topic Re: to close or not to close, that is the question in General Credit Topics

to close or not to close, that is the question

JcT21 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 00:28:52 GMT

does having a very low limit card hurt your credit? does it keep the fico score from growing?

my cards have several thousand dollars in credit limits with my highest being amex & my world mc both at 10k. the card in question is my american eagle store card which has been stuck at a whopping $280 with no love from the cli button. i keep hoping to get the visa upgrade offer but its not happened yet. it goes through synchrony bank which i have a walmart card at 3k and an amazon card at 4k. cant understand why this ae is so low. not that i need a huge limit to spend at amerian eagle, but just wondered what would be best.

does it hurt to keep that card or would i be better off "fico wise" by closing that card?

thanks :-)

Re: to close or not to close, that is the question

killer_queen229 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 00:55:14 GMT

I have two cards under $1,000 and I buy things with them to keep them open. I would either try getting an increase again or sock draw it and buy small things with it.

Re: to close or not to close, that is the question

killer_queen229 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 01:00:54 GMT

Does AE offer the Visa upgrade in an account or do you have to ask for it?

Re: to close or not to close, that is the question

JcT21 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 01:07:14 GMT

my wife was upgraded / offered the visa card at login after having her account for about a year. she never asked. within about 3 months of that upgrade she was offered the walmart mastercard and the old navy visa. all were at login and she was given the choice to accept the offer or decline it. now this was before synchrony and while it was under gemoney bank

however i asked synchrony via online chat from my walmart account to be upgraded to the mastercard and i was told i needed to apply for it, that store cards couldnt be upgraded. perhaps something has changed since synchrony handles these accounts.

Re: to close or not to close, that is the question

killer_queen229 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 01:05:27 GMT

How long have you had yours? Can you be an AU? Does Synchrony allow that?

Re: to close or not to close, that is the question

JcT21 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 01:09:25 GMT

ive had my ge / synchrony walmart card for many years, ive been an au on my wifes accounts but ive had my ae card for less than a year. never offered an upgrade. but ive never had any problems getting cli's on my walmart or amazon. ae is being mean.

Re: to close or not to close, that is the question

killer_queen229 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 01:10:52 GMT

I had both my TJX Rewards and Old Navy card for almost a year when I got upgraded. Maybe cause it's not been a year yet that you can't upgrade?

Re: to close or not to close, that is the question

JcT21 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 01:12:40 GMT

perhaps ive not had my ae long enough. who knows, maybe ill get lucky and get the offer. i guess ill keep it for now, maybe use it for christmas & birthday gifts if i can get a special price for using the card.

Re: to close or not to close, that is the question

takeshi74 — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 12:05:19 GMT

@JcT21 wrote:
does having a very low limit card hurt your credit? does it keep the fico score from growing?

Not really. Limits are factored into your credit but they're just one factor among many.

@JcT21 wrote:
my cards have several thousand dollars in credit limits with my highest being amex & my world mc both at 10k. the card in question is my american eagle store card which has been stuck at a whopping $280 with no love from the cli button.

If you have 10K lines then the AE card isn't holding you back.

@JcT21 wrote:
does it hurt to keep that card or would i be better off "fico wise" by closing that card?

Decide based on whether you need/want the card and the info in this thread, linked in the Helpful Threads sticky in the Credit Cards subforum:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Closing-Credit-Cards/m-p/347190?jump=true

As for the why, I don't know and wouldn't recommend worrying about it. While it does seem quite low it's just a store card and they're known for low limits and high APR's. How was your credit when you requested the CLI?