<prompt> Human: Asking for my parents, as they have messed up in the past and have a whopping 8 cards. Theyre working on a lot of the gs financially and Ive heard mixed feelings about closing cards, due to it will increase the credit utilization. However Ive heard of the balance is at 0 across the board you wont see your credit hurt?  <response>: First of all, having 8 cards open isnt necessarily a bad thing, as long as theyre used responsibly.When youre talking 8 cards, the change in credit utilization is not going to be that much, assuming the credit limits are more or less in the same ballpark. The thing you have to watch out for when closing cards is how it changes your average account age. If you close your oldest credit card for instance, it will reduce your average account age, and that will have a negative impact on your credit score because it reduces your payment history.Generally speaking, theres no harm in keeping open a credit card with a zero balance. Worst case scenario is that the bank will close the card due to inactivity, so keep it around and charge something insignificant to it once a month and it wont be touched. 