Unfortunately, it can be. Keeping a low credit utilization ratio is good, but having too many credit cards with zero balance may negatively impact your credit score. If your credit cards have zero balance for several years due to inactivity, your credit card issuer might stop sending account updates to credit bureaus.
- Is it better to have more credit cards with zero balance?
- Is it a good idea to have too many credit cards?
- Is 0 credit card utilization bad?
Is it better to have more credit cards with zero balance?
It is not bad to have a lot of credit cards with zero balance because positive information will appear on your credit reports each month since all of the accounts are current. Having credit cards with zero balance also results in a low credit utilization ratio, which is good for your credit score, too.
Is it a good idea to have too many credit cards?
Having too many outstanding credit lines, even if not used, can hurt credit scores by making you look more potentially risky to lenders. You can boost your score in some cases by opening new credit cards if the new credit lines lower your overall utilization ratio.
Is 0 credit card utilization bad?
A 0% credit utilization rate has no real benefit for your credit score. Instead of aiming for no utilization, keep your credit utilization rates below 30%, and preferably under 10%, to help your credit.