Closing new cards ?

[Anonymous]

Hey all. So after a spate of stupidly opening 2 or 3 smaller limit cards Im
November and December ($1000 limits) I have succeeded in attaining some great prime, high limit cards (AMEX, Ritz Carlton, WFCU) with limits $5,000+.

I know that regardless all new accounts will report, but if I opt to close the smaller $1,000 limit cards after only 1-2 months ($0 balance of course) will this hurt my score or report ? I don't need them for UTIL really as I keep my balances low overall, and they don't do much for my UTIL anyway now with high limits and $50k in credit.

So am I safe to close these ? I know they will stay on as positive accounts for 10 years, but I want to know if it will look odd on manual reviews to see new accounts closed rapidly by consumer ? Or, if they will affect scores by closing. If not, they're axed

[redbeard]

Ax away if you want.  Score hit was for opening them and that part will stay for a bit.

Of course, you can keep them open for a year and then close them.  That might have better appearances on a manual review.  Not sure about this part though.

Dan

[ddemari]

Closing 1 or 2 new cards wont really have an impact on your score as you mentioned the utilization, etc. stuff is not a problem for you.

I think that closing the cards wont really affect you because;

• 35 percent payment history
• 30 percent amounts owed
• 15 percent length of credit history
• 10 percent types of credit in use
• 10 percent new credit

Closing the cards/the activity you are talking about falls into the last 2 sections from above, only making up for 20% of your score. So go ahead and close them, if there is any impact it will be minimal and won't last long. just keep on paying your other cards and doing what you do. I've opened, closed, opened and kept cards before and it hasnt sparked any conversation. 

[Anonymous]

Awesome. Thank you kindly !!! Off I go lol.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey all. So after a spate of stupidly opening 2 or 3 smaller limit cards Im
November and December ($1000 limits) I have succeeded in attaining some great prime, high limit cards (AMEX, Ritz Carlton, WFCU) with limits $5,000+.

I know that regardless all new accounts will report, but if I opt to close the smaller $1,000 limit cards after only 1-2 months ($0 balance of course) will this hurt my score or report ? I don't need them for UTIL really as I keep my balances low overall, and they don't do much for my UTIL anyway now with high limits and $50k in credit.

So am I safe to close these ? I know they will stay on as positive accounts for 10 years, but I want to know if it will look odd on manual reviews to see new accounts closed rapidly by consumer ? Or, if they will affect scores by closing. If not, they're axed

---

As far as I know, it won't affect you negatively.

[Imperfectfuture]

Only negative affect is number of cards with balances. Fico likes half or more cards to report 0. Get dinged when I play the 60 day rule. But I am gardening right now, so I probably do not care (however, it's hard to let go of that feeling).

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if you've closed them already, but I see two reasons to possibly keep them:

1. Assuming they have no annual fees and you want to do major bonus hunting in the future, having some AAoA "ballast" can be helpful.

2. Having useless cards you don't get much value from may serve as a good reminder to not apply for other cards you won't get much value from.

[Anonymous]

What kind of card is it? Even if it's 1000 and it's decent card. Good to keep cause some cards CLI pretty fast

[takeshi74]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
I know that regardless all new accounts will report, but if I opt to close the smaller $1,000 limit cards after only 1-2 months ($0 balance of course) will this hurt my score or report ?

---

See the Closing Credit Cards thread linked in the Helpful Thread sticky though what you've said indicates that you're already aware of the relevant factors.

---

@Anonymous wrote:
I know they will stay on as positive accounts for 10 years, but I want to know if it will look odd on manual reviews to see new accounts closed rapidly by consumer ? 

There's a lot of speculation but even so creditors are not all identical and everyone's credit profile isn't identical.  There isn't one answer that would apply in all cases.  All you can do is consider the info in the thread I mentioned and your subjective criteria.  Manual reviews aren't a given (depends on your profile versus the creditor's criteria) and if you run into one you can address it at that time.  How quickly you closed an account isn't going to be the only possible concern with a manual review anyway.

Further, are you planning to app in the near future?  If not, that's another reason not to worry about your concerns.  Don't sweat the small stuff and don't fear a drop in score for a decision that makes sense for you.  If you apped for cards that you shouldn't have then chalk it up as a learning experience and spend more time and effort considering cards in future.  Your credit and scores will recover from short term dips like this so don't fear taking action that better serves your overall financial needs and health for the sake of score or manual review.