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:?: Someone set me straight. I wanted to pay off a bunch of cc's because I have too many open revolving credit cards. I want to pay them off, and then close them by my request.
Will that HURT my FICO or HELP my FICO??? :?:
It could hurt your FICO if they have age on them by lowering your average age of accounts. You would be likely better off keeping them in the sock drawer (provided they don't hit you with annual fees) and use them for gas on occasion to keep them active. BTW Some creditors don't like "excessive closed accounts". They have the concern they may be dumped as well.
Hi Karazzy,
An effective way to improve the score would be to pay down your revolving credit. Let me tell you that owing the same amount but having fewer open accounts may lower your score.
Also calculate how much money you owe on your credit cards relative to your total credit limit. Try and reduce your credit card balances & keep them at or below thirty percent of your credit card limit.
Open Credit Cards not in use
So, am I understanding that it is better to have open credit cards that you no longer use (and haven't in some years) even if they have a 0.00 balance than to cancel them? I have 9 cards open, 3 of which I actively use and that have balances. Should I keep the others open even though I'm not using them?