# Will cancelling a new credit card hurt my credit score?



## Mr. Frostie (Nov 2, 2008)

I was at Old Navy today and the cashier offered me an Old Navy Card to get 10% off for the day. I thought it was like a Kohl's card or a CVS card so I said no problem. What she failed to mention to me is that its actually a Visa credit card. Will paying off my balance and canceling it immediately hurt my credit history?


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## pita (Jan 17, 2004)

It might make it temporarily go down a bit, but from what I understand, it's way better to cancel new cards than old ones.


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## DeadMansHand (Jan 13, 2010)

If you pay off the full amount of your credit cards every month, it should matter either way. Sometimes I get those credit cards just to get the discount and then when they come in the mail I cut them in half and throw them away.


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## VanDamMan (Nov 2, 2009)

New one shouldn't matter that much. 

Don't cancel older ones. They carry a credit history. So when you cancel a card, you cancel the whole paper trail that comes with it.


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## spaceygirl (Dec 4, 2009)

VanDamMan said:


> New one shouldn't matter that much.
> 
> Don't cancel older ones. They carry a credit history. So when you cancel a card, you cancel the whole paper trail that comes with it.


Huh...I've been meaning to cancel this store credit card that I've had a few years and never use (same deal as OP, I thought it was like a discount card ). When I first got it I used it once and subsequently forgot to make payments for a couple of months. I don't think this has affected my credit score in any way as I was pre-approved on a mortgage for a house, but if I cancel the card now will that have any affect (either way, good or bad?) keeping in mind there is no paper trail other than the couple first payments I forgot to make?


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## tlgibson97 (Sep 24, 2009)

Opening the card initially hurts your score some and closing it will hurt it it too, well, depending on your credit score. It probably won't do much if you have an average score but if you are in the 800's it will drop it 20-30 points. But it will come back up. I wuold only worry about it if you are getting ready to get a big loan for something.

Some big factors in your score are:
Length of credit history
Available credit
ratio of used credit to available credit
Negative reports
The percentage of used credit on a particular card.

As long as the card has no annual fee then there is really no reason to cancel it. Just don't use it. If you are afraid you will use it if you have it then cut it up. Your available credit will be higher so the ratio will go down.

They also say that if you use more than 25-35% of your limit on a card then it effects your score. Its better to have a little on a lot of cards than to have a maxed out card with a bunch of empty ones. I don't care too much about my score at this moment so I just use the card with the lowest rate.


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## lyricalillusions (Nov 29, 2008)

From everything I've ever heard, canceling a credit card is one of the worst things a person can do. You can always just keep it open & never use it, that way you won't have to pay anymore after you pay it off the first time, but your credit won't be negatively affected.


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