Should I Close Or Leave Open My Credit Card To Raise My Credit Score?
by Mr Credit CardHello, I am paying off most of my credit cards (about 10,000). My question is regarding my credit score, should I close the accounts or leave them open. I want to raise my credit score.
Thank you.Denise Pianforte
Answer – The simple answer is you should leave them open and just put them in the drawer if you do not want to use them. The reason is because two of the important factors that affect your credit score are the credit utilization ratio and the length of your credit history.
The credit utilization ratio is simply the amount of balance you carry versus the amount of available credit that has been granted to you. The lower the ratio the better. Closing your account will reduce the amount of available credit to you.
The longer the history of the credit line the better for your score. So keeping your accounts open helps a lot. As a best practice, charge some items to your card even if you do not want to use them. This is because credit card issuers are now more strict and are closing dormant accounts.
Lastly, Congratulations on your credit card debt reduction efforts.
October 1st, 2009 at 23:17
Also, it is very very important to remember that most credit card companies will cancel a credit card account that has not been used in a long time. The best thing to do is to use every card at least once every couple months even if it is just for small purchases and then make sure and pay off the cards every month of course.