FICO score

[Anonymous]

My husband and I take advantage of different promotions from time to time (ex. home renovation) by opening credit card at the improvement stores etc. After we pay off the balance before the "no payment/no interest" promo ends should we still use those cards from time to time or it's ok to have the company close the account for lack of activity. I know that closing the account by us hurts the FICO score bu tI'm not sure if the same rule applies if the company closes it. I really would like to get rid off some of the cards but I'm afraid it'll do more harm than help.

Urszula

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!

Be sure to read Closing Credit Cards.

[RobertEG]

Closing a card is not generally beneficial, but at the same time, it does not always hurt.

What you primarily lose when closing a CC is the CL on your card in your % util calculation, so if its CL is high, it may hurt a lot, but if just a low CL card, the affect is minimal.

Closing of an account, either by you or the creditor, does not remove it from your AAoA calculation for normally ten years from its closing date.  So no short term inpact.

If your overall CL is high wth the long term cards that you maintain, and they have a longer credit history, then your inpact is minimal.

I think your FICO concern may be more on the short term impact in OPENING those new cards, rather than CLOSING them.  Each time you open a new account, you take a hit for the new inquiry for one year, and also shorten your average age of accounts.