@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone. I recently made the mistake of opening 7 store card accounts to broaden my credit mix.
Yikes. You don't need a number of store cards for mix. The benefit of store cards in mix is debatable. It's really installments that tend to help with mix. Store cards aren't necessary for scoring purposes.
@Anonymous wrote:
I got the store cards, and they lowered my AAOA, which I knew would happen. What I didn't anticipate was the 50 point hit that my score took. I'm assuming it was a combination of the inquiries and reduction in AAOA, although I don't know which had a greater impact. I'm debating whether I should cancel some of the store cards. I have no balances on them, no need for them , I only got them because I didn't have much of a credit "mix" in my file. If I were to cancel 4 or 5 of the store cards to boost my AAOA, will the closed accounts look bad on my report (even though I closed them)?
As always, one can refer to this thread on closing cards. This thread is linked in the Helpful Threads sticky in the Credit Cards subforum.
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&thread.id=117125&jump=true
Do not apply for credit for scoring purposes. Make sure you're using your needs/wants to find suitable products for you. If you didn't need the store cards you should have not applied for them in the first place. That said, you've already opened them and the damage has already been done. As the linked thread indicates, closing them will not increase your AAoA. If you can make use of the cards then do so. If you have absolutely no use for them then you might as well close them out.
If you want to increase your score then start on fixing the issues that affect the major factors first:
http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx
Hit the Rebuilding subforum and see what you can do to address your derogs since they're likely affecting your Payment History. Get your revolving utilization (falls under Amounts Owed) in check. Types of Credit is a very small slice.
