How will my credit be affected if I cancel a credit card I've had for 2 years that is in good standing?

I have a credit card thru my bank (Wachovia) and I have paid it off on time and in full every month for the past 2 years and I also just got a new Discover card, and after comparing the rates, my Wachovia card has an APR of 18.24% and the Discover card's rate is 9.99%. I've been told that I should keep the Wachovia card for credit check purposes since I've kept up with it so well for this long, but just to avoid potential trouble in the future, I'm thinking about cancelling it, especially since I rarely use it now anyway (maybe just a couple times a month just so I'll have something to pay off-- that looks good, right?) What should I do?|||I see two potential credit issues with canceling the older card. Your credit score can go down if you have too many recently opened lines of credit. In other words, the older your credit the better. Your credit score can go up if you have fewer total lines of credit. The more credit you have the more you can take out and credit bureaus look at this as a negative. I think If these are the only two cards you have, I would keep the older one open so your established credit is "older". Just don't use the card.|||That depends


Can you avoid the temptation of using the Wachovia card?


Does Wachovia charge you an annual fee?


Have you asked Wachovia to give you a better rate?





If the answer to the 1st question is yes and the 2nd is no, I would keep the card as it helps your aging and credit utilization.





To all you people repeating the MYTH about "too much open credit bringing down your score" its just that a MYTH. Too LITTLE credit is MUCH more likely to be detrimental to your FICO score. Closing open accounts you are not using is far more detrimental to your score than the supposed " too much open credit"|||Keep the credit card. It shows that you regularly pay something that you have had for a long time. If you don't use it anyway, what could it hurt?|||Keep the credit card. It will negatively affect your credit if you cancel a credit card that is in "good standing".





It is better to keep credit cards that are paid off and have a low interest rate. You don't have to use the card, just keep it in a safe deposit box.|||Close ALL credit lines you don't plan to use. TOO MUCH available credit will bring down your credit score and is looked upon unfavorably by potential lenders.





Closing the Wachovia account doesn't make your credit history go away. Think about it - if closing an account removed the history from your credit report, people wouldn't file bankruptcy - they'd simply close the negative accounts. Your good payment history will still show up on your credit report, even after you close the account.





It is a wise thing to close down an account with a higer interest rate, in favor of one with a much lower interest rate. And there's no point in leaving the account open if you don't intend to use it again.|||I think that you would benefit from getting some advice from the people who actually calculate credit scores. Please go to visit the Fico website.





Your FICO Score is based on:





1. Payment History


2. Amounts Owed


3. Length of Credit History


4. New Credit


5. Types of Credit in use.





If you follow the link below, it will take you to a brochure that explains about what does and what does not affect your credit score.|||Your credit score will be lowered 30 points at all the reporting agencies for 90-120 days. After that, the scores will rise again.





The bad news is that to keep your credit scores maxed you want to keep your oldest credit cards active. I would not close out the account. I just would not use it.