Is there a smart way to close old credit card accounts without affecting credit report?

I have some old credit cards that have simply gone inactive over the years. I refrain from closing the accounts, because I've always heard it looks bad for you to close accounts on your credit report. There's got to be a smart way of doing this though instead of keeping old accounts open for no reason.|||The length of a positive credit history counts for about 15% of your credit score. The longer you maintain accounts in good standing, the better your score will be. This shows that you are able to make a long-term commitment to a creditor and are consistently responsible about making your payments. Generally speaking, if you have accounts with long history (five or more years) and no missed payments, you should keep these open and with a zero balance. I do not know of any method in which you can close your account and have it not impact your credit rating. Below, I will provide you with information regarding other factors that influence your credit rating.





1. Payment history


Payment history counts for approximately 35% of a score. It is the most heavily weighted factor used in calculating your credit score. Consistently paying your bills on time has a positive influence on your score, while late or missed payments will hurt you in this area.





2. Total debt and total available credit


Total debt and total available credit counts for about 30%. This section looks at how much debt you have compared to the total available credit on your accounts. If all of your accounts are maxed out, you will be considered a poor credit risk, because it appears that you are struggling to pay off the debt you have already incurred.





If your account balances are relatively low compared to your available credit, this part of the risk analysis should help your overall credit score. The score calculation also looks at these two factors independently.





Having too much available credit, whether you have used it or not, could hurt your credit score, as statistical studies have shown that people with excessive amounts of available credit are a higher credit risk. Unfortunately, the bureaus do not define exactly what they consider excessive, so best tip is to use credit conservatively and to keep your debt-to-credit limit ratio low.





3. Mix of types of credit


Mix of types of credit counts for approximately 10%. Having several different types of credit, such a credit cards, consumer loans, and secured debt, will have a positive influence on your credit score. Having too much of one type of credit can have a negative impact.





4. New credit applications


The number of new credit applications you have recently completed accounts for about 10% of your score. Applying for too much new credit in a short time period makes indicates that you could be credit risk, as you may be desperately trying to keep your head above water. The models make an exception for people who are shopping around for a loan, so if you are simply applying to see who can give you the best rate on a new loan, you need not worry too much about damaging your credit score.





While you cannot calculate your own credit score accurately, you can review your credit report for on the five factors named above to get an idea of whether the accounts listed on your credit report are hurting or helping your credit score. You can then take action to improve any potential problems, such as paying down your balances or paying off collection items.





To learn more please visit an article I wrote FICO Score Calculation. Another article you may want to read is Credit Card Changes, Opting-Out, and Credit Rating.





I hope this information helps you Find. Learn %26amp; Save.





Best,


Bill


www.bills.com/blog/|||Nope...closing the account wipes out the payment history and reduces your available credit ratio - both actions will lower your score.|||its not for no reason. part of your credit score is based on what you owe vs. the amount of credit you have. even if you dont use the cards the amount of credit available goes toward that percentage|||Utilization of credit accounts for 30% of your credit score... what about your other revolving credit lines? Do you keep a zero/low balance on these accounts. If so, you are getting all of the possible points from that area.





Length of credit history only accounts for 10% of your credit score. If you close these accounts and they have been in good standing then they will remain on your credit report indefinitely. It will not automatically be deleted. If you have other old accounts, then don't worry about it. It may cost you a point or 2 but it will not kill you. Banks look at more than credit score when approving loans. Some lenders look at a lot of available credit as a risk. You could easily go into debt with little effort.





In short, if you have a solid score and a good payment history then don't worry about it.|||I guess the smartest thing would be to close them slowly (one every 6 months or so) and not close them within a year before you are going to apply for a loan.





But I would just keep them open.|||You can use this credit monitoring service to pre-estimate future scores for different scenarios of such payments - buildcredit.ifastnet.com