If
you cancel old credit cards, you could shorten your credit history and hurt your credit score.
Also, don't
cancel any old credit cards.
One of the most common mistakes that many consumers make is
canceling their oldest credit card, often because they no longer use it.
Before you call up to
cancel your old credit card account, make sure you know everything that needs to be considered.
That's also a good reason not to close or
cancel your old credit card...
Canceling an old credit card account can result in a shorter average credit history.
This is why you should refrain from
canceling your oldest credit cards.
That last point is important because
canceling your oldest credit card will, in the long run, shorten your overall credit history — and length of credit history is a major factor in the way FICO calculates your credit score.
I suggest, in my opinion, that you apply for a new credit card before
cancelling your old credit card.
Not exact matches
If you
cancel your
old card after transferring your balance, you could end up with a higher
credit utilization, which is a negative in the
credit scoring algorithm.
... That
old Wall Street bunch can now buy a hand - held portable paper shredder to
cancel credit card receipts, checks, etc..
You can sign up for better
credit cards that offer rewards and use those, but don't
cancel your
oldest one.
As you apply to new
credit cards that suits your fancy, make sure you
cancel your
old cards.
If you have to
cancel one
card among many, choose the newer ones because the
oldest cards have the most weight on your
credit score.
If you
cancel your
old card after transferring your balance, you could end up with a higher
credit utilization, which is a negative in the
credit scoring algorithm.
Pay your bills on time, don't take on new installment debt and don't apply for a new
credit card or
cancel an
old one, Molony advised.
If you've graduated up to a better class of
credit card, don't
cancel, cut up or neglect your
old credit cards.
While my
credit utilization isn't high, it would be lower if I
canceled some of my
older cards.
One of the reasons I haven't
canceled some of my
older cards — including some that don't have rewards programs — is that I don't want to reduce my available
credit.
Even if you're no longer using your
old credit cards, you can cut up the
cards or lock them away, but don't
cancel them.
So, I immediately called my
credit card company, they reversed the fraud charges,
cancelled my
old card, and sent me a new one.
Read full pros and cons of closing
old credit card accounts in the Should I Cancel Old Car
old credit card accounts in the Should I
Cancel Old Car
Old Cards?
So, if the balance transfer from the
old card (s) to a new
card places the new
card at or near its
credit limit, and no other
cards are available, cardholders may not want to
cancel all the other
cards.
Forty - four percent of respondents would be worried about hurting their
credit score if they were to
cancel a
credit card, but that concern ranks especially high for young adults: 57 percent of 18 - to 29 - year
olds said they wouldn't
cancel a
card out of fear of harming their scores.
If that fails, then apply for a new
card from the issuer that has an attractive bonus, transfer your
credit line from the
old card over to the newly approved
card, then
cancel the
old card.
If you have an
old credit card account that you no longer use, you should consider whether you want to keep or
cancel it.
See related: How to
cancel a
credit card, FICO reveals how common
credit mistakes affect scores, The components that make up a FICO
credit score, Improving a great
credit score comes down to timing, Poll: 2 out of 5
credit cardholders report getting whacked, Decade -
old credit mistakes shouldn't appear on your report
Jeremy M. Simon:
Canceled credit cards don't leave your
credit report quickly — A reader wants to remove some
old, rarely - used
credit card accounts from her
credit report.
Protect
credit scores when
canceling a
credit card — You'll ding your
credit score by
canceling a
card, especially your
oldest, but you can minimize it by boosting the limits on other
cards... (See
Cancel a
credit card)
But if that
card happens to be your
oldest one, will
canceling the
card hurt your
credit score?
Seeking low - interest
cards in quest for a better
credit score — If you're trying to recover from bad
credit, will
canceling old cards and opening new
cards improve your
credit score?
Kim McGrigg:
Canceling a
credit card is OK — if done wisely — When your
credit improves, it can be tempting to dump your
old, bad -
credit credit cards in favor of newer
cards.
Rather than
canceling all your
cards at once, try to keep your
oldest credit card open and active, or choose to keep or apply for a credt
card with a low or no annual fee.
I call Citi and have the same conversation at 10 months, get the
credit which posts right away, open a new Citi
card and transfer most of the
credit from the 10 - month -
old card to the new one, spend $ 95 to bring the balance up to zero, and then
cancel via secure message.
But if that
card happens to be your
oldest one, will
canceling the
card hurt your
credit score?
Canceling could damage your
credit score considerably if it's one of your
oldest cards.
Also,
canceling a
credit card won't hurt your average age of account as long as it's not your
oldest card.
Getting travel rewards from a
credit card, including
canceling an
old card and getting a new one to take advantage of the sign - up bonus, is a great way to up your game, but does require hardcore discipline.
Forty - four percent of respondents would be worried about hurting their
credit score if they were to
cancel a
credit card, but that concern ranks especially high for young adults: 57 percent of 18 - to 29 - year
olds said they wouldn't
cancel a
card out of fear of harming their scores.
It is true that signing up for new
cards and
canceling old cards cause a small, temporary downgrade to your
credit score: Applying for a new
card suggests that you may need new
credit, which is a tiny red flag.
Additionally, you may want to keep your
old rewards
credit cards instead of
canceling them — just avoid racking up more debt on the
old cards while you spend with newer
cards.
My advice would be to keep your
oldest credit card and not
cancel it, whether you use it or not.
Dear Green Blues, Because this is your
oldest card by far,
canceling it will eventually erase a healthy chunk of your
credit history.
Or you could also apply for a new
credit card from the same issuer then merge the two lines of
credit onto your new
card before
canceling the
old one in order to keep that line of
credit open and active so it has less of an impact on your
credit score.
Only to find that their
credit rating dropped a little when they
cancelled their
credit card, and they are now having trouble finding a
credit card with an APR that was better than their
old card.
That is why I personally suggest that you find and get your new
credit card before
cancelling your
old one.
If you've graduated up to a better class of
credit card, don't
cancel, cut up or neglect your
old credit cards.