cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Confused..impact on scores for closing unwanted credit cards

tag
fritscher
Regular Contributor

Confused..impact on scores for closing unwanted credit cards

Hi..i have worked hard to get where i am at today..i actually now have good credit ..i have 15 credit card accounts..i do have 3 older accts..2 capital ones both that have AFs and still credit one and merrick. these all go back a few years..in the past 6 months i have added new credit cards that i really like..my chase, huntington, discover it, amex  and citi dc..and yes quicksilver..i would like to close the 2 capital ones with the annual fees and merge into new quicksilver..also want to close out the merrick and the credit one as well..Question..is this going to ding my credit scores? I noticed that some of my accounts from 15 years ago that are close still show up on my credit reports. Does it really matter if accounts are open or are closed on the reports? i just want to know which is the best route to take.

thank you!

 

Message 1 of 5
4 REPLIES 4
Dalmus
Valued Contributor

Re: Confused..impact on scores for closing unwanted credit cards

The act of closing the cards itself won't ding your credit score unless you're carrying balances on your remaining cards, then it will effect your utilization percentage. If it's still under 10%, it shouldn't hurt your score, though.

The trade line of a closed account in good standing will stay on your report for up to 10 years, so don't worry about your AAoA.


NFCU MR: $25K | Venture: $21K | Amex ED: $18K | NFCU CR: $18K | Amex BCE: $15K | IT #1: $17.5K | PNC Core: $15K | PPMC:  $12K | Wells Fargo: $11K | Savor: 12K | Cap1 QS: $8.5K | Barclays Rewards: $7.75K | IT #2: $7.3K | MLife: $9.5K | Sportsman's Guide: $8.7K | PenFed PR: $5.5K | Elan Plat: $2.3K | TRV: $3.6K | BotW: $3K


Current FICO 8 Scores: EQ: 828| TU: 805 | EX: 814


Message 2 of 5
EAJuggalo
Established Contributor

Re: Confused..impact on scores for closing unwanted credit cards

For FICO scoring purposes it doesn't matter if the accounts are open or closed.  Vantage scores like you see on CK and CreditWise only count open accounts.  All accounts will stay on your report for ten years after closure.  I wouldn't worry about it, if the card isn't working for you, get rid of it.

EX700 TU 704 EQ 694 4/03/22
Cap1 QS-$4,500 Chase Freedom Flex- $800 Chase Freedom Unlimited- $1,000 Victoria's Secret- $1,200 Citi DC- $800 Amazon Store Card- $3,500 AMEX Hilton Honors-$1,000 Discover It-$1,000 Wal-Mart MC $290 Chase Sapphire Preferred-$5,000 NFCU Flagship $13,800 AMEX BCE-$1,000 AMEX Gold-$5,000 AMEX Delta Blue $1,000 Lowe's $5,000 Navy Platinum $17,000 AMEX BBP $2,000
Message 3 of 5
NRB525
Super Contributor

Re: Confused..impact on scores for closing unwanted credit cards

Have you checked with Capital One, whether one or both of the old AF cards could be PC'd into a no-AF version? Some have been able to do this, others not.

 

In general, if a card has an AF and you aren't gettnig benefit from the AF, it's a candidate for being closed. FICO won't be significantly impacted, but that AF will keep costing some actual money each year.

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765
Message 4 of 5
rmduhon
Valued Contributor

Re: Confused..impact on scores for closing unwanted credit cards

Just for reference, some credit one accounts have been deleted from the reports when closed. But I'd still close it even if that may happen.
Message 5 of 5
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.