Does closing a credit card lower your credit rating?

[MrMatt]

I have a terrible time with my Citi Platinum MasterCard, I've had issue with them not processing payments I make online for a week, and then slapping me with late fees twice now. I carry 0 balance on it, and I'm never using it again. Does just letting it sit there with 0 on it help my credit rating at all? Would just closing the card hurt my credit rating?

 

[CRXican]

Yes and Yes

 

[Genx87]

I have heard so many different answerson this subject. Personally I dont see how you closing the account voluntarily can hurt your score.

 

[crownjules]

According to the credit expert on NPR the other day, no it does not.

 

[spidey07]

It's like a double whammy. Your length of credit history is reduced, alongs with the total amount of revolving credit you have which shows your usage of revolving credit will go up.

Two negative shots to your credit rating, all in one simple move.

 

[MJinZ]

Keep it open and don't use it. Doing anything affects your credit negatively (except using it and paying on time).

 

[brblx]

According to the credit expert on NPR the other day, no it does not.

that's just what the liberal propaganda machine wants you to believe.

obviously spidey and his tinfoil hat know more about this.

 

[amdhunter]

It'll drop anywhere from 42 to over 9000 points. It'll take ~10 years to get it back up too.

 

[lupi]

Closing it will give you a minor short term hit as your max credit line will be decreased with removal of the card. In the long run it will not cause you a lower rating and depending on the lender it can boost your rating as you have less lines of unsecured credit open.

 

[Razgriz]

just breathing will lower your credit score, apparently.

 

[SandEagle]

It'll drop anywhere from 42 to over 9000 points. It'll take ~10 years to get it back up too.

do u guys even have credit cards over their in india? i know u have call centers and processing centers, but does anyone there really know what a credit card is?

 

[CountZero]

Don't listen to these fools!

The answer is a definite maybe. If it is your oldest card or the one with the highest limit I'd probably keep it otherwise close it. In any case I can't imagine the hit for closing an account is very big and for creditors that are looking at your credit beyond just the score I'd hazard a guess that it would help more than hurt to have less available credit floating around.

 

[jonks]

Don't listen to these fools!

The answer is a definite maybe. If it is your oldest card or the one with the highest limit I'd probably keep it otherwise close it.

bingo

 

[JMapleton]

It will lower your credit rating, trust me, I have a lot of experience with credit scores and how they work.

Only close a credit card if you're not using it, if it has an annual fee. Then it's not worth paying to keep that credit line open. Otherwise, just put away and use it maybe once every 3 to 6 months so it doesn't become inactive on your credit report.

 

[mrCide]

The GF has a credit card with 15k credit and a 5k balance. It's her first card. Unfortunately it's got a crumby apr and an annual fee (she knew nothing about which to apply for when she got it). So I'm helping her get it paid down and either transfer or close it and open a new one.

I wondered about this, since we intend on closing it due to the stupid annual fee. Most credit reports will show history even on an account thats paid off/closed, and factor that into your credit history -- barring the actual credit/debt ratio.

I would hope this would not impact your credit in a real way with the act of closing it as long as it's 'made up' for elsewhere, like another card/line of credit. Thoughts?

 

[JMapleton]

I would hope this would not impact your credit in a real way with the act of closing it as long as it's 'made up' for elsewhere, like another card/line of credit. Thoughts?

Part of your credit is made up of how much credit you have available, and also how much you owe relative to how much you have. It's better to owe $2k with a $15k limit card than owe $1k on a $2k limit card.

If she has a $15k limit, that would be hard to let go of, for most people that's a nice limit. Call the cc and see if they will drop the annual fee once its paid for.

 

[Lotheron]

Part of your credit is made up of how much credit you have available, and also how much you owe relative to how much you have. It's better to owe $2k with a $15k limit card than owe $1k on a $2k limit card.

If she has a $15k limit, that would be hard to let go of, for most people that's a nice limit. Call the cc and see if they will drop the annual fee once its paid for.

This.

IIRC: Not to mention it counts all of your open revolving accounts as well.

For example: If you have a 5K limit card, a 2K limit card, and a 3K limit card. You have 10K of available revolving credit. If you only have 1K on the 5K card, and none on the rest, you are using 1K of 10K of revolving credit. The credit lines tend to stack in this manner.