I tried to close a credit card account that I don't use any more and their "trained" customer service person told me it was a bad move to remove a 25 year old account from my credit rating. I didn't think that the good information concerning this account would be removed from the report but he says it will be gone. Is this true?

No, it is not true.

The account would be marked "account closed by consumer" and will continue to report on your credit bureau as such.

The only negative I could think of would be if you have a large amount of available credit on this account that is not being used. It would have a very minimal effect on your overall score.

Closing an account of that standing could affect your credit report more adversely then just leaving it and not using it.

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Originally Posted by ksbotts

I tried to close a credit card account that I don't use any more and their "trained" customer service person told me it was a bad move to remove a 25 year old account from my credit rating. I didn't think that the good information concerning this account would be removed from the report but he says it will be gone. Is this true?

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He's pulling your leg.He works for the company that the card represents so of course they don't want to lose your business.All your credit records are permanent in the credit bureau,so close the account and smile. :)

I'm not an expert in this area. Just my experience and beliefs.

The info won't be gone, he's an idiot.

That said, I have two credit cards that I've had for years, I won't close them, I use them occasionally and pay off immediately, and see no problem with keeping open an old account. Part of your score is your debt to available credit ratio... if you aren't carrying more than 30% of your available revolving credit this can be seen as your showing financial discipline.

But as for your records being wiped of the info, that is just BS.

Credit is very tricky. If you close it it lowers your score, however if you keep it and your trying to lets say buy a home the bank looks at it as if you could possibly over existent yourself. Meaning get in too much debt and not be able to pay them their money. I personally would advise you to keep it and cut the card up. Only use it if totally necessary. Having too much credit in a lot of different places is bad. And having to little credit may not be good either. If you keep it and you need it it's always there. If you close it and have to reopen for credit to be issued to you again that also lowers your score. I would keep it. Especially if you have a good history with this company. ;);)