Who knows about credit scores?

Ok, I know I'm asking weird questions here but I googled it and still can't figure it out. I get a credit card from my bank, I've never activated it and they just sent me a new one. My mom thinks that if I close it it will hurt my credit score, but I want to close it so I don't have a card floating around. Does anyone know what I should do? Keep it with or without activating it, toss it, call and cancell the account? It says I've been a cardholder since '06 but I do have two or three other credit cards.

If you have too many with or without balances it can hurt your credit score because you have the potential to be x dollars in debt, even if you don't use them currently.

It really depends how much you earn and how much the limit/balance is on the other cards and the limit on the one you don't use - its not as simple as yes/no

Well I'm not going to be earning much for the next three years, going back to school. Between the cards I probably have a credit line of...around $10,000-$15,000
I usually only use one and it gets paid off every month

Well, it has happened to me a few times. The first "free" card, I never activated it. When the "renewed" one came, I called the bank and told them I did not need it. I don't think it has affected my credit standing at all.

Originally Posted by MonaxLisa

Ok, I know I'm asking weird questions here but I googled it and still can't figure it out. I get a credit card from my bank, I've never activated it and they just sent me a new one. My mom thinks that if I close it it will hurt my credit score, but I want to close it so I don't have a card floating around. Does anyone know what I should do? Keep it with or without activating it, toss it, call and cancell the account? It says I've been a cardholder since '06 but I do have two or three other credit cards.

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Card from your bank? are you sure it's not a debit card? If so, you don't want to close that account, at least not if you want to still use your bank/check account.
Debit cards aren't credit cards, thus not using one won't affect anything other than your convenience (less and less places are taking personal checks). If you don't want the card just tell them so.

We actually have to fill out a form and request our debit cards.

I thought a debit card has the potential to improve your credit score like a credit card can if all is "smooth sailing" - the longer the better.

I can't see how unless you have a line of credit attached to the account with a debit card, in which case its the line of credit and not the card itself

It's really a credit card, not a debit

Do you plan on applying for credit in the next year or so? If not don't worry about it. Cancelling a card you've had for a while will ding your credit a bit, but nothing terrible. Is it your oldest card? If so, cancelling it will make your credit history look shorter, which can lower your credit score, but if you've had another one for longer cancelling shouldn't do anything.

Have you run a credit report lately? You're entitled to one a year per credit agency (3 of them). You can run all 3 at once or do one at a time. Here's the link: https://www.annualcreditreport.com

First, if you haven't, call your bank and ask them why they are sending you a card you did not apply for. Receiving unsolicited lines of credit in the mail can be a sign of identity theft or fraud, someone applying for things with your name and information.

Next, tell your bank you don't want this card at all, and to stop sending it, as it puts you at a higher risk for identity theft and fraud.

And Cancel the card. When you follow Willowy's link and get your free credit reports (which I highly recommend), you will have an opportunity to write to the three companies and clear up any wrong info, or add clarifying info to any thing in those reports.

The annual free credit report does not give credit scores, however, those you have to pay for, and will be given the opportunity to do so.

If you aren't planning to apply for credit in the near future, cancel it. The reason why a cancelling a credit card can hurt a score is that it causes the % of debt used to be magnified.

Say you have 4 cards $1000 lines each. You have $400 charged. The debt usage would be 10%. If you cancel the card, your debt usage would become 13.3% It would cause a short term ding to the rating but would smooth out as time affected your rating.

Thanks guys I guess I'll keep it for now since it is one of my older cards and I'll be needing school loans soon. I checked out the free credit report, I only choose one and it didn't give me my credit score, just info

Yeah, you have to pay to get your score. But that's not terribly important unless you're going to be negotiating for a mortgage or other large loan in the near future.

Review the information on your credit score carefully. If there's ANYTHING you don't recognize or that's wrong, contact the credit bureau ASAP. Even if it's just one little tiny thing.

Originally Posted by otto

The annual free credit report does not give credit scores, however, those you have to pay for,

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Originally Posted by Willowy

Yeah, you have to pay to get your score. But that's not terribly important unless you're going to be negotiating for a mortgage or other large loan in the near future.

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Yes I heard it's less than $8.

Originally Posted by c1atsite

Yes I heard it's less than $8.

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Yeah, I just ran my credit report (to make sure I was linking to a legit site ) and they offered it for $7.99. Not bad but I don't need to know right now.

I would keep the card, put it in a safe place and simply never use it. Closing a card will in most cases hurt your credit more than having too many open cards that don't have outstanding balances.
Plus you didn't even apply for it, did you?? Applying for a card causes your score to drop also.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I would keep the card, put it in a safe place and simply never use it. Closing a card will in most cases hurt your credit more than having too many open cards that don't have outstanding balances.

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BUT....the more unused open accounts you have, the higher the chance of some kind of fraud happening. Kind of a catch-22.