Closing useless accounts question

[erdoganog]

Hi everyone

I was planning on closing around 3-4 of my accounts that i barely use and have no good use of

I was wondering if i did this all at one time would it be a question mark on my credit files?

Like lets say would my other lenders see this as a negative and question me?

Since its not like 1 account and more of around 4

valero card  700 paypal card 4k barclaysmastercard  3k and amex blue cash (because they never give me over 2k limit for 3 years)  (i have other banks with over 10K limits)

I am aware of this reducing my debt to credit ratio as well as my credit age

Thanks all!

[Anonymous]

i dont think it would do a lot of harm. but start closing lowest limit first, and leave amex if its not charging you an anual fee.

GL

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@erdoganog wrote:

Hi everyone

I was planning on closing around 3-4 of my accounts that i barely use and have no good use of

I was wondering if i did this all at one time would it be a question mark on my credit files?

Like lets say would my other lenders see this as a negative and question me?

Since its not like 1 account and more of around 4

valero card  700 paypal card 4k barclaysmastercard  3k and amex blue cash (because they never give me over 2k limit for 3 years)  (i have other banks with over 10K limits)

I am aware of this reducing my debt to credit ratio as well as my credit age

Thanks all!

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[Tonya-E]

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@Anonymous wrote:

i dont think it would do a lot of harm. but start closing lowest limit first, and leave amex if its not charging you an anual fee.

GL

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@erdoganog wrote:

Hi everyone

I was planning on closing around 3-4 of my accounts that i barely use and have no good use of

I was wondering if i did this all at one time would it be a question mark on my credit files?

Like lets say would my other lenders see this as a negative and question me?

Since its not like 1 account and more of around 4

valero card  700 paypal card 4k barclaysmastercard  3k and amex blue cash (because they never give me over 2k limit for 3 years)  (i have other banks with over 10K limits)

I am aware of this reducing my debt to credit ratio as well as my credit age

Thanks all!

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I agree with sapingo. I can't say if things have changed but around 2012 I closed 3 cards around the same time. My scores weren't hurt by it. But I would keep the Amex if you have no fees.

[chwebb1]

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@erdoganog wrote:

Hi everyone

I was planning on closing around 3-4 of my accounts that i barely use and have no good use of

I was wondering if i did this all at one time would it be a question mark on my credit files?

Like lets say would my other lenders see this as a negative and question me?

Since its not like 1 account and more of around 4

valero card  700 paypal card 4k barclaysmastercard  3k and amex blue cash (because they never give me over 2k limit for 3 years)  (i have other banks with over 10K limits)

I am aware of this reducing my debt to credit ratio as well as my credit age

Thanks all!

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I'd personally keep the Barclaycard and AMEX Blue Cash. What Barclaycard do you have? As far as the Blue Cash, I assume you've asked for a CLI? If so, what reason(s) do they give for the decline? How heavily do you use your Barclaycard? They're generally pretty good at Auto-CLIs once they see that you use their card responsibly.

[SnackTrader]

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@erdoganog wrote:

Hi everyone

I was planning on closing around 3-4 of my accounts that i barely use and have no good use of

I was wondering if i did this all at one time would it be a question mark on my credit files?

Like lets say would my other lenders see this as a negative and question me?

Since its not like 1 account and more of around 4

valero card  700 paypal card 4k barclaysmastercard  3k and amex blue cash (because they never give me over 2k limit for 3 years)  (i have other banks with over 10K limits)

I am aware of this reducing my debt to credit ratio as well as my credit age

Thanks all!

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Closing cards will not reduce your credit age. Please read here:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Closing-Credit-Cards/m-p/347190?jump=true

Have you requested a credit limit increase from Amex? They are usually very good with limits when you ask, so I'm surprised if they have denied you each time. But I agree with everyone else, if it doesn't have an annual fee, keep it open. The lenders will close the cards for inactivity eventually once you stop making new purchases on the card. 

[takeshi74]

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@erdoganog wrote:

I was wondering if i did this all at one time would it be a question mark on my credit files?

Like lets say would my other lenders see this as a negative and question me?

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See the Closing Credit Cards thread linked above as those are the major concerns, not the number of accounts or "question marks".  Creditors vary so you can't worry about what every possible creditor might or might not think about a given action.  The effects mentioned in the thread should be your focus.

As for whether or not to keep all cards without an AF open, that's a popular mindset here but it's not a one-size-fits-all matter.  You need to decide based on your preferences and priorities -- not those of others.  If you have no use for the cards, have calculated and considered the impact to your utilization, don't intend to actively monitor the cards, etc then you probably should just close them.

[erdoganog]

I have tried couple times this past year (2014)

I always get the "too many new accounts and inq" reason Which i have been shopping for new car deals 2 different times at the dealer, the first time i ended up leaving because of nonsense $$$ charges but at the time they did inq and plenty of it at various banks

Then in oct 2014 i went again to a different nissan dealer got a good total deal and of course they did plenty inq as well with various banks 

Thats all i have i did use the amex once in a while all these years i never have late payments on any accounts,  under 10% limit to debt ratio always all these years

And have some cards in the 10K range i just think amex doesnt like me lol

As far as the barclays its the rewards mastercard one i used it bunch of times for gas and some small stuff i did however bring that up from $500 in march 2013 to now over 3K

[mitchblue]

No AF, I'd keep them open. At least Barclay and Amex. If you're really set on not using just run them through a shredder. Just one man's opinion.

Btw, Barclay Rewards is great for 2% off utilities, cell phone, cable bill..