I have many credit cards and want to destroy all but 2.?

Question

My credit score is in the high 700s. How will closing the cards effect my score and for how long? The 2 cards I am going to keep are my two oldest cards.

Answer 1

Well, having a lot of open credit accounts can have a negative impact on credit score, but closing accounts *can* have a negative impact on that score as well.

Most information I've found on credit scoring doesn't really address this issue head-on; they note that more open accounts usually amounts to a lower score, and that older open accounts are best because they show a history, etc., but don't really tell you about how to reduce the number of accounts. I did, however, find one source that said that closing accounts can have a negative impact *if the account has a balance* -- in other words, if the account has been sitting around with a zero balance, closing it would not send a red flag and would not lower your credit score. Credit scoring is a bit of a mystery, I'll grant you, but that does make a lot of sense to me; creditors would look negatively upon a debtor that appears to be running away from another creditor....but would have no reason to in any way penalize someone for closing an account that they either didn't use or did not carry a balance on.

That said, I would suggest ensuring that each account you want to close has a zero balance. I would also consider letting them sit that way for a while, unused, and close them out slowly.

I would also make sure that you're not carrying much of a balance on the remaining cards in relation to your credit line -- in other words, if your two remaining cards have a combined credit line of $20,000 you should be in a position to carry a balance (if you carry a balance at all) that's just a small proportion of that 20k total -- an important issue for your score, as I understand it, is the percentage or your revolving credit that you're actually using. So if you need to be carrying a balance, I would suggest that you keep more than the two cards open....but that you take the third (or third and fourth, whatever makes sense), stick it in your file cabinet, and never use it. That way you have more credit and are thus using a smaller percentage of it.

Answer 2

credit scores can be a challange to understand. You don't want too much credit but you need credit history. Keeping the oldest cards open is a good things but I think cutting down to two may hurt your score. close some and just keep some in the safe where you don't have to worry about them being stolen.

I'd say keep five open and close the rest.

Answer 3

Closing a lot of accounts at once will negatively affect your credit score. If I were you, I would not close any and just keep them all in a file at your house, and never use them. I've got many cards like that. It's good to have unused credit so your ratio of unused credit to used credit is low.

Answer 4

Call the credit card companies and have then cancelled on you credit bureau it will show closed at customers request. Either pay them off when you cancel would be the best choice or make payments to get them cleared of asap.

Answer 5

Well its better u write to the bank to inform them your deciding to cancel the card and return it together with your letter then there will be no annual charge incurred. Also, you can tell the bank that u already had other credit cards and do not need so many cards unless the card is free and the bank will not charge the annual fee. The card can only be activated once u call the bank to let them know your intention to use it.....

Answer 6

just got my credit reports and scores. i was informed that one of the
criteria for determining credit scores was the amount of available
unused credit that you have. in theory if the amount is high you are perceived to be more credit worthy hence the higher score. the vintage of the cards, although important from a credit history standpoint is concerned, is not as relevant to your overall score as is the credit availability.

Answer 7

Congratulations on a great decision! It will increase your score because your potential "open credit" debt ratio will go down considerably. The accounts will stay on your record for the sake of showing your payment history, but show as closed in good standing.

Good for you! Take care and best of luck! :-)

Answer 8

Don't close them. Just shred them. Closing them out.. will send a red flag.. and your credit score could very well drop.. Keep them open.. just rip up the cards.

Answer 9

Not sure if it effects it at all but less cards will show you have credit but not in hock. I keep 2 one for overdraft protection only on my bank account and one for car fixes and it has be done now purchases. Otherwise I pay cash!

Answer 10

I've heard that canceling credit cards negatively affects your credit, but not for how long. I would just physically cut up all but the two you plan on using, not cancel them.