@modernsurrender wrote:I think that given your relatively strong feelings on the issue, and the additional info of having 50K credit with 3 of 10 cards making up less than 10% of your available credit - that you should probably worry less about how we feel and do what you want
Thanks. I actually don't have strong feelings. I just thought closing would be easier than keeping them open and trying to make sure I spend a little on it ever month then pay it off. I mean I can just use the money on my other 7 cards and get good rewards. I was thinking that maybe I was missing something and it would actually hurt me in the long run.
Does it matter If I just don't use the cards until they decide to cancel them. Does that look different on my credit report than if I cancelled it myself?
Bump. Does anyone know the answer to the question above.
@unc0mm0n1 wrote:Ok so I currently have way more cards than I need my current lineup is:
Chase Freedom
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Priority Club
AMEX BCE
Discover It
USAA Platinum Master Card
NFCU nRewards
USAA Secured Visa
USAA Visa
USAA AMEX
I hear a lot of people talking about sock drawering cards, but I don't truly understand it. I don't think I'm going to use the bottom 3 cards ever again. The secured Visa will go away in a couple of months when my CD matures and I don't Re-up. The other two I want to sock drawer. Can I just not use them anymore? Will that hurt my credit? My utility is currently 1% and I always PIF for all of my cards. The credit limits on those cards are pretty low anyway (1k, 1k and 1.5K) so it won't affect my utility at all. I don't think they would reduce my credit limits since they are already so low but I'm afraid of a lender initiated closing if I never use them. Do they do this? Does this hurt your CS? Thanks in advance guys.
Closing accounts will only affect your utilization, as the closed account will stay on your CR for 10 years, if I'm not mistaken. People that always PIF, however, will most likely not be affected at all. I don't think people that have $20K+ in total credit have too much to worry about in regards to closing some unused CCs.
Thanks for the insight.
@unc0mm0n1 wrote:Does it matter If I just don't use the cards until they decide to cancel them. Does that look different on my credit report than if I cancelled it myself?
I found the answer from modcut Director of public relations for Fico:
[Bank initiated] card cancellations can impact your credit score in a couple of ways. Credit card companies provide a code for every account they close, denoting the reason the card was canceled. A cancellation due to delinquency or default will ding your credit score. Any other reason should not.
So I will just sock drawer them until they expire or USAA decides to close them. Then i'll start my ten years from that point. Thanks everybody for the great answers and insight.
Thread was edited to remove individual's names.
Thanks,
webhopper