My APR was increased, if I pay off the balance, will that affect my credit score?

[Anonymous]

I received today a letter that my APR will be increased to 22.9%, I had 14.9% before.

They say I can decline this and they will cancel my account by July 30th.

I really don't want to have this APR , this credit card company never increased my credit limit when I requested it and now this.  My balance is not big, I can pay off the balance in the 2 coming weeks.

If I do and then tell them to close my account, will that affect my credit score?

Thanks

[llecs]

Paying it off could improve your score; depends on the utilization before and after. Closing your account could negatively impact your score if you lack a good mix of credit after the CC is closed and if that CC helped your utilization. Ten yrs from now, it will drop off your CRs and that could have a negative impact if it helped your avg. age and history.

IMO, keep it open. You could always keep the card locked up and charge a cup of coffee to it every three months to keep it active. Paying in full before each statement would result in no interest being paid. If you look in the frequently requested threads link stickied somewhere around here, you'll find a thread on Closing Credit Cards.