Think of it as a asset the less assets you have the less likely you are to pay your debt in case of a emergency.

It will not cost you anything to keep it if you don’t use it.

In a five year period I chartered various clients in improving their score, pulling their credit evey two months after following my instructions on paying a bill, disputing an item(s), etc. I developed a “pattern” chart on what makes scores go up or down.

In your case, do not request a lower limit as you were told. What really effects credit scoring with credit is the percentage owed in relation to your “High Credit Limit” indicated on the credit report. No matter if your “High Credit Limit” is $100 or $20,000 if you are within 95% owing your score will drop 22 to 30 points, 90% 18 to 20 points, 80% 8 to 15 points.

Just a note for your friends and family: I saw this a lot when doing mortgages and prevented people from getting the loan. Not your case but you can advise if you know of someone, Student Loans after graduating allow a “deferred” time to begin paying, usually 3 to 5 years. This is to allow time for someone to start making money and live a normal life. During this period interest accrues putting your amount owed substantially over your “High Credit Limit”. A really big hit to credit scoring, as much as 40 to 50 points per loan depending on the percentage over. Think about it, you graduated, got a job making really good money, feeling good about life, you can conquer anything and you can now budget to buy a home. That great Student Loan you have not been making payments for years will come back to “haunt” because you are being told the big NO in purchasing a home, not good for a young, upcoming person. Start making those payments as soon as you can regardless of time you are allowed.

If your balance is really low and your new credit limit reflects no more then 30% usage, your score will not be affected.

If however your new limit makes your debt to credit ratio over 30% your score will take a hit.

There is nothing wrong with having a high limit as a matter of fact it’s good since it makes it hard to exceed 30%.

It’s not the credit you have that matters it’s how you manage it that counts.

My advice is to just let them keep raising your limit. As long as you are financial responsbile, which is sounds like you are, then it won’t hurt you. Just don’t use any more credit than you can afford to repay - which sounds like what you already have been doing.