Credit Karma - I got a "F" on Total Accounts?

does it say 20 credit CARD accounts? or just credit accounts?

Quote from Dr. J : does it say 20 credit CARD accounts? or just credit accounts?

According to the link in my original post:
"Total accounts is another measure of your creditworthiness. Consumers with more credit accounts generally have better credit scores because it means more lenders are willing to grant credit. This metric represents the total number of accounts listed on your credit report. A breadth of different account types is indicative of good credit."

Not sure what the difference is between credit card accounts and credit accounts. I have 3 active credit cards all from VISA and a closed one that I applied but closed it even without activation in 2009. My total account is four.

Quote from teetee1 : According to the link in my original post: "Total accounts is another measure of your creditworthiness. Consumers with more credit accounts generally have better credit scores because it means more lenders are willing to grant credit. This metric represents the total number of accounts listed on your credit report. A breadth of different account types is indicative of good credit." Not sure what the difference is between credit card accounts and credit accounts. I have 3 active credit cards all from VISA and a closed one that I applied but closed it even without activation in 2009. My total account is four.

credit is where someone extended you credit - e.g. student loans, mortgages, private loans, auto loans, etc. I think closed accounts fall off at some point.

identity theft?

You should pull your credit report and see what's up.

Same thing for me. I got a D because i have ~8? 5 open, 3 closed? but yeah... its weird they say to get an A you need to have ~20.

Quote from teetee1 : https://www.creditkarma.com/report/totalaccounts In order for me to get "A" I have to have 21 total accounts. Does it seem right to you? I have 3 credit cards and that's already more than enough for me. Not sure whoever in the right mind need 21 credit cards except for those transfer their credit card balance from one card to the other all the time. The same page also shows there are 33.3percent of population owns 20+ credit card accounts. Obviously I am the outlier from their stats.

As someone pointed out it is based on credit accounts not credit cards. These numbers are based on averages of people with the highest credit scores (sample ~ 2MM). It includes closed and open accounts over a lifetime and meant to show you correlation. You shouldn't go out and open 18 more accounts because of it.


You might find this chart interesting as well. http://www.creditkarma.com/res/im...raphic.jpg

Uh....maybe I didn't explain my question clearly. Here is what I have in my credit karma report - Total accounts (not my credit score, my credit score is fine):



(from the same link in the original post)

According to that page, having less than 5 credit accounts means flunk grade - F with score 619. If I raise this score (total accounts) to 689(having more than 21 credit accounts), my credit score will probably get "A" instead of current "B" grade.

My question is how can credit company get the stats that majority of the population have 21 credit accounts? I might be young in my credit age (~9years) but it's hard for me to imagine to have more than 10 credit accounts.

Quote from teetee1 : Uh....maybe I didn't explain my question clearly. Here is what I have in my credit karma report - Total accounts (not my credit score, my credit score is fine): (from the same link in the original post) According to that page, having less than 5 credit accounts means flunk grade - F with score 619. If I raise this score (total accounts) to 689(having more than 21 credit accounts), my credit score will probably get "A" instead of current "B" grade. My question is how can credit company get the stats that majority of the population have 21 credit accounts? I might be young in my credit age (~9years) but it's hard for me to imagine to have more than 10 credit accounts.

It actually pretty easy. I have 22 accounts and a credit score in the high 700s. I have about 7 open credit card accounts and a mortgage. In the past, I have had 4 student loans, 2 auto loans, and a number of closed credit card accounts.

So to answer your question, it is very easy to have 21 accounts. In fact, if you look at the distribution of total accounts you will see many people with 40+ accounts over their lifetime.

I hope that helps.

Quote from CKFounder : It actually pretty easy. I have 22 accounts and a credit score in the high 700s. I have about 7 open credit card accounts and a mortgage. In the past, I have had 4 student loans, 2 auto loans, and a number of closed credit card accounts. So to answer your question, it is very easy to have 21 accounts. In fact, if you look at the distribution of total accounts you will see many people with 40+ accounts over their lifetime. I hope that helps.

I see. So I AM an outlier. I chose to pay my tuition and car with cash (so no loans and no accounts from those) and worked a lot. I guess that's not a good thing since I sacrificed my credit score because of that.

It bugs me to have loan or mortgage (don't like to owe anybody money especially banks with lots of lawyers) but I guess that's what I have to work on to raise my score.

Quote from teetee1 : I see. So I AM an outlier. I chose to pay my tuition and car with cash (so no loans and no accounts from those) and worked a lot. I guess that's not a good thing since I sacrificed my credit score because of that. It bugs me to have loan or mortgage (don't like to owe anybody money especially banks with lots of lawyers) but I guess that's what I have to work on to raise my score.

Don't think others don't work hard because they use credit. :-). Sounds like you are on you way to a better credit score. You can have a great score with 5 open credit card and never paying a penny in interest. Based on your comments you are just starting, you will just need a couple more accounts and probably 2-5 more years of credit history.

Good luck.

Why do you care?

you need to be opening those $200 cash back cards BUT paying the full balance every month!