I actually canceled a couple of my cards and it didn’t hurt my score. I was always told it would until I asked the loan officer at Tinker and she said it doesn’t effect it.
What will effect your score is the available credit vs. how much is borrowed. If you reduce your available credit, it will impact your score. However, it may only change a couple points or an immaterial change to the score.
I canceled a card with a very high limit in December and my score dropped 5 points, then went up 4 in February.
What impacted my credit the most were the hard credit checks (inquiries) when I bought my truck in August as you can see on the graph below. The dealer ran 2 reports and each of the 2 credit unions ran 2 reports. I also applied for a 2% cash back credit card around this same time and that was another hard credit check.
This score is from the Discover website.
What effects my score the most on a daily basis is the amount we spend on our credit card during the month. However, we pay off the card each month so it really is a moving target with the score.
Below is from here: https://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/free-credit-score-guide/
It is possible, however, to know pretty much exactly what goes into your credit score. The factors listed below comprise the total number of your FICO score, which generally ranges from 300 to 850 (the higher, the better) — and the percentages represent how much each factor influences it.
35%: Your payment history
30%: Amounts owed (how much of your total available credit you’re using at any one time)
15%: The length of your credit history
10%: New credit
10%: Mix of credit
As you can see, your payment history and how much debt you owe are the strongest influences on your score. It’s vital to base a credit-building strategy on these two factors.
What causes your score to drop?
Based on the main factors that affect your credit score, here are a few common things that cause it to drop — things you want to be aware of and avoid if you can (and these numbers are estimates, but they’ll give you an idea of how important it is to avoid these things):
Late and missed payments: If you’re late on all of your bills in one month – your score could drop by 75 – 125 points.
Maxed out credit cards: Reached the limit? That will take somewhere between 20 and 70 points off your credit score.
When you apply for a new credit card, your credit score will temporarily drop around 10 to 12 points.
Having no or very little credit history: If you’ve never had any type of credit in your name, or you’ve only had a couple of bills or maybe one credit card — you will likely have a low credit score.
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