use a card that was reported stolen until your new card arrives. It can be convenient to have an extra credit card on hand to use while your bank replaces your lost or stolen credit card.

Those of a certain age (including yours, truly) remember Visa’s commercials in the 1990s that always included the line, “… but they don’t take American Express.” Fortunately, card acceptance across all networks is much more common today, but you will still occasionally find places that won’t take American Express or Discover. Costco only accepts Visa in-store. And you’ll still run into the occasional vending machine or automatic car wash that, indeed, doesn’t take American Express. Holding cards issued through different processing networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover) can be useful.

Building Your Portfolio of Credit Cards

Once you’ve got a handful of cards in your wallet, you probably have access to a suite of useful credit card benefits and are earning increased rewards on a lot of your spending. Whether you add more cards to your wallet ultimately comes down to whether the perks, benefits and rewards are worth the additional complexity of juggling multiple cards.

If you want to add additional cards to your wallet, you can access more perks like statement credit opportunities, premium consumer and travel insurance benefits, airport lounge access, hotel elite status and more.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Downside to Having Too Many Credit Cards?

With each new credit card comes the responsibility to manage an additional account. Having more credit cards makes it increasingly likely that you’ll miss a fraudulent charge or forget to make a credit card payment. While setting up autopay can help ensure that you never miss a payment, you’ll spend at least some time managing each additional account.

Can I Open Ten Credit Cards at Once?

While having a large number of long-established credit cards can help your credit score in the long term, opening a large number of accounts quickly isn’t a great idea. If you open a large number of credit cards within a short period of time, you’ll see your credit score take a noticeable hit. A bank might also question why you’re aggressively shopping for credit and take action to limit its perceived risk—possibly including closing your existing accounts.

Will Having Ten Credit Cards Hurt My Credit Score?

Having ten or more credit cards can help you build a strong credit score if you have a history of using them responsibly. If you have a long-established history of paying off your cards on time, your credit lines are large and your reported balances are low, having 10 or more credit cards can contribute to a high credit score.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. We may earn a commission from partner links on Newsweek, but commissions do not affect our editors’ opinions or evaluations.