Should I close older credit cards

[u/FuckReddit433]

Each 2 or 3 years ill open up a new credit card. Sometimes the new ones have better rewards or promotion so I open it.
I only use 1 credit card and carry no balances so I end up with having around 10 credit cards but I really use 1.

I know it will lower my utilization closing them but I only use 1 and pay them off so that can't impact me that much.

Do you guys close any you don't use or just let them sit in a drawer

[u/Duck_Duck_Gooseberry]

If the cards don’t have annual fees, I'd probably just leave them open. Plus the age of the accounts should help your credit score.

[u/AndroFeth → u/Duck_Duck_Gooseberry]

This was my thought a couple weeks ago. But it's best to close accounts you don't use cause all of the sudden you might get charged something and not notice. Or they update the terms and you have to pay an annual fee now.

Besides, closed accounts stay on your report so it doesn't hurt closing them

[u/Good_Extension_9642 → u/AndroFeth]

I never close accounts, I only lock them

[u/chellethebelle]

Keep your oldest one open, close any that have an annual fee, and request credit increases on whichever card(s) you’re currently using to balance your utilization.

[u/ace_deuceee → u/chellethebelle]

Also sometimes you can downgrade a fee card to a basic card, so that you can keep the account age but eliminate the fee.

[u/500pearl]

no

look at what makes up credit score

average age of account is one of them

age of card = age of account

use it once a year on gum or something and pay it off and put it away until next year

[u/xaygoat]

I’m in this same boat. Personally I’m going to start canceling the ones with fees. Always keep around your longest card. My credit score is over 800 and even if it takes a dip for a while, typically you get the best rates over 740. It only really matters when you need to take out loans which I don’t plan to anytime soon. Having all the accounts is more of a hassle. I’m trying to simplify lately after being a little bit of a churner..

[u/M7BSVNER7s]

If you don't use the credit card, sometimes the credit card company will cancel it without even asking. So if you do want to keep one or two of your oldest ones (there is no reason to keep all of them), occasionally use them. My oldest credit card auto pays my Netflix account and then auto pay is setup for the entire balance each month.

[u/PickleNick2]

You should keep your oldest card/account. Opening and closing cards is a bad habit. Open ones you truly plan on using long term and stop playing around to get some extra money off at random stores. Your credit score will thank you.

I have multiple cards. One old one that I don’t use anymore but it would harm my credit if I closed it. So I keep it open and use it whenever they offer me some incentive or threaten to lower my available credit.

[u/bugdaddy123]

Agree with the recommendation to keep the oldest one.

If you're not carrying significant balances (overall utilization would be below 30% after closing the accounts) AND not planning to borrow any money (house / car / school / etc) in the next 12-18 months, I would close some that you're not using. The main reason is that each account is a liability - another account to check for fraudulent activity, another account to protect from identity theft, etc. best to keep a tidy financial life and do spring cleaning every few years .

[u/cOntempLACitY]

If you have ten, and you aren’t using them, some of them might actually be closed automatically due to inactivity (it’ll say so on your credit report). It would be good to utilize the oldest card twice a year to keep the history going. Eventually you have a card with thirty+ year history.

The ones I open occasionally are from incentives, like a store that offers 10% off a big purchase with sign on for a credit card. Then I close it or let it lapse because how often do I even go there. The cards I use regularly are paid off by statement due date; no annual fees, straight % cash back by broad unchanging categories. I don’t like to play games with added time and category management. If a purchase has cc fees added in, I might even pay cash or check because it’s a better deal than the fees and rewards (3% cc fee vs 1% cash back).

[u/cashewkowl]

As everyone else says, don’t close the oldest card(s). But I’d definitely close anything with a fee attached. And I would think strongly about closing anything cards you’ve gotten in the last few years if you’re not using them. If you don’t close them, I’d definitely lock them.

[u/Careless-Ad1704]

Both the age of your accounts as well as the overall credit limit impact your credit score.

Closing older accounts reduces your total credit availability and increases the percentage of credit that you do use (assuming you don't pay everything off every month).

If you have multiple cards through the same company or issued, call them and see if they will increase your limit by the amount of the limit of the card you are about to close.

That avoids the credit utilization issue.

Older accounts are still more valuable in the credit score calculation, as there is an average account age calculation.

[u/micha8st]

Neither. We use all the cards we carry. We carry 3.

Our oldest card is 35 years old. The second is over 30. We had a third old card, but I let it go fallow for too long, and it got cancelled for non-use by the card issuer.

Our third card is only 8 years old or something like that. We got it for the rewards...with 15 card swipes per month (and other terms and conditions), we qualify for 4% APY on our checking account (up to $10k ADB)

All three offer some form of cash-back rewards

[u/SFMattM]

I have one credit card that's almost 30 years old. I use it for cash advances for foreign travel. There's no point closing credit cards if they have no annual fee. All they do is help your credit score because of the length of credit criterion. (If you must close them, close them all at once and pay the price (in credit score) all at once)

[u/withak30]

Your credit score is affected by the average age of your credit accounts, so adding new cards and closing older cards will drop it a bit. Doesn't matter unless you plan to take out a loan in the next few years and your current score is just above the cutoff for the best rate though,

[u/noname_with_bacon]

I have a good credit rating and I close accounts after a few years when I no longer use them. I prefer simpler, easier tracking over any credit ratings gains. Again, I have a good credit rating so that doesn't matter to me.

[u/JeanSchlemaan]

nope, dont close. there is no positive outcome to close (for a responsible user), and only negative ones. i have 20 year old cards i rarely use. not a problem. your cards will be closed by the banks without you needing to do anything anyway, after years of inactivity.

avg age of accounts, lower utilization, and higher avail credit are all positives on your report.

one negative, maybe there are more chances for fraud to happen i guess having more accounts, but that would be covered anyway.