Closing a Secured Card

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

Back in May 2013 I got a CapOne secured card to help me build my credit since I turned 18. I am now 20 and I have plenty of other unsecured cards, even another CapOne unsecured card. The secured card only has a $300 limit and I had to put $99 down to get it. I used to use the card and paid it off every month, so my payment history is great with it. I have no balance on it and I am just paying the annual fee to just keep it open. I feel like the annual fee is not worth it due to the fact I haven't used the card for probably 7 months or so. I know that good payment history can stay on a credit report for 10 years I think and after that the card will basically drop if I were to close it. My question is, will closing this card now affect my credit score now or in the future? Hint: This secured card and one other card were the first credit cards I have ever got.

[Anonymous]

You asked- My question is, will closing this card now affect my credit score now or in the future? Hint: This secured card and one other card were the first credit cards I have ever got.

Welcome to MYFICO- I'd close the secure card since you have other cards and another older card.  The closed card will be on your file for 10 years.  In terms of your score dropping, it will all come down to other factors in your credit profile........

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My question is, will closing this card now affect my credit score now or in the future? 

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Yes to both but we can't say by how much.  See also this thread linked in the Helpful Threads sticky:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&thread.id=117125&jump=true

We don't know your other revolving limits but I'd guess that $300 would probably have a negligible impact.  You can do the math yourself to see how your utilization would be before and after closing it.  AAoA is a relatively small factor:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

10 years down the road any accounts you've kept open will be 10 years older.  We have no idea what accounts you might open in that span of time so we can't tell you what your AAoA would be when it falls off.  I wouldn't recommend keeping a card like this around just for age purposes.  If it was useful to you that would be an entirely different matter.

[baller4life]

Dump it. It will remain on reports 10 years. No affect to AAOA. I ditched mine's after 10 months. Couldn't even wait a yr.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your help! I will close the card, since there's no point on keeping it open!