Before you cancel out that 8-10-15 year old card think twice. It really hurts your credit score especially if you have just taken out a new card. Pay off the balance and throw the card in the draw. One method the credit agencies use to obtain your credit score is by how long you have had credit with a certain company.
Would you rather hire an employee who has worked for a prior comapny for 5-8 years or somone who changes jobs every 6 months.
Be aware that if you have a card, even one with no balance, and do not use it, some banks charge you a fee if the card has not been used at least 3x in a year.
We have 2 cards with M&I. One came up for renewal, I called the number, it was renewed, no problem. The second one came up 4 months later and when I called to confirm, the girl there told me I had to mail in all my ID information. We have been with them since 1987 and have our brokerage account w/M&I Financial Advisers, as well. Since the card from four months prior had been renewed with no problem, I was suspicious. So I declined and threw the card in a drawer (it was paid off) and forgot about it. 11 months later, a bill comes with a $15 fee on that card. I called and complained, telling them it was their worker’s fault I didn’t renew. They confirmed that they had all my data and that there was something odd about being told to mail it in and they erased the charge and confirmed the card. But they did tell me that they had that fee for inactivity.
So either use the card 3x or whatever the bank requires, or cancel it.
Good advice. You also need to use the old cards now and then for them to be counted in your score. A good way to look at it is to prepare for major purchases by having a small token balance on them.
Excellent point about not canceling your old cards. Also, if you cancel the card, you lose the available credit, which also boosts your score.
So, if you have available credit lines totaling $50,000, and cancel one with a $25K credit limit, a, say, $5,000 total credit card balance would give you a 25% credit utilization with the canceled card, where it would be only 10% with the $50K line. Big difference in the score. The sweet spot is between 7-15%.
Also, if you ever need a higher limit, the card company that is considering the increase will look at the other limits you have and (in the old days, at least) would often match your highest limit.
And yes, a good account with a lot of age is a valuable credit asset.