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@Anonymous wrote:
How does not using most of the cards you have affect the scoring ? I have about 6 or 7 but only use 1 of them for almost everything (amex,high CL), one for everything that doesn't take amex and one at a department store that issues it. The rest never really gets used. I always pay the cards in full. Should I use the rest of the cards for small amounts? Or don't bother ?
@Anonymous wrote:
I agree that closing accounts is not the best idea. Apparently, your CS is affected by the length of time you have had accounts open and the number of inquiries for new accounts. The longer you have had an account open the better. The fewer inquiries the better. I used to close accounts so that I could open others with better rates but this had the effect of lowering my credit score.
elliptic wrote:
I'd be inclined to agree with you if I didn't pay off all of my cards each month but since I do, closing CCs can't change my utilization percentage. Closing cards that I had for a long period of time affected the average length of time I have had (open) credit cards. A lower average lowered my score.
elliptic wrote:
Closing cards that I had for a long period of time affected the average length of time I have had (open) credit cards. A lower average lowered my score.
"Average length of time of open credit cards" is not a metric that FICO uses. Neither is "average age of open accounts" or anything to that effect. There is only "average age of accounts," which includes all accounts, open and closed.
Number of accounts does matter as well, but only once you have very many accounts.
vulgy1 wrote:
My two cents: For FICO scoring, as I understand it, is about utilization and age, so the number of accounts will not matter.
vulgy1 wrote:
However, hasn't Capital One been bad about reporting your Max limit? This will hurt your score if they don't.
vulgy1 wrote:
As far as getting a mortgage (need help from a mortgage loan officer) doesn't having too many cards, with a high overall credit limit, hurt your chances on getting a mortgage?
elliptic wrote:
Thanks for the clarification cheddar. I have been paying off my balances before the statement cuts. That must be the reason for the inactive status on my cards. Regarding your comment: "The score drop you referred to was not due to lower average age, but was most likely due to higher utilization.", I still don't understand since I do pay off my cards before statement dates so it can't be higher utilization.