Credit History Impact of Account Transfer to New Bank

[Anonymous]

I have a credit card from a small regional bank that I have had since I was 18 and is by far my oldest form of credit.  This bank has recently been aquired by a larger entity.  I received a letter stating that my card can be transferred over to a new card with the new bank in October of this year, or I can simply close the account.  My question is will my credit history with this card stay instact if I choose to transfer it?  I use the card only a handful of times per year simply to keep it active as my oldest source of credit. The points system is terrible and there are no other incentives to using the card other than the fact that it would cut my credit history by about 6 years if I lose it.  I'm also in the process of looking into replacing my 2nd oldest card at the moment, which I wont be doing if this one is going away.

I called the new bank's support line but their answer (which was yes the history will stay intact) was so quick, and from a random operator, that I'm not sure how confident I am in their response. Any insight?

[core]

Asking them if the "history will stay intact" can mean many things... too vague.  Payment history (assuming no baddies) has no effect on your score.  I'd call and ask what the account opening date will be reporting as.  If it's a new tradeline but shows the original opening date of the first bank, I'd call that a win.... basically you get a backdated account without taking a hard pull.  Doesn't matter if the payment history is empty.  But if the account opening date is going to be recent I'd just close it first. It's not just the AAoA hit; now we have to put up with monkey business like Chase's 5/24 rule.

Unfortunately the CSRs aren't always going to give you an accurate answer, as you know.  But then neither can anyone here unless they work for that bank.

[jacetx]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have a credit card from a small regional bank that I have had since I was 18 and is by far my oldest form of credit.  This bank has recently been aquired by a larger entity.  I received a letter stating that my card can be transferred over to a new card with the new bank in October of this year, or I can simply close the account.  My question is will my credit history with this card stay instact if I choose to transfer it?  I use the card only a handful of times per year simply to keep it active as my oldest source of credit. The points system is terrible and there are no other incentives to using the card other than the fact that it would cut my credit history by about 6 years if I lose it.  I'm also in the process of looking into replacing my 2nd oldest card at the moment, which I wont be doing if this one is going away.

I called the new bank's support line but their answer (which was yes the history will stay intact) was so quick, and from a random operator, that I'm not sure how confident I am in their response. Any insight?

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Let's hope for the best and the new account retains the history. Whenever Citi took over the Best Buy Mastercard my account retained all of the history. The new account showed the original open date and the old account changed to "Transferred" remark. 

[RonM21]

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@jace8602 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have a credit card from a small regional bank that I have had since I was 18 and is by far my oldest form of credit.  This bank has recently been aquired by a larger entity.  I received a letter stating that my card can be transferred over to a new card with the new bank in October of this year, or I can simply close the account.  My question is will my credit history with this card stay instact if I choose to transfer it?  I use the card only a handful of times per year simply to keep it active as my oldest source of credit. The points system is terrible and there are no other incentives to using the card other than the fact that it would cut my credit history by about 6 years if I lose it.  I'm also in the process of looking into replacing my 2nd oldest card at the moment, which I wont be doing if this one is going away.

I called the new bank's support line but their answer (which was yes the history will stay intact) was so quick, and from a random operator, that I'm not sure how confident I am in their response. Any insight?

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Let's hope for the best and the new account retains the history. Whenever Citi took over the Best Buy Mastercard my account retained all of the history. The new account showed the original open date and the old account changed to "Transferred" remark. 

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+1