Closing oldest credit card.

Bunnylocks · ‎11-01-2015

Hi guys,

So I'm planning to close a bunch of low limit cards with higher interest rates that I never used anymore before the new year. I have a Barclay's Rewards with a 1.2k limit. I've had the card almost three years, and the highest limit was 3.2k. I moved my limits around between my Sallie Mae and Ring card. Anyway, it's my oldest card and it practically goes unused, not to mention the APR is like 20...something. My second oldest is my Amazon that was opened on the same day falling second is Bank of America by 6 days. How much would this impact my credit score? MY AAOA is 1 year 9 months. Since Amazon was opened the same day, would it really matter that much?

Thanks!

Anonymous · ‎11-01-2015

@Bunnylocks wrote:
Hi guys,

So I'm planning to close a bunch of low limit cards with higher interest rates that I never used anymore before the new year. I have a Barclay's Rewards with a 1.2k limit. I've had the card almost three years, and the highest limit was 3.2k. I moved my limits around between my Sallie Mae and Ring card. Anyway, it's my oldest card and it practically goes unused, not to mention the APR is like 20...something. My second oldest is my Amazon that was opened on the same day falling second is Bank of America by 6 days. How much would this impact my credit score? MY AAOA is 1 year 9 months. Since Amazon was opened the same day, would it really matter that much?

Thanks!

The only way it would affect your credit score is if closing the card dramatically affects your overall utilization. It does not affect your AAoA to close the card. Here's a good thread to read:

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

Open123 · ‎11-01-2015

Generally, while I'm a proponent for closing unsued cards and reducing clutter, I wouldn't advise closing your oldest TL, unless it had an annual fee. Since it appears you're starting out, the more no-fee TLs you have now, the better off you will be in the future creditwise. However, annual fee TLs which have outlived their purpose should be closed.

Good luck!

Bunnylocks · ‎11-01-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
@Bunnylocks wrote:
Hi guys,

So I'm planning to close a bunch of low limit cards with higher interest rates that I never used anymore before the new year. I have a Barclay's Rewards with a 1.2k limit. I've had the card almost three years, and the highest limit was 3.2k. I moved my limits around between my Sallie Mae and Ring card. Anyway, it's my oldest card and it practically goes unused, not to mention the APR is like 20...something. My second oldest is my Amazon that was opened on the same day falling second is Bank of America by 6 days. How much would this impact my credit score? MY AAOA is 1 year 9 months. Since Amazon was opened the same day, would it really matter that much?

Thanks!
The only way it would affect your credit score is if closing the card dramatically affects your overall utilization. It does not affect your AAoA to close the card. Here's a good thread to read:

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

Irish,

Thanks for the link!

Bunnylocks · ‎11-01-2015

@Open123 wrote:
Generally, while I'm a proponent for closing unsued cards and reducing clutter, I wouldn't advise closing your oldest TL, unless it had an annual fee. Since it appears you're starting out, the more no-fee TLs you have now, the better off you will be in the future creditwise. However, annual fee TLs which have outlived their purpose should be closed.

Good luck!

Open,

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind before deciding to close it.

SouthJamaica · ‎11-01-2015

@Bunnylocks wrote:
Hi guys,

So I'm planning to close a bunch of low limit cards with higher interest rates that I never used anymore before the new year. I have a Barclay's Rewards with a 1.2k limit. I've had the card almost three years, and the highest limit was 3.2k. I moved my limits around between my Sallie Mae and Ring card. Anyway, it's my oldest card and it practically goes unused, not to mention the APR is like 20...something. My second oldest is my Amazon that was opened on the same day falling second is Bank of America by 6 days. How much would this impact my credit score? MY AAOA is 1 year 9 months. Since Amazon was opened the same day, would it really matter that much?

Thanks!

I believe it will hurt your score. I think it's best to keep those with no annual fee open, and use each once every month or two for a small purchase.

1. what difference does the interest rate make if you're not paying interest?

2. interest rates can often be lowered with a simple call

3. closing older accounts lowers your AAofA

4. closing accounts raises your capacity utilization percentage

5. keeping an account open gives you the chance to PC it, or transfer some of its credit limit, later on

I don't see any advantage to closing them.

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TD Bank Business Solutions Visa (Bus) 23700

FNBO Evergreen Business Edition Visa (Bus) 20k

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US Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa (Bus) 12k

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Total revolving limits 568220 (504020 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 689 TU 691 EX 682

Anonymous · ‎11-01-2015

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Bunnylocks wrote:
Hi guys,

So I'm planning to close a bunch of low limit cards with higher interest rates that I never used anymore before the new year. I have a Barclay's Rewards with a 1.2k limit. I've had the card almost three years, and the highest limit was 3.2k. I moved my limits around between my Sallie Mae and Ring card. Anyway, it's my oldest card and it practically goes unused, not to mention the APR is like 20...something. My second oldest is my Amazon that was opened on the same day falling second is Bank of America by 6 days. How much would this impact my credit score? MY AAOA is 1 year 9 months. Since Amazon was opened the same day, would it really matter that much?

Thanks!
I believe it will hurt your score. I think it's best to keep those with no annual fee open, and use each once every month or two for a small purchase.

1. what difference does the interest rate make if you're not paying interest?
2. interest rates can often be lowered with a simple call
3. closing older accounts lowers your AAofA
4. closing accounts raises your capacity utilization percentage
5. keeping an account open gives you the chance to PC it, or transfer some of its credit limit, later on

I don't see any advantage to closing them.

Whether the OP should close the card is debatable but we need to provide accurate info. Closing older accounts does not lower your AAoA . The earliest it will affect your AAoA is ten years from now.

Anonymous · ‎11-01-2015

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Bunnylocks wrote:
Hi guys,

So I'm planning to close a bunch of low limit cards with higher interest rates that I never used anymore before the new year. I have a Barclay's Rewards with a 1.2k limit. I've had the card almost three years, and the highest limit was 3.2k. I moved my limits around between my Sallie Mae and Ring card. Anyway, it's my oldest card and it practically goes unused, not to mention the APR is like 20...something. My second oldest is my Amazon that was opened on the same day falling second is Bank of America by 6 days. How much would this impact my credit score? MY AAOA is 1 year 9 months. Since Amazon was opened the same day, would it really matter that much?

Thanks!
I believe it will hurt your score. I think it's best to keep those with no annual fee open, and use each once every month or two for a small purchase.

1. what difference does the interest rate make if you're not paying interest?
2. interest rates can often be lowered with a simple call
3. closing older accounts lowers your AAofA
4. closing accounts raises your capacity utilization percentage
5. keeping an account open gives you the chance to PC it, or transfer some of its credit limit, later on

I don't see any advantage to closing them.

The debate on close vs non-close is very frequent, but it is not so clear cut one-way as you make it seem. If you keep all the cards you ever had, while chasing CLIs, you may appear to have too much available credit for income, and be denied a card from a new lender (where you have no option to PC or transfer CL to the new card). Some people also don't want to manage large numbers of non-useful accounts, and monitor them for fraud etc. Re util, a lot of time people are closing cards they got early on with very low CLs. If you have $200K + in limits, closing a $500 card really doesn't matter much!

Anonymous · ‎11-01-2015

many believe keeping cards open that don't have an AF is fine, which it is. but like longtermlurker illustrated is if you have open credit you'll never use again then free up the space for future cards you want. and you're so young to the world of credit that your oldest trade line right now is hardly noticeable because you're "'new" to credit by any lender's specifications.