Does having multiple credit cards help your credit?

So what should I do? Like I said I don't ever use that old capitalone card. Should I

a)keep it and start using is sparingly, once a month or so

b)keep it just to have so it's not canceled

c)cancel it and get the $250 back

Typically, you would not want to close any accounts, and use them just enough keep them active and keep them paid off. However, in your case it may be a wash since your Capital One card will show up as a secured credit card which are typically held by higher risk individuals. I would think that you would be better off closing that account and possibly opening another better quality account and keeping the balance at or near zero. Just keep in mind that a sizable percentage of your credit score is attributed to length or age of accounts. In almost every case, you would want to keep a card/line or credit open even if you never use it.

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If I do cancel they will send me my $250 deposit back, which is cool because it's almost like free money.

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Put it to you this way - you have given them a $250 interest-free loan. You should want it back, right?

Yes, cancelling an old credit line will ding you slightly but not all that much. I'd get the $250.

I had a couple of pretty old lines of credit that I kept open because they were some of my oldest lines of credit. This past week, I got a fraud alert on a newer card that I don't use that often (somebody duplicated my card and went to a Dillard's in AZ and spent a couple hundred on it). After that, I decided to cancel all of my credit line s except the ones I use most frequently. I know it dinged my credit score a little, but my score was 800+ before, and I'm not planning any large purchases for at least the next year, so I'm not that worries about it.

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So my question is, is there any negative to canceling that first, secured card? If I do cancel they will send me my $250 deposit back, which is cool because it's almost like free money. As it relates to building up my credit score, how does keeping and using/canceling that card affect things? Or does it?

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I wouldn't hold that secured card anymore, unless it doesn't report itself as secured.

There will be a hit to the average age of credit lines and you'll lose that history, but that's not worth keeping a secured card - in my opinion.

What is far more important, if you're concerned about your score, is consistent payment history and total credit utilization. Rule 1 - keep your credit utilization to less than 50% - and that's much easier to do with a single card. Rule 2 - pay the credit card first - mortgage, student loans, lines of credit, you have to miss a couple of payments before they even raise a red flag (at least for most of them), but the CC companies are generally a lot quicker on the late payment ding to your credit report.

Hope this helps.

Call the "secured card" helpdeak and ask to increase your limit. If they do that would look better as far as your utilization of the credit line. That is IF you keep it. Basically, why not have a $1000 limit with 0 balance instead of the $250 limit with 0 balance.

The often-overlooked point here is that if you are reported as being late even one time by 30 days or more, your credit score will take an immediate and large nosedive and stay there for a few years.

But length of credit history and credit utilization are small potatoes by comparison, and nobody maintains a history of whether at some time in the past you maxed your credit card. It only comes into play if you happen to get your scored pulled at that time. If you max your credit card last month the score will drop a bit (some but not hugely). Then if you pay it off in full the next month, your score will bounce right back up again like nothing had ever happened.

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it all that much. It certainly isn't worth letting someone have an interest-free $250 loan, just get the money back and close the account. This isn't a close call.

thanks for all the advice guys, I'll close it tomorrow

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The often-overlooked point here is that if you are reported as being late even one time by 30 days or more, your credit score will take an immediate and large nosedive and stay there for a few years.

But length of credit history and credit utilization are small potatoes by comparison, and nobody maintains a history of whether at some time in the past you maxed your credit card. It only comes into play if you happen to get your scored pulled at that time. If you max your credit card last month the score will drop a bit (some but not hugely). Then if you pay it off in full the next month, your score will bounce right back up again like nothing had ever happened.

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I agree with all of this except for utilization being small potatoes. I subscribed to MyFico ScoreWatch while I was shopping for then building my house. I played around with my utilization to see how it affected my score. When I went from 0 utilization one month to roughly 35% the next month, my FICO score dropped 21 points. That is a significant amount when trying to get approved for new credit. Like you said, though, it bounces right back up like it never happened when you pay the cards off the next month.