Credit experts advise against closing credit cards, even when you're not using them, for good reason. “Canceling a credit card has the potential to reduce your score, not increase it,” says Beverly Harzog, credit card expert and consumer finance analyst for U.S. News & World Report.
Canceling a credit card can shorten the average age of all accounts, which can negatively affect your score. If your score has already dropped due to other negative items, such as late payments or large debt balances, it's probably best to keep the account open instead of closing it.
Bottom Line. If you don't use a particular credit card, you won't see an impact on your credit score as long as the card stays open. But the consequences to inactive credit card accounts could have an unwanted effect if the bank decides to close your card.
Highlights: Paid accounts that are inactive may be closed by the lender after a certain period of time. You may not be notified before this happens. The cancellation may impact your debt to credit utilization ratio and your mix of credit accounts.
And if you don't use your credit card for 6 months or more, the issuer could close your account. But there's no standard timeframe for when a credit card issuer will decide to close an account due to inactivity.
How many credit cards is too many or too few? Credit scoring formulas don't punish you for having too many credit accounts, but you can have too few. Credit bureaus suggest that five or more accounts — which can be a mix of cards and loans — is a reasonable number to build toward over time.
Credit cards are safer to carry than cash and offer stronger fraud protections than debit. You can earn significant rewards without changing your spending habits. It's easier to track your spending. Responsible credit card use is one of the easiest and fastest ways to build credit.
Credit cards can help you build credit while offering rewards perks. However, if you aren't responsible with your credit card, you could land yourself in debt and undo all of those benefits. It's better to live without a credit card if you don't feel like you can manage it responsibly.
Credit experts advise against closing credit cards, even when you're not using them, for good reason. “Canceling a credit card has the potential to reduce your score, not increase it,” says Beverly Harzog, credit card expert and consumer finance analyst for U.S. News & World Report.
If your card has an annual fee, there's generally no reason to cancel early. Instead, wait until the annual fee posts to your card's account or just before. Most banks and credit card companies have a grace period of at least 30 days where you can cancel the card and still get the annual fee refunded.
Your score is based on the average age of all your accounts, so closing the one that's been open the longest could lower your score the most. Closing a new account will have less of an impact.
It is better to keep unused credit cards open than to cancel them because even unused credit cards with a $0 balance will still report positive information to the credit bureaus each month. It is especially worthwhile to keep an unused credit card open when the account does not have an annual fee.
New or First Credit Card
If you've just started using credit and recently got your first credit card, it's best to keep that card open for at least six months. That's the minimum amount of time for you to build a credit history to calculate a credit score.
If your goal is to get or maintain a good credit score, two to three credit card accounts, in addition to other types of credit, are generally recommended. This combination may help you improve your credit mix. Lenders and creditors like to see a wide variety of credit types on your credit report.
Closing a credit card account can affect your credit score and credit history as well. But it may not be the case in every instance. If the card you are cancelling has a high credit limit, it can raise your utilisation ratio and reduce your credit score.
It's a good idea to pay off your credit card balance in full whenever you're able. Carrying a monthly credit card balance can cost you in interest and increase your credit utilization rate, which is one factor used to calculate your credit scores.
Credit cards provide various advantages and disadvantages for Australians. They offer perks like rewards programs and frequent flyer miles. However, they can also be expensive if you don't make repayments on time. Credit cards can be useful if you can avoid major credit card debt.
Golden Rule No. 1: Pay 100 per cent of your credit card bills as far as possible. This way you will reduce your interest outgo to a bare minimum.