Thursday, June 17, 2010

Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

I have no debt on any of the 3 credit cards and I have no use for them so I wanted to cancel them and open just one card, basically centralizing my credit cards. But when asking if it would hurt my credit score, I get two answers that it will and it won%26#039;t. I read a documentary written by a credit expert and she explained if you have 4 credit cards and you cancel 3 you hurt your score for ever.



Does it hurt my credit score if I cancel them, is there a certain way to cancel multiple credit card?



Again, there is no debt or money owed on the cards.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

You should never cancel your credit cards unless they are charging you an annual rate for just having the card open. You see your debt to credit ratio is important in calculating your score so the more money you have available to you to borrow the better off your score is.. you can keep your accounts open but if you want to resist the temptation of using them go ahead and slice up your cards!



Your Credit Score (also known as your MyFico score) is calculated with the following breakdown:



35% - Payment History



30% - Credit to Debt Ratio



15% - Credit History



10% - New Credit



10% - Credit Types in Use



Read more here from my blog :



10-Ways to Boost Your MyFico Score



http://millionster.com/articles/debt/inc...



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

You%26#039;re usually advised to not cancel the cards, but to try and pay them off completely.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

It will hurt your score, because the credit bureaus like to see that you have available credit. It%26#039;s good that you aren%26#039;t using the cards. Just lock them away. Maybe if you have one with a high interest rate, close that one out.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

Yes, it will cause your score to drop.



One of the ways they determine the score is the ratio between what you owe and the available credit.



If the cards have no annual fee, just keep them and don%26#039;t use them.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

You%26#039;re credit score is based on your debt/credit ratio. So, if you have 3 credit cards with a 0 balance and a $5000 limit, you have that much credit available, and that has a positive impact on your credit score.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

Yeah, I agree with most of the posters here; if you cancel the card(s), you take away your available credit, and it won%26#039;t be available later.......your ratio between available and used will go down. Just keep them if there is no annual fee. Please note however, nothing comprising your credit score is forever; if you get dinged for closing the accounts, your score will eventually recover, assuming you are paying everything else on time.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

It will hurt your score for 2 reasons.



1. When canceling a card, a report is run by the company on your credit. Anytime a report is run on your credit score it is impacted slightly.



2. Your overall credit rating is based on various factors such as late/non payments, bankruptcies/foreclosures and credit to debt ratio. If you have 4 cards with a total line of credit of $40,000 and you have a total credit card debt of $5,000, you have an 8-1 ratio of credit to debt. If you cancel 3 cards and your available credit drops to $10,000, you now have only a 2-1 ratio credit to debt.



If you don%26#039;t use the cards, my advice would be to keep the accounts active and either put the cards in a draw or destroy them when you get them.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

Just cut them up and leave the accounts open. Credit Agencies like to see lots of available credit in your history. Additionally, if you cancel the cards you are erasing the length of time you have had credit established. Lenders like to see that you have had accounts over a long period. The fact that you are not charging them up shows that you are responsible with your credit.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

I%26#039;ll tell you from personal experience, I have switched our credit card balances several times from interest cards to no interest cards. Each time the promotional 0% rate drops off I close out that card, switch the balance over to a new 0% card I%26#039;ve just opened and I kept doing this for years until we moved overseas.



My credit score is extremely high now. I saw no negative impact from canceling cards but I always had a new one open and paid it every month without fail. And, because we had 0% we were able to pay out debt down faster.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

Here is why canceling cards can hurt your score, surprisingly.



Your credit score, aside from on-time bill payments, is based on two other variables: your income to debt ratio and your debt to credit available ratio. In this case, if you cancel the cards, let%26#039;s say each card is granting you at least a $5,000 credit limit, you are decreasing your available credit by almost $15,000 while your other debts stay the same. If on that last card you have it maxed out (which you say you don%26#039;t, but for example), then yeah this would reflect badly. If though you can get rid of the balance on your fourth card, maybe even ask the card company to raise your limit if you%26#039;re thinking of keeping it and you qualify, then slowly cancel the other 3 cards one at a time, this might put you in better shape. Still, the fact you had nearly 4 credit cards on your record is going to bite you a bit eventually, but credit does heal with time.



If you haven%26#039;t seen your credit report in a while, I would try making sure you have no credit card debt and cancel one of them. Then a month later, check your credit report (you can get a credit report for free once a year). See where it falls. Anything above 650 is considered a great score, so if you%26#039;re above that, I%26#039;d think you%26#039;d be fine to get rid of the others too.



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

your score will drop...25% of your fico is based on your ratio of debt to available credit...so by cancelling the cards you are lowering your available credit.



also. 20% of your fico is based on time and good standing on your credit cards. if your cards have been with you a while and are in good standing, dont throw it away! this is good history that can help you not hurt...i have 5 cards, one of which i use and my fico is 780...trust me



Does it hurt your credit score when canceling credit cards?

No, it doesnt hurt, it helps. This is because you have less available credit to use so if you need more sometime later, it can be made available to you.

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