<p>It is correct that if you have too many credit lines, even if balance is, your credit score could be negative impacted. I had that on my credit report as explaination why my score was lower than expected. I had store CCs which I wasn’t using - opened to take advantage of discount (open today to get 10% additional discount). I did go ahead to close them and my scores went up. The mortgage broker was correct.</p>
<p>When we gave our kids our AmEx cards, they did ask for their SS #.</p>
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<p>99 times out of 100, your credit score will go down if you close your accounts. My credit scores are higher this year than last year because I have more credit available. I guess you are the rare exception.</p>
<p>I don’t think you are correct.</p>
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<p>I am right. Here is just one example that shows this:</p>
<p>[Understanding</a> the Credit to Debt Ratio.](<a href=“http://www.debtsteps.com/credit-to-debt-ratio.html]Understanding”>http://www.debtsteps.com/credit-to-debt-ratio.html)</p>
<p>Here’s another link:</p>
<p>[Can</a> Canceling Credit Cards Help My Debt Ratio? | eHow.com](<a href=“http://www.ehow.com/info_11385105_can-canceling-credit-cards-debt-ratio.html]Can”>http://www.ehow.com/info_11385105_can-canceling-credit-cards-debt-ratio.html)</p>
<p>Cancelling a card is a different issue, insomniatic. That is not what we are talking about. Many lenders do not want to extend credit to people who have a large amount of available credit. What I discussed above was reducing the amount of available credit- not cancelling the card.</p>
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<p>Oldfort said cancelling a card will improve your credit scores. That is a false statement.</p>
<p>Lenders look at your FICO score. If you have any score about 750, then that means you are doing very well.</p>
<p>With as high up in the finance world as oldfort is, I would tend to take her word.
And I am responding to your post #33 (and 37), which are not correct.</p>
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<p>I can care less if oldfort is Warren Buffett, she is wrong on this issue. Posts #33 and #37 are correct. If you care to show proof that I am wrong, then I would like to see the proof.</p>
<p>You are talking about credit to debt ratio, which is part of credit score calculation, but not all. Everyone is limited to certain amount of credit, based on income. When the income is not able support amount of credit, it could negative impact your ability to get additional credit. This is from the first article you posted.
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<p>After all, your credit score is an indication to any lender if they should lend you any more money.</p>
<p>insomniatic- you keep conflating cancelling a credit card with reducing the available credit on a card. They are NOT the same.</p>
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<p>You are actually right. It CAN impact, not WILL impact. Like I stated already, if you have any FICO score above 750, you will have no problem getting a car loan, etc.</p>
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<p>I am not conflating anything. Those two issues are separate. I would love to see some facts that dispute my points though.</p>
<p>Credit utilization rate only accounts for 30% of a FICO score</p>
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<p>And the sky is blue.</p>
<p>This is from another source:
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<p>If you think about it, when it comes to credit analysis it is all done with common sense.</p>
<p>Enough, insomniac. Go play elsewhere.</p>
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<p>Can you post the link please.</p>
<p>Credit card issuers largely don’t care about assets. Credit cards are unsecured debt. Even if you have a house and a car, there is no guarantee to a credit card issuer that if you default that they could collect on any of your assets.</p>
<p>They do care about income. If you have high income and no debt, you are much less likely to default.</p>
<p>They also care about you charging a lot. Even if you pay no interest, they collect transaction fees from merchants. </p>
<p>Recent laws regarding credit cards, debit cards and other banking have put a squeeze on banks’ profits. The banks are trying to make up for it by increasing monthly fees, penalty fees, and extending more credit on high interest accounts.</p>
<p>Having high credit limits can either be good or bad. It is not one or the other. Creditors like seeing that other creditors have given you a lot of credit in the past. It means others saw you as reliable. On the other hand creditors dislike seeing excessive credit beyond what your income suggests you can pay back.</p>
<p>The short answer is there is no hard and fast rule. You have to weigh your personal comfort level, the risk of stolen cards running up debt, and effect on credit score. </p>
<p>And you cannot “guess” what the effect on your score would be. There are tools on the internet that will help you estimate whether your score will go up or down with less credit.</p>
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<p>I provided links with facts. You haven’t. You know you are wrong. Just say it. You don’t have to act like an immature child.</p>