O/T...Do you cancel/close credit cards? - Page 9

sandy53 · ‎03-12-2010

If you are close to a major purchase where you know you will need a loan (house, car), then keep them open. If you think it will be years before you need a loan, then close them and be done with them. Your credit score will have plenty of time to recover.

I don't think credit scores are as fragile as some people here think. If you have had a poor credit history, perhaps you need to worry, but if you have a solid credit history, your credit score is going to be fine. Most of us can qualify for way more credit than we can afford.

glmama · ‎03-09-2010

Yes. If I notice that I haven't used one for some time, or if we opened one to get a special deal, then we will close it if we're not using it anymore.

Snicks1 · ‎07-28-2012

On 1/2/2015 sandy53 said:
If you are close to a major purchase where you know you will need a loan (house, car), then keep them open. If you think it will be years before you need a loan, then close them and be done with them. Your credit score will have plenty of time to recover.

I don't think credit scores are as fragile as some people here think. If you have had a poor credit history, perhaps you need to worry, but if you have a solid credit history, your credit score is going to be fine. Most of us can qualify for way more credit than we can afford.

^^^^^^This, I would not want to have to make payments on the amount of credit I can get. Way more than I will ever need, God willing.

"To each their own, in all things".

PamB226 · ‎10-01-2010

I closed out two credit cards that had high limits, but 0 balance. My credit rating jumped up 20 points! I closed one that I had for 12 years and had a balance, the cc company ticked me off because they stopped giving the 1.5% cash back. I almost have it paid off and closing it didn't affect my credit rating one bit!

As long as the credit report states "closed customer request", that's all that matters!

Havarti · ‎03-08-2014

On 1/2/2015 LipstickDiva said:
On 1/2/2015 magicmoodz said:
On 1/2/2015 Chrystaltree said:
On 1/2/2015 kitty60 said:
I think if you have good credit it really doesn't matter. We have excellent credit, use credit cards and pay everything in full each and every month. I have weeded out those store cards I do not use and cancelled with no ill effect. We have a few we use on a regular basis as I do not like to carry cash and lose track of what I've spent. I keep a tally of what we spend and match all the slips when I get the statement. Also, I do not like using a debit card because I do not want my account wiped out, (this happened to my son over labor day because of the Home Depot problem.) You do get it back but it is a hassle. I only use my debit card at Aldi's as they do not take credit cards. I went to my bank and had my daily limit on debit card reduced to $100. I know I will never spend more than that there and if I got hit for $100 I could survive until the matter was corrected.

.....my debit cards are not linked to my checking/savings accounts. I made that mistake once, I'll never do it again. I used my debit card to pay for our hotel when we were on vacation and they put a 5 day hold on the entire balance! My vacation would have been ruined had I not been with a friend who had credit cards with her.

Color me confused. What is your debit card linked to? When you use it, where is the money taken from?

I asked the same thing above. I'm confused too.

I have never used one, but I think credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard have a debit card you purchase like you would a gift card, only it says debit card on it. It is like a prepaid credit card, you put a certain amount of money on the card and then use it like a debit card, then refill it. I had never seen them before, but I went to buy a gift card at Walmart and the big display had both types and signage indicating the debit card is not a gift card.

Here is a link that describes both: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/creditcom/gift-card-vs-prepaid_b_2129903.html

Snarky responders need not reply. Move along and share your views elsewhere.

sgraham30 · ‎03-14-2010

On 1/1/2015 happy housewife said:
On 1/1/2015 ibb38 said:
On 1/1/2015 sgraham30 said:
I keep them & just don't use them.After a specific period of time that the card isn't used, the retailer will cancel the card for non-use.

Exactly! I was just about to post this--

Visa , mastercard etc do not do that.

I'm referring to store cards such as the Angels card (Victoria's Secret), the Penney's card, Sears card, Kohl's card, etc.

Luvitorleaveit1 · ‎03-09-2010

I am working towards closing the highest interest cards first but in reality you have to have at least one credit card to use for travel and other types of purchases.

I heard that you shouldn't cancel credit cards because of the negative effect on your credit score which makes no sense. Banks only smile when consumers are in debt for obvious reasons, but if there is a credit card I no longer need or use why keep it?

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

If you are looking to make a large purchase like a house or a car or a camper or boat - you do not want to have a large amount of available credit open to you because when they determine how much credit they can allow you they will count all those cards with available credit as if you had them fully loaded to the max - because the potential is there for you to do so. You need to close those unused cards before applying for any large purchases.

<h5>The only time it is good to have open cards you are not using is if you carry a balance month to month because then the credit you are using is a lower % of the total available to you. However, I think we all know it is a very bad idea to carry credit over from month to month in the first place, except for very large purchases like home improvements , mortgages , cars - things of that nature.</h5>

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

Sad to say that due to congress removing the protections that were put on the banks with their lending practices after the 2008 crash - gullible people will be , once again, getting loans they can not afford and losing homes and all the other stuff that happened before 2008 due to deregulation. A sad state of affairs -- and approved by both sides of the aisle, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that our elected officials do not care about the people of this country one bit.

KathyPet · ‎03-09-2010

There is no such thing anymore as "a" credit score. there used to be but that is now no longer true. When the FICO people first created the credit scoring system and all 3 major credit bureaus started using it your credit score was obtained based on the criteria developed by FICO and each credit bureau received the same score. Now each credit bureau has demanded that the scores they receive be customized based on the specialized criteria that credit bureau wants used. They credit bureaus developed their own criteria based on their customer experiences. In addition each score differs by credit bureau because each bureau has a different score range. So a 850 could be the top of the range for one bureau and it could be 750 is the top at another bureau. The best place to get your score is at the MYFICO website. You should get your score at each of the 3 major reporting agencies. A creditor can also choose which bureau they report your activity to and if you have a open credit card with one bank but they only report to one agency but not the other two that will obviously cause your score to,be different at each bureau.