Should I close this credit card?

[Anonymous]

hello! Im 22 years old and working on getting my fico score up (so my fiance and i can buy a condo at the end of the year) and paying off my credit card debt so i can take out a loan for a vocational school i plan on attending next year. Luckily my credit card debt is not out of control. I have 3 regular credit cards (1 Chase Visa, 1 American Express, and 1 capital one visa) i recenelty had to get some work done to my car so i also got a credit card through GE money bank and midas strictly for car related work or purchases. I have been working on paying down my balances. I will be done paying the ge money bank card on April 10th and recently paid off the balance on my Chase credit card. I will then have the capital one and amex to pay off. My plan is to get all my cards paid off and using my amex card for groceries, gas, and necessary expenses and paying it off in full every month to earn the sky miles. I want to keep my chase and capital one cards put away somewhere and make a few small purchases with them through out the year. I would like to close the car credit card (ge money bank/midas card) but im scared its going to hurt my fico score by taking away some credit history. It is the newest card...it was opened 7/08. Do you think i should close the card out?? The account automatically closes if not used for a year. What do you guys think??

Thanks!!!

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, welcome to the forums!

There is no benefit gained for your FICO scores by closing a card. On the contrary, every month that it is open without problems helps you accumulate good credit history. However, the history on closed cards should stay with you for 10 years.

Please read fused's Closing Credit Cards, linked in my siggy.

Also, if you haven't already, please read Understanding Your FICO ® Score and Credit Scoring 101 (at least the first post.)

These will give you the background knowledge you need to understand what you read here on the forums.

[Anonymous]

Why do you want to close the account?  Midas probably could be used once a year.  I think they have extended their services to include a variety of mechanical and repair work, maybe oil changes now too.

I generally don't recommend closing accounts at your stage without a specific need.  If it doesn't cost you anything to have, then what is the reason?  Always act with strategy or result in mind.  If you want to build your credit and are afraid that closing will hurt your FICO......what does common sense tell you then?