Closing credit card accounts

nuthouseleader

I’ve managed to pay off a couple of credit cards (yay) and am not expecting to have to use them again in the immediate future (also yay). Am I best to leave them dormant, or close the accounts? Is just having a credit card -even if it’s not in use - good or bad for your rating? Is it better to (if I should need to use one at a later date) reapply or reuse?
Thanks!

[Deleted User]

It depends on what accounts and history you have.  There is no 'rating' for it to effect - the status of your accounts will be interpreted by each lender when they search your files.

As long as you have a number of accounts and at least two or three credit cards that you use regularly, you could close any that aren't needed.

sasha20

Having too many credit card where you have a high amount of "open to buy" is not great as lenders look at this when making their lending decisions. The point here is that if you were to go spending on all of these cards, you may fall into a spiral that won't be able to sustain in terms of payments.

However, this is all relative. If you only have 2 or 3 credit cards in total and 2 of them have no balance, that is not a big deal at all - if it was me, I'd close the one you absolutely know you will not use (the worst of the two) and keep the other if it's worth keeping. Given the current climate, you should assess whether you might need to borrow if your circumstances changed and if so, whether you'd consider using one of these cards. If you would, then maybe keep them open for 2-3 months and then see?