topic Re: Should I cancel some cards? in Credit Cards

Should I cancel some cards?

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 11:51:46 GMT

In the past year my credit has gone from 580 to mid/upper 700's by managing my money and credit better thanks to this forum. Now, my old stepping stone cards have high interest rates, virtually no benefits, but they're helping my average age of accounts. Should I get rid of them?

Capital One QS 90/6500 -opened 3/15
Capital One 26/3750 -opened sometime in 2015
Capital One 0/4000 -opened maybe 10 years ago?

Suncoast Credit Union 27/6000 -opened 1/16
Harley Davidson US Bank 128/10,000 -opened 8/16
Amex EDC 700/8400 -opened 4/16
Amex PRG NPSL -opened 10/16
Chase Slate 3700/6200 -opened 1/17 (BT from the Cap One)
Citi DF 1200/6900 -opened 2/17
Barclay AP WE 0/12,500 -opened 2/17

Re: Should I cancel some cards?

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 12:18:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
In the past year my credit has gone from 580 to mid/upper 700's by managing my money and credit better thanks to this forum. Now, my old stepping stone cards have high interest rates, virtually no benefits, but they're helping my average age of accounts. Should I get rid of them?

Capital One QS 90/6500 -opened 3/15
Capital One 26/3750 -opened sometime in 2015
Capital One 0/4000 -opened maybe 10 years ago?

Suncoast Credit Union 27/6000 -opened 1/16
Harley Davidson US Bank 128/10,000 -opened 8/16
Amex EDC 700/8400 -opened 4/16
Amex PRG NPSL -opened 10/16
Chase Slate 3700/6200 -opened 1/17 (BT from the Cap One)
Citi DF 1200/6900 -opened 2/17
Barclay AP WE 0/12,500 -opened 2/17

Just so you know, cancelling cards does not immediately affect your AAoA. Closed cards continue to report and age on your reports for 10 years after closure. So if you have cards that you see no need to have any longer, cancel away.

Re: Should I cancel some cards?

AverageJoesCredit — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 12:21:30 GMT

Can you try to combine the CapOne cards into one card?

Re: Should I cancel some cards?

SouthJamaica — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 13:21:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
In the past year my credit has gone from 580 to mid/upper 700's by managing my money and credit better thanks to this forum. Now, my old stepping stone cards have high interest rates, virtually no benefits, but they're helping my average age of accounts. Should I get rid of them?

Capital One QS 90/6500 -opened 3/15
Capital One 26/3750 -opened sometime in 2015
Capital One 0/4000 -opened maybe 10 years ago?

Suncoast Credit Union 27/6000 -opened 1/16
Harley Davidson US Bank 128/10,000 -opened 8/16
Amex EDC 700/8400 -opened 4/16
Amex PRG NPSL -opened 10/16
Chase Slate 3700/6200 -opened 1/17 (BT from the Cap One)
Citi DF 1200/6900 -opened 2/17
Barclay AP WE 0/12,500 -opened 2/17

No reason to hold on to cards you don't like except utilization percentage.

Re: Should I cancel some cards?

SouthJamaica — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 13:22:41 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Can you try to combine the CapOne cards into one card?

Good point. Capital One makes it easy to consolidate.

Re: Should I cancel some cards?

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 17:50:23 GMT

As others have stated above, I would look at consolidating your three Cap1 cards into the oldest if you want to keep that one as active. Depending on what kind it is, you could also see if Cap1 would PC your account to a QS or Venture, depending on the type of rewards you'd like to get

Re: Should I cancel some cards?

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 06:31:55 GMT

Did I read some bad information? I was under the impression that only open, active accounts count towards your aaoa.

Re: Should I cancel some cards?

grillandwinemaster — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 07:06:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Did I read some bad information? I was under the impression that only open, active accounts count towards your aaoa.

Credit Karma and some other non consequential fako scores count ONLY open and active tradelines.

Fico scores, the ONLY one that matters, takes into account open AND closed tradelines when factoring your AAofA.

A closed tradeline usually remains on your credit report for up to ten years, and consequentially, continues to age.

Re: Should I cancel some cards?

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 15:30:01 GMT

If you don't need them for Utilization purposes (you PIf each month or have plenty of avail creidt) then I always say close what you don't use. No need to sock drawer cards and make yourself remember to use once or twice a year. The only thing it helps is Utilization. There is a bad consensus around here that closing lowers your AAOA. It doesnt. They continue to age even if closed.