If a person has an account and closes it, that can hurt your score as well as having many accounts can. It's a bit ironic. Not sure on this, but I think paying off charges right away when the bill comes doesn't help build your rating. It helps you stay debt free but paying steadily over time can look better. But then the interest is money out of your pocket. I wouldn't recommend paying just the minimum payment. A $2000 debt at average credit card interest rate can take 8 years to payoff if you just make the minimum payment.