Oldest credit card versus change in terms & conditions

General Discussion
1

I have had a Chase Slate card since 2005, it is my oldest open account with a 9.9% APR.

Well, Chase is ‘upgrading’ my account to a rewards card with a 15.74% variable APR. I personally don’t like rewards cards because of the higher APR charged (unless the balance is paid in full each month).

My questions are:

  1. since this is my oldest open account what impact will closing this account have on my credit rating (currently around 813)?

  2. should I just leave it open and not use it?

Thanks in advance for thoughts, ideas and opinions.

Sarah

2

The close it. Just don’t use the card. It does impact your credit score. Have you advised them you were comfortable without the rewards?

3

Hi GGIRL1956

I did in fact call them and told them I would prefer to keep the Chase Slate card as is but they have done away with that card/program.

4

Definitely don’t close it. You could also make a small purchase every month and pay it off completely each month.

5

Citibank did me the same way. Had them for 20 years. They went up 17% when the financials started crashing, so I advised them I would not use them again. They ended my account two years ago.

6

Closing that card will probably have a significant affect on your credit score. I would recommend keeping it open and only using it from time to time to make a small purchase and paying it off right away.

The APR increase shouldn’t be a problem if you do this.

When it comes to credit scores, the account age does have a significant role and closing your oldest account could cause a big drop in your score.

7

Why does closing the card cause a drop in credit score?

8

@kimk Because a part of your score is determined based off of the “age” of your credit history. It takes the age of all your accounts and averages them out to create part of your score.

So, in that case, if you have an account that is 8 years old, one that is 3 years, and a 1 year old account, and you remove the 8 year one, you lose those years of credit “age”.

Your credit score will then drop because now it is just averaging out the two lesser ages of credit history.

At least that is the way I understand it. Does that make sense?

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9

Thank you; that totally makes sense.

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