Downgrading / PC questions

[Anonymous]

When you do a downgrade/product change, does your credit report remain intact? Or does the downgraded card appear as a new account? I plan on downgrading 1 Citi card and 1 Chase card.

What if the downgraded version of the card requires a change like Visa and the downgraded card is a MC? I think I heard that they send a new account number...but for credit reports/account age, does it appear as a single entry on your report still?

EDIT: also, will I have visibility to my account information, in case there are annual fees posted while they transition to the no AF card? Of course which I'll request credit for.....but just don't want a missed payment due to AF charge.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

When you do a downgrade/product change, does your credit report remain intact? Or does the downgraded card appear as a new account? I plan on downgrading 1 Citi card and 1 Chase card.

What if the downgraded version of the card requires a change like Visa and the downgraded card is a MC? I think I heard that they send a new account number...but for credit reports/account age, does it appear as a single entry on your report still?

EDIT: also, will I have visibility to my account information, in case there are annual fees posted while they transition to the no AF card? Of course which I'll request credit for.....but just don't want a missed payment due to AF charge.

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Depends on the provider. For example, Barclays likes to change account numbers even if you're not downgrading (i.e. lost/stolen card or fraud avoidance). A general rule is that your open date and payment history is preserved, though.

Honestly though the best thing to do is ask before you change over. The rep will tell you.

[takeshi74]

The official definition of a PC is when a tradeline is changed from one product to another.  The tradeline remains on the report with the same data it always had (open date, etc) though the account number itself may change in certain situations.

However, some creditors "PC" by closing an account and opening a new acocunt.  Creditor are not all identical so you can't rely on oversimplified generalzations.  If in doubt verify directly with the creditor or at least do some research online.  PC's are a common discussion topic and you can certainly find discussions on PC's with a number of different creditors to reference.

Chase does proper PC's.  I can't speak to what Citi does.

[Anonymous]

I guess I'm mainly concerned with Chase, Citi, and AMEX. And by 'proper', do you mean they preserve the tradeline, and NOT close the account and open a new one?

[Anonymous]

Also, does anyone know with Citi if I can re-open an account I cancelled recently (past few months) and then PC it to an AF free card?