You’re shopping at the mall when, inevitably, some sales clerk asks you if you’d like to save on your purchase by opening a store credit card account. “Sure,” you think. “Why not?”

But when it comes to your credit score, there are plenty of reasons to resist. The more inquiries FICO receives about opening credit cards, the more likely your credit score will suffer.

That’s according to an article from Riverstone Law, a firm that specializes in credit repair. “In the overall scheme of things, a single credit inquiry can be big, typically 2-5 points lost…This can really add up over the year,” it reports.

FICO’s algorithms, the company adds, see those who apply for multiple new credit cards-or any kind of debt- over a short period of time as a higher risk than those who don’t.

“Think about it; if you have someone applying for a mortgage, car loan and credit card all in the same week, they have a much better chance of overextending themselves than someone that pulls their credit once every six months,” notes the law firm.

“Statistically, people with six inquiries or more on their credit report in the last 12 months are up to eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than someone without any inquiries at all.”

Additionally, the more credit cards a person has, the greater the chance that person has of missing a bill here and there, also negatively impacting their credit score.

Bottom line: Think twice about the sales clerk’s tempting offer. Saving a small amount of money in the short run could cripple your ability to take out an important loan in the longer run.

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