Why nobody talks about closing old cards wrecking your score

Honestly, I compared two approaches when I was fixing my credit last year. I closed a store card I had since 2018 thinking it would simplify things, and my score dropped 42 points in a month. Then I kept another old card open with zero balance, just used it for gas once every 3 months. That card kept my average account age way higher. The difference was night and day - keeping that old line open saved me from looking risky to lenders. Has anyone else seen a big hit from closing a card they thought was useless?

3 comments

3 Comments

iris92728d ago

Yeah I read keeping old cards open helps your credit age which makes total sense after seeing what happened to you.

seth_shah28d ago

Ha! Did that 42 point drop make you panic or just get pissed?

nancyj1128d ago

Panic? Nah, more like my credit score dropped faster than my phone battery at 3am after a night shift. @iris927 is totally right about keeping old cards open though, wish someone had told me that before I closed my college card like a dummy. Now my credit age looks like it's stuck in freshman year.