I don't think that is correct. They go by "credit utilization" which should always be below 30% and having more than one card with a small amount on each is better than one with over 30% on it. Scotiabank recommends using a higher limit to reduce the credit utilization rating as a good solution. A problem with applying for several cards in a short time-frame is that it causes a hard-check of your rating and this can negatively impact your score.