• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

  • About
  • Liz’s Books
  • Speaking
  • Disclosure
  • Contact

Q&A: Be strategic when closing credit accounts

August 12, 2019 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: I recently moved to a new state and would like to open a credit card at my new credit union. I’m concerned that closing my old credit union account and card will hurt my credit scores, which are over 800. The old card, which I no longer use, has a high credit limit. My income is also lower, so I’m not sure how that will affect the credit limit I get.

Answer: Closing credit accounts can ding your credit scores, but that doesn’t mean you should never close an unwanted account. You just need to do so strategically.

First, understand that the more credit accounts you have, the less impact opening or closing an account typically has on your scores. If you have a dozen credit cards, for example, closing one will likely have less impact than if you only have two.

Still, you’d be wise to open the new account before closing the old one. That’s because closing an account lowers the amount of available credit you have, and that has a large impact on your scores.

If the new issuer doesn’t give you a credit limit close to that of the old card, you’re still probably fine closing the old account if you have a bunch of other cards. If you don’t, though, you may want to hold on to the old account to protect your scores.

Related Posts

  • Q&A:Closing credit accounts

    Dear Liz: I paid off and closed two large home equity lines of credit in…

  • Q&A: Too many credit cards? Protect your credit scores while closing accounts

    Dear Liz: Over the years, my husband and I have accumulated a number of credit…

  • Q&A: Credit scores and new accounts

    Dear Liz: My spouse signed up for a store credit card to receive a discount…

  • Q&A: Effects of closing credit card accounts

    Dear Liz: I would like to know how to close credit card accounts and not…

Filed Under: Credit Scoring, Q&A Tagged With: Credit, Credit Scores, q&a

Primary Sidebar

Search

Copyright © 2025 · Ask Liz Weston 2.0 On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in