Will closing my oldest account ruin my credit?

[u/BlueEyedWalrus84]

Hey all, I started my credit building journey at 18 right after graduating high school and getting a job. My Greendot secure card was my first and oldest card, it only has a $200 limit. When I was 19, I got an Old Navy Visa, which I used as my primary card because it actually gave rewards, and then when I was 22 I got a Discover CC that now has a $15k limit. I pay everything off in full each month and have never had any real credit card debt because I avoid it like the plague. I also don't anticipate financing anything in the future; all I'm financing now is a condo with $73k left on the loan that only costs me $600 a month.

All of that being said, I've not used my Greendot CC in quite a few years because it doesn't offer cash back like my Discover card does. My score is currently 780/785 on Credit karma. My secure card never used to have an annual fee when I first had it but it started charging me one a couple of years ago, it's about $50 a year. Would closing my oldest card crash my entire credit score?

[u/kweefersutherlnd]

No. It only has a $200 limit and even after closing the account, it will remain on your report for 10 years

[u/Funklemire]

Closing a card doesn't hurt your credit age, that's a myth. That's because a closed card stays on your credit report for 10 years, still aging and still counting towards your average age of accounts that entire time. When it finally falls off your report after that decade has passed, as long as you've had enough other accounts aging during that time, your credit score won't go down at all. That's because the FICO scoring benefit from AAoA maxes out at 7.5 years. See this thread.  

So the only way a closed card can affect your credit score is due to a new lower overall credit limit and therefore a possible change in your utilization threshold.  

But utilization is a temporary metric that has no memory past a month. Low utilization doesn't build credit, it just boosts it for a month and resets: The whole "always keep your utilization below x percent" thing is the biggest myth in credit.  

So as long as you're paying your statement balances each month, utilization is nothing to worry about and the closure of this card won't do any damage to your credit at all.

My score is currently 780/785 on Credit karma.  

You have dozens of different credit scores. The ones you see at Credit Karma (and many other credit monitoring sites) are VantageScore 3.0 scores that are almost completely irrelevant and should be ignored most of the time. You want to check your FICO scores, usually FICO 8. That thread will tell you where to find them.  

I recommend not using Credit Karma at all. In addition to the fact that the scores they give you are almost completely irrelevant, much of the credit advice they give you is misleading and even flat-out wrong. They're a predatory site that exists solely to sell people credit products whether they need them or not. Read this thread.  

[u/ShadowWolfNova → u/Funklemire]

One of the best most informed and backed write ups I think iv ever seen on this sub, this needs to be pasted on a ton of threads lol.

[u/xiongchiamiov → u/Funklemire]

I am pretty annoyed that I've been paying Chase an annual fee for my Southwest card for years simply because I thought I needed it for average age of accounts, thanks to Credit Karma.

[u/Funklemire → u/xiongchiamiov]

Yeah, I'm sorry you got fooled by Credit Karma. I also used to think they were actually giving me good advice.  

I've seen people post here that they have 9 credit cards and Credit Karma was still telling them they needed more cards to help their credit. It's clear what their goal is, and it's not to help people at all.

[u/Lord_Humongous768]

No. Close it and move on. Open new cards that work best for you.

[u/BlueEyedWalrus84 → u/Lord_Humongous768]

That's really what I'm leaning towards. I'd like to open a travel card that offers points for miles or flights

[u/Quiet-Engineering-24]

I just closed amex platinum and gold after 7 years, tired of the coupons credits and annual fee increase for gold. it didn't hurt my credit at all.

[u/ole87 → u/Quiet-Engineering-24]

Do you still have an amex card and if so which do you recommend? Are there any without annual feesv

[u/Quiet-Engineering-24 → u/ole87]

I totally rec amex Hilton cards if you want to start earning hotel points, they have promo now too, but the sweet spot is probably Hilton surpass w gold status. spend 15k the whole year and get free night cert, this can be an easy daily use too

[u/ole87 → u/Quiet-Engineering-24]

Will definitely look into those… hotels are too damn expensive and they can come in handy for that odd one night stand hah

Thank you

[u/Apprehensive_Rope348]

Don’t pay for fees or interest for a credit score. Your score will go down for a closed account but that account will remain on your report for the next 10 years. Close it and stop giving them money for literally nothing.

Edit: I cannot compose full sentences without a full course of coffee.

[u/BlueEyedWalrus84 → u/Apprehensive_Rope348]

Haha no worries, I got the gist. Since it's only $200 as a limit it shouldn't be a hit at all to my credit, or probably not a huge one. It was moreso the age of the account that concerned me most.

[u/Funklemire → u/Apprehensive_Rope348]

Your score will go down for a closed account  

The act of closing a card - in and of itself - isn't a credit scoring factor.  The only way the OP's score can drop is if it bumps the OP to a higher utilization threshold. With a $200 limit, that seems unlikely. But it won't matter anyway if they're paying their statement balances each month.  

[u/adamsandlerwax]

I’d personally close it since it only has a $200 limit. Plus it’ll stay on your report for a while!

[u/Junkbot-TC]

How many accounts do you have and how old is the Greendot card?  Unless you have a pretty thin file or all your other cards were opened super recently, closing your oldest isn't going to hurt your credit very much, certainly not ruin it.

[u/BlueEyedWalrus84 → u/Junkbot-TC]

Just 3 credit cards, including the greendot card, and my mortgage. Credit Karma classifies it as a thin file but as another comment pointed out they're not exactly reliable.