Length of Credit

[Anonymous]

 I started rebuilding my credit about 2 years ago, went from a 575 to all upper 700s across the board. I am now thinking about closing my Fortiva card due to their high fees. I was wondering how bad will it affect my score and if it is a good idea. 

[KJinNC]

It could hurt your score if it drops you below three open cards. It could hurt your score if closing it causes your overall credit card utilization percentage to increase significantly. Otherwise, it will not hurt your score. Closed accounts are still part of your score for ~10 years.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, i thought so. I only have a limit of 1000 and i have more than about 10 cards. 

[Anonymous]

My only concern would be utilization shifting.  That's it.  Dropping from 3 cards to 2 cards IMO is irrelevant overall and if it means saving in fees I'd be all for that. 

One can possess 800+ credit scores with 1 CC, so the common theme on this forum that 3+ is ideal in my view is overstated.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you, i thought so. I only have a limit of 1000 and i have more than about 10 cards. 

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Definitely let it go then, no questions asked.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Thought so 

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 I started rebuilding my credit about 2 years ago, went from a 575 to all upper 700s across the board. I am now thinking about closing my Fortiva card due to their high fees. I was wondering how bad will it affect my score and if it is a good idea. 

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Drop it. Dropping it won't hurt your scores.

[Anonymous]

Most people want to get a higher score sooner though, so that’s why they are advised to have more than one card. Additionally it helps to have more cards to hit lower thresholds on the mortgage scores.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Most people want to get a higher score sooner though, so that’s why they are advised to have more than one card. Additionally it helps to have more cards to hit lower thresholds on the mortgage scores.

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Right and I get that for profiles where 15-25 points may "matter" which for many on the forum is the case.  For those that already have 800+ scores, those extra points are far less meaningful.

My recommendation to have more than 1 card would have nothing to do with credit score at all and everything to do with not putting all of your eggs in one basket (possible card closure, AA, etc).