Unused Credit Cards

peter312

I have three credit card accounts, one I use and pay off every month and two that are unused.

If I close the unused credit card accounts, will it improve my credit rating or does it make no difference?

Many thanks

[Deleted User]

It would be wise to keep and use at least a couple of them so you have a back up.

peter312

Thanks for the response. I will likely keep one of them. They both have high credit limits and my concern is that have these facilities available to me will make me less attractive to other financial institutions (e.g. the next time I want a bank loan).

[Deleted User]

What are the limits and what's your income?

peter312

credit limit on each card is c. 20% of my salary

PixelPound

If total liability is less than annual salary then it shouldn't matter. Another consideration is how old the cards are. If you close a card that has been open the longest it will decrease credit score, but it is only a minor factor.

You don't have an excessive number of cards nor total liability, and as you clear each month, no real detriment to closing them. You could also phone up the 2 that you are thinking of closing and saying you are going to close them and see if they will make an offer to keep them open, such as promo rate. Though maybe that isn't important to you if you are clearing balance of the one you use each time.

peter312

Thank you for your reply.

Ben8282

It would make very little difference. 3 credit cards is not a lot of cards. It might be a good idea to actually use the other 2 cards though instead of leaving them completely unused all the time.

PixelPound

Well close them or use them seems to be the views. No point in unused credit cards staying unused (potential risk is you forget they exist and don't miss the replacements when they go missing)..

What we really need to know from the OP is the ultimate goal - why they want to improve their rating by taking action with the cards. Credit building for the sake of it is pointless, its just a number you see. Wanting high just in case some day you ever may need to apply for credit but nothing definite at present is little use too as so many things can affect it more than a couple of unused cards

saywhatimean

I have a cc with a high limit and don't use it
Due to change in circumstances I probably won't get the same high limit
If close account, wil it enhance the chance of getting another card?

[Deleted User]

If it's your only card, probably not.