Hi all, I currently have these eight cards: Citibank Platinum Select Visa Chase Platinum Master Card MBNA Platinum Visa Discover Platinum AMEX Optima Platinum AMEX Blue Household Bank Gold Card Providian Visa Card I'm thinking of getting rid of a few of these cards, but will this hurt my overall credit score? I have a $300 balance on my Blue card, but I paid off the balances on my other cards some time ago. How many credit cards are recommended to get a high score? By the way, none of these cards have annual fees. Thanks.
Steve, Congrats on your great credit. If you consider getting rid of any of your cards I would suggest closing two at a time and then waiting a couple months before closing anymore. I would probably suggest getting rid of the Providian and the Household Bank. I would keep 4 or 5 of them. How are your interest rates on these cards? MBNA, Amex Blue, Amex Optima Plantium and Chase are all good cards. Hope this helps. Dani
You have some fine cards there. What are you APR's and limits and how long have you had the accounts?? I think 4-5 cards are always the safest bet, and I would think Providian and household look like the ones to drop if you were to drop any. What are your balances/limits? Sometimes closing too much avaiable credit could hurt your scores but if they are all reasonably low I wouldn't worry about it. Also I agree with DAni, if you do decide to close just close 1 or 2 at a time and then wait a few months before closing another one.
I've had the Providian card for the longest time so I don't know if I should cancel this one. Is it better to cancel any of them or should I carry 5 of them in my wallet and keep the rest at home for safety reasons? Will having this many cards with a good history help me get a car loan later or do I have to reduce the number to 5?
