I have 10 credit cards with 0 balance on them. I had them since 2001. Should I close them? Credit score down??

Question

So should I close them? I paid them off. 0 balance now. Will it hurt my current credit score of 718?

Answer 1

No! Do not close them! The reason your credit is so high is simply because 2 major factors in determining score are 1: Length of time on open accounts as well as 2: use of available credit.

Having a zero balance on cards, which have been around for a while, is a massive benefit to your overall score.

So long as there are no monthly/yearly fees associated with these cards they will only help you the longer you keep them open.

Oh, and do not fall for the "you need to carry a balance on your cards to build credit" wrap. That is a complete myth that the bands have done nothing to squash.

And here's a bonus tip:
If you have any credit cards (revolving debt, not including mortgages/cars or any "secured debt") that are in excess of 50% or 75% of the available balance... there are 2 things you can do to raise your score even higher.

1: Pay that revolving debt down below 75% or 50% of the available balance
2: Call the bank issuing the card and request they increase your limit so that the final balance will be less than 75% or 50% of the total available credit on that card.

If you want to them make an immediate impact on your score you need only to have the bank fax (on their letter head with your account #) a statement showing your new available credit limit to the credit agencies.

Answer 2

The way your score is calculated is by how much available credit you have in comparison to how much debt you are currently carrying. If you have the cards with zero balance and available credit on them, then raises your available credit to total debt ratio, thus increasing your score. However, after you have purchased your home, you might want to consider closing the accounts because of the risk of identity theft. Or look into the new credit monitoring services, they are very inexpensive and usually offered through the credit bureaus. They will let you know if anyone checks your credit or if any changes have occured. Read more from: http://www.credit-card-forums.com/thread/749

Answer 3

Depends on what your debt-to-income ratio (back ratio) is.
Firstly, since you didn't specify your income or the total credit limits on all of your cards you need to figure that out. When lenders pull your credit record that is one of the things they look at. Here's a worksheet to get you started.
www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/tools/modebtratio.htm

Here's an article of interest pertaining to DTI:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ManageDebt/AnotherFinancialScoreThatCanHurtYou.aspx

Secondly, you never want to close your oldest account. You want to keep cards with the longest history active.
Lots of good tips were given by posters Ian Auto and Happy Guy 1978200 - 'it's better to have one $10K limit credit cards than ten $1K limit cards'

Check out this article as well.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/YourCreditRating.aspx

Most importantly, check your credit score at least twice per year from all three credit bureaus. That way you can not only clear up any errors before they have a chance to adversely affect your score but you can shift your credit limits in accordance with your income. Do your homework, be savvy and it will pay off.

Answer 4

with a score of 718 you shouldn't be worried about your score enough to be asking questions!

Don't close the credit card with the highest credit limit, and don't close the card that you've had the longest. Keep at least 2 open and your score shouldn't go down.

Answer 5

Equifax and Experian will view them as a bad thing ONLY if there is nothing else for them to see as bad. They always give three to five reasons why your credit isn't "perfect", and as a result, sometimes they start reaching in regards to things like "too many inquires", "too many accounts with zero or very low balances", or "high number of accounts". While this can be viewed as a bad thing, it will only affect your credit minimally. The best thing to build credit is to have a few (read: two or three) credit cards at half of the available credit as your balance. I would eliminate the unnecessary accounts and keep a few.
Also, be sure that there is something on them, as credit companies have a tendency to close your account if it is zero for a long period of time due to "account inactivity". Again, it is best to have them at about half your available credit. Also, remember to call yearly and ask for your credit limit to be raised. It is better to have one ten thousand dollar credit card then to have ten one thousand dollar credit cards.

Answer 6

It's very difficult to say what the effect will be on your credit score. If you decide to close any of them close the ones that you opened most recently so you will keep your older, mature accounts active for FICO scoring.

Good Luck

Answer 7

You shouldn't try closing all or most of them at the same time. If you close them, spread it out over a pretty long time.

Answer 8

Close some of them, keep a few.

Answer 9

I agree with what Ian posted.