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Should I close down unused credit cards?

Posted on: 27th Feb, 2010 02:19 am
Hello everyone on board… I have a query regarding my used credit cards… Hope I could get some opinion from you guys… I had opened two credit cards a few years back in order to buy items for regular use. It has 0% APR. With time, I had paid off the balances on this card and now-a-days I don't use them. Now, the catch is that the interest rate has soared up to 15%.

I would like to get suggestions on the fact whether or not I should keep the lines open unused or close them? If I close them, do you think my credit score would go down? Would it be better if I could occasionally buy some items using those cards?
If the cards don't have annual fees, I suggest keeping them open. Closing them may hurt your credit utilization ratio (the amount of credit you use relative to your total available credit) and your length of credit history, which in turn will hurt your credit scores. So, I would enroll them in auto pay, use them from time to time to make small purchases, and keep them open and active.
Posted on: 27th Feb, 2010 07:30 am
Another thing to look at is that creditors may close and remove your credit card history from your credit report

they are under NO OBLIGATION to report something positive on your credit report

I have seen AMEX remove a 10yr history from someone just because they cancelled the card
Posted on: 28th Feb, 2010 11:29 am
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Posted on: 28th Oct, 2011 12:08 am
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