Canceling Buider Cards

[Anonymous]

With the information I was able to get from the people here I have raised my scores over 140 points in a year. My AAofA is low 9 months. With my new scores I was able to get a car and some more premium cards. Should I close my rebuilding accounts?

Credit one 450 cL with annual fee
Indigo 300 cL with annual fee
Quicksilver 750 upgrade from Platinum(maybe keep this as they seem like a solid company)

New cards all opened this month
Chase Saphire Prefered 8000 cL no annual first year
Discover 5000
DCU 3000 low Apr and same pull as auto loan
TD cash (150 back when I spend 500) probably get bonus and sock drawer

Have not activated these cards yet as I have just received them. I also didn’t want to activate all of it would aggrevate Chase status. Any help with strategy would be greatly appreciated as I am still learning. I plan on letting the best combination age for a while after this. My income is stable and Plan on keeping utilization very low each month.

Thank you

[Anonymous]

• See if any card is your OLDEST account by a long short -- oldest open account is factored into FICO scoring
• Cancel any cards with an annual/monthly fee that doesn't offer enough rewards to pay for it annually
• If you want, try to call the lender and see if they will waive the annual/monthly fee -- if so, keep it until the next time one is due
• Some cards may be able to be "combined" into another card with that lender (combining limits) -- check into that as well before closing

I personally would keep any cards without an annual fee -- just give it some usage every 4-6 months.

The only reason I would close a card without an annual fee is if it's a hassle to monitor it for usage.  I use Mint to track card usage and due dates.

[DawgZ]

With a 9 month AAoA I would say do not close the accounts if you want that to go up faster. If you don't care about the AAoA and the fees are high then it is your call. Closed account cause you AAoA to grow slower.

IMHO

[Anonymous]

Thank you. The indigo account was only 3 months old and credit one is a bit older and around the same age as cap one which I will keep open. I have heard that the prime lenders frown upon Buider accounts being open?

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your CSP and Discover!

I would close indigo and and credit one now. 

[UpperNwGuy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
With the information I was able to get from the people here I have raised my scores over 140 points in a year. My AAofA is low 9 months. With my new scores I was able to get a car and some more premium cards. Should I close my rebuilding accounts?

Credit one 450 cL with annual fee
Indigo 300 cL with annual fee
Quicksilver 750 upgrade from Platinum(maybe keep this as they seem like a solid company)

New cards all opened this month
Chase Saphire Prefered 8000 cL no annual first year
Discover 5000
DCU 3000 low Apr and same pull as auto loan
TD cash (150 back when I spend 500) probably get bonus and sock drawer

Have not activated these cards yet as I have just received them. I also didn’t want to activate all of it would aggrevate Chase status. Any help with strategy would be greatly appreciated as I am still learning. I plan on letting the best combination age for a while after this. My income is stable and Plan on keeping utilization very low each month.

Thank you

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Alas, you're too late.  Once the bank issues the card, they report it to the credit bureaus, and Chase sees it and counts it toward 5/24. Whether or not you activate it has nothing to do with your 5/24 status.

[Anonymous]

Fortunately the CSP approval was 9 months post Credit One. Just trying to clean up my credit profile and get the best future growth potential and rewards. I believe my score may take a hit with AAoA and the inquiries had a small affect(-5). My portfolio of cards and quality is the main interest. Creditone and Indigo got me started but they feel dirty. Overseas customer service, high interest rates, low limits. If I don’t watch them because I don’t use them the risk of being hit with a random fee or missing a charge scares me. Appreciating all the feedback and response I get here. It’s become a bit of an obsession.

[Anonymous]

It's not as much of an obsession as it is a change towards responsible spending AND gathering as much cash back rewards as possible!

In the 25 years I've "had credit", I bet my irresponsible living accounted for probably over $30,000 in cashback for someone else that could have been mine, mine, mine!

So I don't look at credit monitoring and FICO boosting as obsessive, I look at it as good math.

Here's a really frustrating figure: if I would have been maximizing rewards instead of abusing credit limits, and put that cash back into a 3% return over 25 years, that $30,000 in rewards would be worth $48,000 in the bank today.  My most recent rental purchase was $64,000 and it nets me almost $1000 a month profit.

And that figure doesn't include all the interest and fees I've paid, charge-offs I've paid with interest to disappear, collections, liens, etc.  It's probably closer to $100,000 thrown away.  Maybe more.

Ouch.

[UpperNwGuy]

ABCD2199 and I have similar stories.

[HeavenOhio]

Always close Credit One as soon as you have something to replace it. It's done its job. Also close Indigo due to its fee. These cards will likely remain on your reports for years to come. By the time they drop, the age of your oldest account will change by only a few months and the effect will be inconsequential. If these two cards were to drop tomorrow for some unforeseen reason, you'd still be better off without them.

The Capital One Quicksilver is a good mainstream card from a good bank. Keep that one indefinitely.

Congrats on the new cards.