Dear All:

My wife and I currently have many cards (probably at least 20 between the two of us) open...most do not have an annual fee. Howerver, we both have excellent credit scores (780 ish) and I am considering applying for a couple of new cards in the next few months.

My questions is, I am wondering if it makes sense to close a few of the inactive cards now...so that we have more "available credit" with companies that are reviewing our upcoming applications. Or, would closing the cards at this time be counterproductive because it would show more recent activity re our credit--in addition to opening and closing many cards over the years we are starting a refi on our house---Any ideas or suggestion by those of you who understand credit/credit scores better than I do would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S. Needless to say, I have no use now or in the future for the cards I want to close--its just a matter of picking the right time to close them. My inclination is just not to close them all at once, but to wait until we get approved (hopefully) on the upcoming apps.

Closing old accounts can have a negative to your credit score.

1. Your total revolving credit is going to decrease which will lead to higher utilization.
2. If they are old account, your average age for credit account is also going to decrease.

Try to put a few charges a year on these old 'inactive' cards to stop the banks from closing the cards due to inactivity.

If you are starting a refi on your house, they will look at total credit available to you. Depending on the lines on those inactive cards, they may decide that your available credit to income ratio is to high and will consider you a higher risk for the refi. Look at all the open cards, close the newer inactive ones (so you don't hurt your average age too much) and like g11 said, put some small minor charges on the remainders so they aren't closed for inactivity

Dont do it I did and it messed my credit up