I have two (a major department store and major banking institution) revolving accounts that have been open since 2000 and 1995 respectively, but have held a zero balance for the last several years. If I cannot re-establish usage of these accounts, will deleting them hurt my credit?

-Ena

Close 'em. If you haven't needed them in more than a year, close them. Credit companies consider how much you have outstanding, but they also consider how much you could have outstanding. If you have accounts open, then that is potential debt that you could have and it will negatively affect your credit rating.

Not by much, but it's a generally good idea to have a few good things on a credit report than lots of average things.

The length of time you've had credit, and the ratio of amount owed to the credit limit, have significant weight on your total credit score.

I'd close the department store card, just because the interest rate must be killer... But if the other is a standard credit card, I'd use it once in a while - and keep it paid off.

Depending on your other debts, keeping the bank's credit card might be more helpful to your credit rating.

Most companies will close your account internally, though still report to the credit bureaus that they are still active accounts, even though you cannot charge on them. As Techsupport said (good advice, too) you should close them, because they do lower your scores because the companies are reporting that you still have an ability to spend with them. Most companies require that you close an account in writing before they will report accurate information to the credit reporting companies. Deleting them will not hurt your credit rating, it will help it.

Thank You Guys!! I have been trying to figure out what I should do about these accounts for the longest! I really feel more informed.

Ena :)

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Originally Posted by enajenkins

Thank You Guys!!!! I have been trying to figure out what I should do about these accounts for the longest! I really feel more informed.

Ena :)

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if your credit cards haven't been used say for over 6 months to a year, most companys will label them inactive. To reopen the accounts you'd have to apply again. To be sure, send a letter to the companies in question and find out what their policy is. Also let them know you haven't been using them for a while. They can flag or de-activate the cards and keep them from being used by anyone else. Also as a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to keep a major credit card like visa for emergencies. Ex. Sickness car trouble and or home repair like a repapir man coming out to the house or condo. Ask the credit card companies to alert you for transactions on an unsued card. This way you can protect yourself about credit card fraud.

If you do cancel the cards, it will be a slight hit to your credit. But when you do cancel(or if) send letters to the 3 major credit bearuroes explaining why you cancelled. This will appear on your credit report for prospective lenders to see.