Credit cards - closing vs. keeping open?

[marissaa310]

I tried to research this online, but I'm getting conflicting information all over the place... is it better to close credit cards that you are not using (in this case, all 3 are store credit cards), or just keep them open at zero balance?

I have 3 store credit cards that I no longer want to use because I want to focus on saving and paying off my 1 major credit card instead. All 3 cards currently have a zero balance, so will it hurt my credit score if I just tuck these cards away and don't use them? I've seen some places say it will hurt my score, and others say that it won't.

If I do decide to keep them all open, should I make a small purchase on them every 6 months or so and immediately pay it off? Or is that not necessary?

All 3 cards also have no fees, so I am not paying any annual fees by keeping them open. Thanks!

[villanelle]

Are any of them your oldest credit card? I have always been told that maintaining a credit history is super important and that you should always leave your oldest card open.

Beyond that, I am just guessing. My understanding is that having a decent amount of available credit is good, so I would leave them open. But I am not a financial dvisor, and I didn't even stay at a Holiday in Express last night.

[Amber]

Leave your oldest, main card open. As long as the money you've racked up on the cards versus the max amount is less than 30%, it won't hurt your credit, and you'll still have it in case of emergency.

Also I *believe* and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but you can have too many things open at once and have it hurt your credit. I'm not sure about if they are 0 balanced, but having my 2 credit cards, personal loan and auto loan was "too much". Now I have one credit card and an auto loan. The credit card is much too high though, we need to pay it down.

[NavyChiefs_Wife]

I would think it would be better to keep them open. But if you don't use them every so often the company will close them, that happened to my Mom. She had some store cards that she never used and she went so long without using them that the they closed them on her, which isn't good, you never want the company to close them on you, if you want them closed you need to be the one to do it.

[LittleRed]

It depends on the length you've had the cards, and how long you've had credit as to whether it will hurt or not. If one of the cards you close is one of your oldest accounts, that will definitely hurt you. If they're all fairly new, it shouldn't matter, and will free up a larger credit line.

As far as having them and not using them, I don't see where that would hurt your credit unless your credit line is fairly high between the three, and that wouldn't matter until you go to open a new line of credit anyway.

If you do keep them, don't bother making a purchase every 6 months. It's recommended that you keep a small balance on them constantly if you're trying to build credit to show a revolving payment obligation, but one purchase in 6 months isn't going to help you.

[SgtLinnell'sGirl]

Originally Posted by Amber Leave your oldest, main card open. As long as the money you've racked up on the cards versus the max amount is less than 30%, it won't hurt your credit, and you'll still have it in case of emergency. Also I *believe* and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but you can have too many things open at once and have it hurt your credit. I'm not sure about if they are 0 balanced, but having my 2 credit cards, personal loan and auto loan was "too much". Now I have one credit card and an auto loan. The credit card is much too high though, we need to pay it down.

I heard this before too!! Leave oldest card open and too much open credit can hurt your score.

Also, you may want to double check with your cards that have 0 balances...I paid off my Lowe's card and when I went back to use it 6 months later, they had closed it due to inactivity. I am not sure if this hurts your credit when they close the acct, but it did mine.

Good Luck!!