Closing of a credit card simply terminates the continued ability to make new purchases.
It does not per se remove any credit reporting on the account unless other conditions prevail.
Closing does not, for example, remove the account from continued inclusion in FICO scoring under age of accounts, does not remove derogatory payment history delinquencies, or does not per se remove the account under percent util scoring if a balance remains on the account.
However, once a revolving line of credit is both closed and reaches $0 balance, it is removed from your util of credit scoring.
You will then lose its credit limit in your assessment of % util of revolving credit.
If the credit limit is small, that may be insignificant. However, if it is your highest or only reported revolving credit limit, it might have significant impact.
Scoring impact is always balanced against the separate issue of economic impact. Closing of an account with an annual fee can remove continued obligation for that fee, and thus override any negative scoring implications that might occur as result of loss of the credit limit in your % util calculation.
A secondary and unknown closing factor that is beyond control of the consumer is the possibility that the creditor may decide, once the account is paid, to then report deletion of the entire account for their own reasons. If the creditor decides to delete their account, thus removing any obligation to monitor for any changes or to respond to any consumer disputes, the consumer will lose any positive benefits, such as if the account has a long age that is above the current average age of accounts.
It depends......
