Effect of opening a new CC and closing old one with same bank

[mrmoneypants]

I've got an older Bank of America card that I've had for over 9 years (the longest on my credit reports).Thing is, there's an annual fee to it that they instituted and I don't want to have to pay that anymore for a card that doesn't really do much other than keep my score healthy. I *HEARD* that opening a new account with the same bank and closing the older one actually doesn't hurt the length of credit history. Is this true? 

[Revelate]

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@mrmoneypants wrote:

I've got an older Bank of America card that I've had for over 9 years (the longest on my credit reports).Thing is, there's an annual fee to it that they instituted and I don't want to have to pay that anymore for a card that doesn't really do much other than keep my score healthy. I *HEARD* that opening a new account with the same bank and closing the older one actually doesn't hurt the length of credit history. Is this true? 

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Not entirely correct: closing the old tradeline won't affect you immediately (10 year clock starts runnning before it falls off your report) unless it meaningfully changes your utilization, but opening a new tradeline can be a penalty: it will be a new inquiry somewhere, and it might drop your AAOA as it will be a new tradeline.

That said there may be a better option, BOFA is *awfully* good at PC's (product change) and removing AF's (annual fee) in my and other people's experience: keep the account, and the history, and get a different card which may suit you better.  I'd call their customer service and see if you can switch it to one of the $0 AF cards before you close it.  

I view closing cards as a last resort if it can't be product changed or a fee can't get removed.  Too easy to keep a $0 AF card active these days (hurray Amazon recurring!) as long as there's an easy mobile or similar online payment, and BOFA's been one of the best at that for part for years.

[mrmoneypants]

That's true. Unlike some others, I have had pretty good experiences with BOA. Maybe that's what I was told, to do a product switch. Do product switches not count as a new inquiry then, but still keep the history in regards to scores? I'm almost close to closing on a home, so I'll wait until after that's done to mess with the card.

[pizzadude]

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@mrmoneypants wrote:

That's true. Unlike some others, I have had pretty good experiences with BOA. Maybe that's what I was told, to do a product switch. Do product switches not count as a new inquiry then, but still keep the history in regards to scores? I'm almost close to closing on a home, so I'll wait until after that's done to mess with the card.

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Yes, generally when you PC from one card to another, the creditor won't issue a new account number, and you'll keep your existing tradeline without adding a new one.  

[Revelate]

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@pizzadude wrote:

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@mrmoneypants wrote:

That's true. Unlike some others, I have had pretty good experiences with BOA. Maybe that's what I was told, to do a product switch. Do product switches not count as a new inquiry then, but still keep the history in regards to scores? I'm almost close to closing on a home, so I'll wait until after that's done to mess with the card.

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Yes, generally when you PC from one card to another, the creditor won't issue a new account number, and you'll keep your existing tradeline without adding a new one.  

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+1, but wait till after you close absolutely: a PC might trigger a mid-cycle report and that's not what you want during the mortgage process.

[mrmoneypants]

Thanks all!! Super helpful