Technically, if they will waive the fee for another year, it might be mathematically best to leave it open for the free year. That way, the account age will project out one year further into the future (it will already be there for roughly a decade, so this would take that to roughly 11 years).
But that said, if it were me, I'd go ahead and cancel just for one fewer thing to think about. "Closed at user request" is a positive, if anything, as far as I know. It certainly does not hurt scoring.
That said, there are actually two ways that closing a card could hurt your credit. The one everybody mentions is if it reduces your overall credit limit enough to cause your utilization percentage to go up, but it could also hurt if it drops you from three cards to two cards, because you get a small scoring bonus with three open cards.
Other than those two things, it will not hurt to close it, and again, I probably would close it if I were you.
The bigger issue is, does this mean Open Sky is getting a little sleazy? Or maybe just one bad CSR?
I would go ahead and close it. Even if it's not costing you the annual fee to keep it another year, it is tying up your security deposit that could be used for more useful things like an emergency fund or payment on a high interest loan/credit card.
@Anonymous wrote:Open sky is my longest and oldest account ( 1 year more then my second current )
I never use the card. I called to cancel it and told them.
The CS Rep was kinda funny as she said " Well if you want to close your account, it will show as user closed on your credit report, and that will negatively affect your credit report and score. To avoid that, I can waive your upcoming annual fee as a once in a liftime of the account thing "
That caught me off guard for 2 reasons. 1) Thats not true ( i think ) and I think its crazy that they would scare people saying that, and 2) Open sky never wants to waive anything
I told her ill think about it and call back. My annaul fee statement won't hit for a few more days. Now this Rep has me thinking of just keeping the card.
Ugh I feel EVERYTIME i wanna cancel this card, something pulls me in.
Any advice? Also, do they send me something saying the account is closed and in good standing after its complete?
Thanks
The CSR was trying to mess with your head to keep the account open. All accounts closed by the consumer state just that on the CRA reports. You can request a letter stating that the account was closed at your request. I would get a copy of the last statement with a zero balance to keep for your records.
I think the reps for these cards are trained to try and keep people from canceling no matter what.
When I called to close my Indigo card, the rep argued with me that I might need it for emergencies. I asked her what kind of emergency she had that was less than $300 (the limit on the card - with a $75 AF)?
Closed by consumer isn’t a negative.
I don’t know what your history looks like or how old this card is (or your others), but I will offer that I have gotten responses from at least 2 banks that I don’t have enough open revolving accounts open for more than 2 years. In fairness, I don’t. But it’s something I’m cognizant of now in choosing when to close my terrible cards.
If you’re also running low on open revolving accounts over 2 years old, and they will waive the AF, then keeping it open another year might be worth it.
Closing the account will not affect average age of accounts (as it will stay on your report and be factored into your account age).
When I called to close my Indigo card, the rep argued with me that I might need it for emergencies. I asked her what kind of emergency she had that was less than $300 (the limit on the card - with a $75 AF)?
Closed by consumer isn’t a negative.
I don’t know what your history looks like or how old this card is (or your others), but I will offer that I have gotten responses from at least 2 banks that I don’t have enough open revolving accounts open for more than 2 years. In fairness, I don’t. But it’s something I’m cognizant of now in choosing when to close my terrible cards.
If you’re also running low on open revolving accounts over 2 years old, and they will waive the AF, then keeping it open another year might be worth it.
Closing the account will not affect average age of accounts (as it will stay on your report and be factored into your account age).
