Should I cancel unused credit cards to improve my score?

Question

I have a couple of credit cards I don't use, should i cancel the or not? I recently purchased a house, which caused my debt to available credit ratio to go up to 83%.

I've herd that you shouldn't keep more then two or three credit cards open. I have about six open right now and only use two of them (which i pay off every month).

Should i keep the credit cards open and keep the debt to available credit at 83% or should i cancell then ones i have so I less open lines of credit but then my debt to available credit will go up to around 94%


My Vantage Score is 849 (which i think is decent for being 25, but i'm not to familiar with the new scoring system)
Basically I want to do what is best to keep my score where it is at or improve it.

Answer 1

Keep them open, here's why:

1. Payment history: 35%
2. Total Debt to Available Credit 20%
3. Length of time establishing credit 15%
4. Types of credit establihsed 10%
5. Inquiries and New accounts 10%




Cancel a card you affect #1,2, & 3. You could boost your score by using the unused ones lightly ($20/month) and pay it off every month to show activity.

Answer 2

The debt to available credit limit ratio is a big factor in your score. Closing accounts will lower your score. But your score will rebound quickly.

Personally I recommend closing credit cards that you do not use. All those open accounts are just asking for problems. Keep the oldest card without an annual fee -- closing cards closes your history.

Since you've just purchased a home, the small decrease won't really affect you.

Answer 3

Cancelling fairly some credit enjoying cards at as quickly as makes your score seem undesirable. yet doing away with extra effective enjoying cards is a sturdy theory in the long-term. Cancel the main present day ones first and proceed to apply the enjoying cards which you're preserving so as that your credit would not stall. as long as you do no longer would desire to be conscious for brand spanking new credit quickly, you may have adequate time to improve your score from cancelling debts.

Answer 4

Believe it or not, it is best to NOT cancel credit cards.
I understand, if you don't use them you may not want to keep them,but just don't use them.
I recently rec'd a letter from Sunoco, saying their were cancelling me , since I hadnt used their card in a while--- like 20 years? I get gas often at this station, but use Visa.