Is it possible to have a 800+ FICO score with only credit cards on your record?

[tewest86]

It's not closing accounts. It's closing accounts the give your credit file age. Like closing a rather new account is ok but closing your oldest one could bang you because your length of credit dropped.

[Pitt Chick]

Yep!
We have had a rarely-used CC since 1976 that we will NEVER close!

[duster1979]

Originally Posted by tewest86

It's not closing accounts. It's closing accounts the give your credit file age. Like closing a rather new account is ok but closing your oldest one could bang you because your length of credit dropped.

I think he/she was referring to the fact that closing an account with a credit limit increases the credit utilization ratio which has a negative effect on your score.

I'm not sure if it would have an impact on someone who never carried a balance, though. If the numerator in the equation is zero the product is going to be zero, regardless of what the denominator is.

Bottom line, unless there are charges associated with maintaining an account there's no real upside to closing it even if it isn't used.

[annerk]

I've closed accounts with vendors that we'll never have a need to shop at again. For example I had a card with a regional department store because using the card wen they were having certain sales gained me an extra 10-20% off. I moved over 1000 miles away and don't shop there anymore, so I closed the account rather than have to keep track of it. I doubt closing it affected my score by more than a few points for a couple of months.

[crescent22]

I once tried to figure out why my wife's score was above 800 and mine wasn't and with the help of Credit Karma, it appears to be that she opened more accounts at random single retailers than me, which I don't see as evidence of better credit but the agencies do.