Should I activate card or not?

[WIDSMI]

I recently applied for a chase card and was granted a 2k limit. I wanted to use the card to do ao balance transfer. I recently went ahead and paid off the previous card balance and will no longer need to transfer. Should I shred the card or activate it and keep it put away and never use it. I have 4 other credit cards that have no balance. I would like to buy a house soon and im not sure what to do regarding the card. I assume my credit took the hit when I applied.. so should I just activate it so that it will show no balance  or ???

thanks

[Anonymous]

If you don't activate the card, Chase will report it as a new account anyway.

You also cannot take back the hard INQs that you got when the account was opened.

You also took a hit to your AAoA when the card was opened.  It might have resulted in a loss of a FICO point or two.

So the best option for you is to activate the card and then sockdrawer it since you really don't care to use the thing.    BUT... you really don't want Chase to close this account for inactivity.

The way to avoid this is to take the card and buy some very inexpensive item... like chewing gum or top up your gas tank, about once every 4-6 months.    You do not need to wait until you get your credit card statement to reimburse Chase.    If you use your bank's billpay site to pay bills, add Chase on there.   When you get home, just put the card away and pay the thing off immediately on the computer.      I happen to use my smartphone to get to my bank's billpay site, and sometimes I send the payment right when I'm inside the store or out in the parking lot.

I have a lot of "dead" cards that I still keep open for a good reason... AAoA.

What I do since I use Microsoft Outlook and I have an iPhone, is I put in a reminder in Outlook to go back and use the card periodically so the lender won't close it for inactivity.   That reminder automatically gets downloaded to my phone so I will get a reminder.

The reason why you want to keep the accounts open is to improve your AAoA (Average Age of Accounts).     A high AAoA.... 6 years or longer on your accounts will raise your base FICO score because it shows lenders that you have a long established history of managing revolving credit.    The higher your AAoA is, the more your scores drift upwards over time.

[Anonymous]

By the way, the FICO hit for opening a new account usually disappears after 12 months.

A hard inquiry on your credit report stops hurting your FICO score once the 12 month mark has been reached, although it reports for 24 months.

FAKO scores... the non-FICO scores out there, most of them will still ding you for having inquiries regardless of how old they are.  IGNORE THEM.   The only thing that matters is your FICO score.

[Wolf3]

The account is already open and will stay open and report, regardless of card activation. 

IMO, I would use it a little each month, so Chase does not close it for inactivity.