Credit Debt
The two ways closing a card hurts your score, how long each lasts, when closing is still right, and how to keep the account without the fee.
1
Closing a card removes its credit limit immediately, which raises your utilisation and can drop your score the same month.
2
The account-age effect is delayed. Closed accounts in good standing stay on your report for around ten years.
3
If you carry no balances at all, closing a card has little utilisation effect.
4
Ask to downgrade to a no-fee version instead. It usually keeps the same account and its history.
It depends almost entirely on your utilisation. If you carry balances, removing a limit raises the percentage you are using and the drop can be significant, sometimes tens of points.
Yes, for a while. Closed accounts in good standing generally remain on your credit report for around ten years and continue to contribute to your average account age.
Read the full guide