Comments on: Think Twice Before Canceling Credit Cards

By: Peachy

Peachy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:42:48 +0000

Eunice, depending how long you’ve had your 10 cc’s, I would suggest that if the inactive ones are less than 3-4 years old, it would be ok to cancel them, and just keep the 6 with some seniority. Like some of the older posts have suggested, you can always set up a monthly re-occurring payment of bills or what not on each of the cards you decide to keep. Downsizing from 10 to 1 card is a bit drastic. Good Luck!

By: Eunice

Eunice — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:52:57 +0000

I have a problem that I hope someone can help me with. I have in total, 10 credit cards, but I’m pretty sure that I have a good credit score because I make my payments in full and on time every time. 10 credit cards… yea I know. But in my defense, 8 of these credit cards are department store cards (Nordstrom, Macys, etc) and I only opened them to get the sign-up discounts. I probably only use the Nordstrom and Macys credit cards now and then, but only because I feel like I shouldn’t leave them inactive. But as for the rest of the cards… I don’t really use them because it’s not like I shop at those specific stores all the time and even when I do, I forget and use my debit card instead. The two major credit cards that I use is my Wells Fargo one and my Chase South West card, which I use the most because of the points. So now I am in a pickle. I really just want to stick with one credit card, but I have the other 9 looming over me. I don’t want the credit card companies to close my accounts because my cards go inactive because I know that will hurt my FICO score. But I don’t want to cancel my cards because I know THAT will hurt my score as well. It’s like… there’s no win-win situation. What the heck should I do?!?!?

By: Florida

Florida — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:25:34 +0000

Why is Chase Credit Card company so quick to cancel your card upon your request. I had a card for 10 years and cancelled it due to their refusal to remove a late fee.

I guess whatever the customer needs to do to get you off the phone.

By: Fizzle

Fizzle — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:47:17 +0000

Thanks for your reply Patrick. I read the article and it was very informative.
I was just wondering if closing the older credit card will ding my credit score much, since i’ve only started using credit cards, and just got the card for a relatively short time (about 7 months). I will def. look into asking the credit company to change my card type to earn rewards.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:01:47 +0000

Fizzle: Here is an article I wrote about closing credit cards and how it will affect your score: Think Twice Before Canceling Credit Cards. You can also consider asking the credit card company to change your card to a rewards card so you can earn cash back (preferred) or points.

By: Fizzle

Fizzle — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:56:43 +0000

Very interesting.
I just started using CC’s late last yr, and hav had my limit jump substancially since starting with X credit card company.
I applied for and got approved for a credit card with Y credit card company, that has a greater credit limit.
I always pay my cards on time and in full.
I am considering closing my credit card from X company because they increased the APR (doesnt really matter to me), it has no rewards, and I dont want to hav too many credit cards with me.
Will this ding my credit score? I’ve had the card for about 8 months or so…

By: Pinyo

Pinyo — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:55:14 +0000

I think I did the same mistake you did and canceled a few unused credit cards because they are either store credit cards or provide no reward. I am not sure if I took a hit, I think I did.

I can’t tell you my credit score either, but the last time I checked my credit report, everything looks good.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:57:12 +0000

Richard, I closed a balance-transfer card earlier this year and a few months later my score was up 70 points – but I was also reducing the amount of credit I use. I had last checked my score shortly after getting the card, and paid off about 50% of the available credit on that card right before closing it so I definitely made some progress on the amount owed. I still have two older cards so closing the account would have increased the average age.

It would be interesting to know what levels of credit can be dangerous for your score – I want to keep things clean so I can get a mortgage in the next year or two but I’m thinking about getting a bigger line of credit for business. I know my total credit would be less than half my (current) annual income so that shouldn’t be too risky. As long as I don’t use it all and pay 19% interest on it for years

By: Mark @ TheLocoMono

Mark @ TheLocoMono — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:29:05 +0000

One thing people can do is purchase their credit score once a year at a certain time each year (after they pay off their credit card debt) and see how the score has increased or decreased and figure out why that happend.

Even though I closed my credit card accounts years ago, I found that as a result of my secured credit card last year, my score jumped which is good for me.

I would say that it is better to have one card than multiple cards, even if you don’t use it, but inactivity can hurt your score because you are not using it so even $100 a month, say your phone bill, charge it to the card and send the payment to your card before the end of the billing cycle would help show good payment history.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:31:46 +0000

Think Outside,

Yes, too much available credit can be a bad thing, especially if your debt to income ratio is high. Even if your debt to income ratio isn’t high, then it means you have a lot of available credit and could go charge up a lot of debt in a short period of time and leave your creditors stuck with the bill. It’s a fine balance!