Is it better for your credit to have several credit cards with moderate limit, or one card with a high limit?

Question by shooter 1: Is it better for your credit to have several credit cards with moderate limit, or one card with a high limit?
I have zero debt. I also have several credit cards. I am wondering how it will affect my credit to request the highest limit for each card, or if I should cancel all but 2 and have those with high spending limits. Along the same lines, how does “available” credit affect one’s credit score negatively or positively? If I get a $ 50,000 limit on a card (with 0 balance) but say, go to buy a car, will I be denied because I have too much credit out there?

Best answer:

Answer by talr
It’s better for your credit to have several cards with modern limit, as the FICO formula used by the credit bureaus consider the number of credit lines in good credit (by their type, e.g. revolving credit, installment loans etc). A lower number of credit lines will result in a lower score (since you’ll have more limited history).

Obviously that assume all of them are in good standing – if they’re not, the picture changes dramatically.

As to the total credit, what they look at is which percenage of your total credit are you using, and for that it’s irrelevant how it’s distributed between the credit lines.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!