good standing OPEN account with $0 bal vs. good standing CLOSED account with $0 bal whichisbetter4creditscore?

Answer 1

Ordinarily, the open account would be better. Closing an account puts a little ding in your credit score. On the other hand, if you have too much available credit and you try to get a major loan, they may see that as a negative.

Answer 2

Keep the account OPEN.

The FICO score (Fair Issac COrporation) is calculated on your total available credit line in proportion to your highest outstanding debt.

FICO scores and its variants are designed to measure the risk of default, by taking into account various factors. Although the exact formula for calculating the FICO score is a closely guarded secret, Fair Isaac has disclosed the following components and the approximate weighted contribution of each:
35% punctuality of payment in the past
30% capacity used: the ratio of current revolving debt (credit card balances, etc.) to total available revolving credit (credit limits)
15% length of credit history
10% types of credit used (installment, revolving, consumer finance)
10% recent search for credit and/or amount of credit obtained recently
The above percentages provide very limited guidance in understanding a credit score. For example, the 10% of the score allocated to "types of credit used" is undefined, leaving consumers unaware what type of credit mix to pursue. "Length of credit history" is also a murky concept; it consists of multiple factors - two being the oldest account open and the average length of time an account has been open. Although only 35% is attributed to punctuality, if a consumer is substantially late on numerous accounts, his score will fall far more than 35%. Bankruptcies, foreclosures, and judgments affect scores substantially but are not included in the simplistic pie chart provided by Fair Isaac.
Further, Fair Isaac does not use the same "scorecard" for everyone. The scorecards are segmented so that there are over 100 different actual scoring models that are applied to different individuals based on different ranges of input values (some scorecard segmentations include: age, depth of credit history, etc.) The implications of this segmentation are that while the approximate weighted contribution above may be an average across all scorecards, individuals will receive different scores or weightings based on the scorecard segmentation that they fall into. Some consumers have noticed their scores decreasing by small amounts for no apparent reason.
Current income and employment history do not influence the FICO score, but they are also weighed when applying for credit. For instance, an unemployed individual with no other sources of income will not usually be approved for a home mortgage, regardless of his or her FICO score.
There are other special factors which can weigh on the FICO score.
Any monies owed because of a court judgment, tax lien, or similar carry an extra negative penalty, especially when recent.
Having above a certain number of consumer finance company credit accounts also carries a negative weight (critics say that this causes a vicious cycle, locking people into continuing to use consumer finance companies).
The number of recent credit checks also can weigh down the score, although the credit agencies claim to allow for credit checks made within a certain window of time to not aggregate, so as to allow the consumer to shop around for rates.

Answer 3

If you do not need that card, have no intention to use it. CLOSE IT.
All open accounts, with or without a balance affects your credit score.
Creditors look at the amount of credit AVAILBLE to you and judge accordingly. It lowers your score. You have to contact the creditor to do this, not the credit bureau.