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DO NOT close any of your credit cards. Just keep them open and barely use them.
The credit rating agencies want to see responsible debt use. They do this through a utilization ratio (amount outstanding/ total aggregate credit limit). Having a larger limit and spending the same amount as you would with a smaller limit is more beneficial as it leads to a lower utilization in the eyes of the credit agencies.
You seem to have researched alot on how this works in order to fix it and youve done the right thing by terming out the credit card debt into a personal loan with a payment schedule.
Unfortunately, ~8% interest is not bad for an unsecured personal loan. I would be surprised if you can materially better that through a refi especially with the current rising interest rate environment. The best thing may just be to prepay more than your monthly payment if you are able.
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