When Do I Close Credit One and Store Cards?

[Anonymous]

I am about a year into my rebuild and recently have transitioned from low CL cards from Credit One, Capital One and First Premier along with a Target and Walmart card to NFCU NRewards, AMEX ED, Venture One and a few others.  I closed my First Premier because the annual fee was coming up, I never use it and I think they are predatory.  My question is when do I or perhap should I begin to close some of the low CL cards that I will never use?  I plan on requesting the two small limit Cap One cards to have their limits moved to my Venture which will result in them being closed, is that a good idea or am I missing anything?  I prefer to keep Target because of the 5% off but I am thinking of closing Walmart and Credit One.  The Cap One Platinum is my oldest card at 18 months old.  We lived for 5 years with no credit cards at all in my post forclosure depression so that is why I have no credit cards with any age on them.  My AAOA is about 2 years I believe.

[Anonymous]

you should ditch the credit one yesterday. basically the moment you get some good cards get rid of the rebuilder stuff with AFs. store cards you can close if you don't want them but i would keep them open until they close from being dormant.

[Anonymous]

Go ahead and get rid of Credit One. Wal Mart is a card which will yield a high limit if you chat or call in for one every 4 months. Good for utilization. Buy some essential household/food items monthly carry a $50-$60 balance every other month or so to show usage in order to justify getting that limit to between $5000-$10,000.

Keep your cards open. Your scores are climbing but still in the sub 700 bucket. Just chill, carefully open attainable new accounts, get your file clean, work for maximum cli's when eligible, and keep your utilization as low as possible, no more than15% when you need to carry some balances, and 10% or less other times.

Looking at your siggy, just build your file, give it some time, and strive for 740+ scores. That will get you most any credit you want.

[Anonymous]

I'd let Credit One go ASAP. They'll drain you dry if you let them and you have other major cards already.

The store cards I'd keep if you use them.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My question is when do I or perhap should I begin to close some of the low CL cards that I will never use?

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General advice is at least 2-3 cards for scoring purposes.  Above that it's up to the individual to determine what to keep or close.  If you have at least 2-3 cards after closing the cards you're thinking of closing then go ahead.  People will tell you to do what they prefer to do such as keep everything open, keep everything with no AF open, etc but you need to decide based on your needs/wants/priorities/preferences/etc.  Yuo don't have to hoard credit to build credit despite how many tend seem to present the matter.  You definitely need to consider what you can reasonably manage and if you do keep accounts open then you must actively monitor all of them.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I plan on requesting the two small limit Cap One cards to have their limits moved to my Venture which will result in them being closed, is that a good idea or am I missing anything?

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Good is subjective just as it is on any topic.  It could be good for one person to keep such cards.  It could be good for the next to close such cards.  As long as you've considered your specific requirements and the general impact to credit (see also the Closing Credit Cards thread in the Helpful Threads sticky) you should be good to go.

[Anonymous]

Another recommend to cancel the Credit One.

Can you convert the Cap One Platinum to another card type? My wife had luck converting hers to Quicksilver. That way you can keep your oldest account. Call them and see what they say.