@jwright343 wrote:
i have a secured PNC card with a CL of 250$. i don't use it and it charges me 3$ a month as some sort of fee. so I AM paying them 36$/yr for a card with a worthless CL. I'm wanting to open a NEW card obiviously with a much larger CL. my score is around 685 so I'm guessing this won't be a problem. So.... do i close this card and stop giving away money to PNC also i lose the 7 years history with it as well. obviously a new card will probably be bigger than a 250$ CL so that will offset losing the old PNC card but losing a card w/ 7 years history might be a bigger hit scorewise. any advice??? PNC said they would have to do a HP even if I provide them w/ current fico scores.
How long have you had the secured card? If it's over 6 months or a year, you are likely ready for an unsecured card. Definitely don't close this one until you have a new one, and look at other options besides PNC. If you are getting offers in the mail, look at them and see what is best for you. Make sure your utilization is optimized before you app.
Once you have a new card, find out if PNC will graduate the secured card to a regular card. Search for "PNC Graduated" on this forum to see if they do that.
If they won't, once you have unsecured credit the card is useless and should be closed. Remember, a closed account will stay on your report for up to 10 years. So the hit to your score won't be as bad as you think.
Good luck.
