What to do with store cards?

[Anonymous]

because doing so will drive your utilization percentage up - its possible but OP hasnt stated what their current util is or how the loss of credit lines will affect it yet. Might be 1% or 0%. Or the difference may be less of a concern than closing useless cards.

and your average age of accounts down, both of which will have a negative impact on your FICO scores - I wish members would clarify how this works. AAoA is not impacted one way or the other for up to 10 years when closing and does not immediately affect ones scores. By that time the cards OP leaves open will have aged 10 years so there may be little to no impact at all. Depends

[blondy250]

Put them in the sock drawer, eventually they'll close on their own.

[Anonymous]

Dont close amazon or lowes. Those have some major utilization padding potential (since you already have them open). I would try for CLI on both after you close down a few synch accounts.

[Tomgon1981]

Thanks for all the comments guys very helpful I will probably sock drawer them for now and close out 1 every 3 months or so but I do plan to keep the lowes Amazon walmart sams club and macys due the special financing options they offer

[CreditUnionFan]

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@Tomgon1981 wrote:

i have a bunch of store cards I really don't use anymore should close them or wait to see if the store will close them here is a list of the cards and their available limits

Amazon  $900

buckle $1850

victoria secret $2200

Walmart $3500

samsclub $1000

target $1000

tj max $450

toys r us $900

lowes $5000

express $2300

kay jewlers $4500

care credit $800

Macy's $3500

justice $2100

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There are some people that collect cards and never, ever close them. Periodic use of a card may improve utilization and AAoA, but keep in mind the fine line from having credit versus having too much available credit, as well as the personal factor of willpower to only use cards for what you need instead of feeling compelled to use them.

My general line of thinking is that once the account is open, I tend to leave it open unless I know I will never use it again or if it offers no incentive to use the card again. Your list might be different from my list. I can think of some from the list that I'd keep if I carried them:

Amazon: six months promotional financing; if you're a Prime member, then you get 5% back on purchases that don't receive promotional financing.

Lowes: 5% off at Lowes, promotional financing.

Walmart: I might keep for the five cents at their gas stations, or for the eventual upgrade to their MC.

Samsclub: the option to get cash back with purchase, plus their promotional financing. Perhaps an eventual upgrade to their MC.

Target: 5% off at Target.

TJ Maxx: easy to earn certificates, effectively 5%. Synchrony will also consider for upgrade to their MC later.

Toys R Us: increased rewards for cardholders, discounts on Thursdays and Saturdays right now. I find their prices are quite often higher than other online retailers, so I'm not as crazy about their program lately.

Macy's: frequently offers frequent special sales reserved for cardholders. I don't think the Amex upgrade holds much allure now that it's tied to Plenti, however.

Some of the other cards don't offer consistent (i.e. virtually every day) discounts so it may take a while to reach certificate thresholds to make keeping them worthwhile, or perhaps you never plan to go there again. I might put Buckle, Victoria's Secret, Express, Kay Jewelers, Care Credit, and Justice in that group.

Looking at Kay Jewelers and Care Credit, these are cards that you might not use consistently, and by closing them now, with their current credit lines reporting, it could demonstrate you had credit and are not collecting it (pyramiding). I've had cards close out for non-use and sometimes they don't update the credit line fields 100% correctly and it looks like, for example, that I had a Raymour & Flanigan credit card with a whopping $0 credit line. Other issuers may factor the perceived "adverse action" (due to lack of use) and take their own adverse action. The R&F card was a prime example of something I needed at one point, but then didn't need furniture for five years and when I went back to use it, the credit line was reporting as $0 and "open" but when I spoke to the issuer they said that it was "open" but that if I wanted to buy more furniture I'd have to reapply for a new account. Depending on cash flow and frequency on vising the doctor, Care Credit is another example of something you hopefully don't need very often.