topic Re: Close Credit Cards or Just pay them off? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Close Credit Cards or Just pay them off?

Dakota17 — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:44:09 GMT

I am about to pay off a Department store card. I want to close this account, however, I am not sure how that will effect my credit score. Should I leave it open or close it?

Re: Close Credit Cards or Just pay them off?

dodfire — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:55:12 GMT

Its never really a great idea to close cards if you are trying to build your credit. But you have not supplied enough information to really give you a fair answer. Things such as how much revolving credit do you have availiable? How many cards do you have? What are the ages your ages of cards? What is your current utilization?

Re: Close Credit Cards or Just pay them off?

pizzadude — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:13:44 GMT

@Dakota17 wrote:
I am about to pay off a Department store card. I want to close this account, however, I am not sure how that will effect my credit score. Should I leave it open or close it?

Welcome to the forums !

I'd recommend that you read this sticky thread: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Closing-Credit-Cards/td-p/347190

In general, closing credit cards will never boost your FICO score. It might lower your FICO score if your revolving utilization increases as a result of losing the credit limit.