Should I close my low limit card? Will it affect utilization?

[Anonymous]

Amex- 1k

Wells fargo- 7k

Cap 1 - 500

Kay jewler- 5.1k

Jared- 2k

Credit- Exp/675             Trans: 672            Equifax- 660

My average length of credit history is 1 year 6 months ( the WF card is 4.5 years old) , 98 payment history ( credit karma), 16% utilization.  Should I close my low limit capital 1 card? Ive had for less than a year, and not sure if i should upgrade to a better Cap 1 card or combine lines when i hit the year mark? 

Also, if I max out a credit card like the capital one thats 500, but because I have big limits on my other cards, the capital 1 doesnt really affect my utiliazation rate, or a single card shouldnt be over 30% ( 10% is what most people say) regardless if the overal Utilization is low? 

[Anonymous]

Which Cap1 card is it? Does it have an annual fee?

[Anonymous]

Your idea of combining lines is certainly one option to consider, but don't you need two lines from the same CC issuer to combine?  It looks like you only have one card from Cap One.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you may be using Credit Karma as your tool for assessing your age-related factors.  Karma works fine for that if you have no closed accounts and no AU accounts.  Otherwise the values it gives you will be incorrect.

[HeavenOhio]

Welcome, @Anonymous.

There are two utilization factors to consider. One is overall utilization. The other is individual card utilization, which is determined by the card with the highest utilization.

It's easy to hit yourself hard with high utilization on a low-limit card. The general wisdom is that overall utilization of 8.9% or less and individual card utilization of 28.9% or less are the two thresholds to reach to optimize your score.

The third revolving factor has to do with the number of cards with positive balances. One positive balance is the best, although some FICO models will let you get away with more.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Amex- 1k

Wells fargo- 7k

Cap 1 - 500

Kay jewler- 5.1k

Jared- 2k

Credit- Exp/675             Trans: 672            Equifax- 660

My average length of credit history is 1 year 6 months ( the WF card is 4.5 years old) , 98 payment history ( credit karma), 16% utilization.  Should I close my low limit capital 1 card? Ive had for less than a year, and not sure if i should upgrade to a better Cap 1 card or combine lines when i hit the year mark? 

Also, if I max out a credit card like the capital one thats 500, but because I have big limits on my other cards, the capital 1 doesnt really affect my utiliazation rate, or a single card shouldnt be over 30% ( 10% is what most people say) regardless if the overal Utilization is low? 

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My advice is:

1. don't use Vantage scores (what you get from Credit Karma); just look at FICO scores

2. don't close anything right now

3. don't let any card report > 28%

4. don't let overall cards report > 8.90%

5. try to let 2 of the 3 cards report a zero balance

6. get your FICO scores

There's no major harm in dropping the smaller limit card, but there's no great advantage in it either. So hold on to it for now.

[Anonymous]

Quicksilver one, not just the Quicksilver. 39$

[Anonymous]

Does Experian.com work best? 

[Anonymous]

it would be either increasing limit at the year mark, or applying for a cap `1 venture and joining limits, correct. 

[Anonymous]

May be worth checking this link periodically to see if you are eligible to product change your current quicksilver one to another Cap1 card.

An upgrade may be a long shot but it would be nice to keep the history.

https://verified.capitalone.com/sic-ui/#/esignin?Product=Card&Action=ProductUpgrade

I take it since it's only $500 limit you haven't gotten a credit steps increase yet. Are you making progress in your 5 on time payments?

Also have you requested an increased limit yet? One of the nice things about Cap1 are that requesting increases only soft pulls your credit and don't harm your scores.