@Anonymous wrote:
Trying to learn what I can about credit. How does it affect your credit score when you close a credit card with a balance? And if you have more than one credit card is it better for your credit score as well?
FICO still scores the CC as if it were open provided a balance is other than $0 and a CL is showing and it's not a negative to be in that situation. Many lenders have closed cards due to status, bank mergers, product changes, etc. Once the balance reaches $0, then FICO will forever remove the balance and CL from utilization. The closed card will still factor into your mix of credit as would the payment history, score certain TL comments, length of history, etc.
Yes, having more than one card will improve your mix of credit. It's very possible to hit into the low to mid 700s with only one CC. Some have recorded higher scores with a longer history. But it is extremely difficult to hit 800 with only one CC. Conversely, it is easy to hit into the 800s with a solid length of credit history with only CCs. Ideally, you'd want 3 CCs reporting for max impact to your mix of credit with maybe one of those being a charge/store card.
