Community Chat

[Nataliesgramma]

Is it possible to get a better credit card without you credit score taking a ding?

We have excellent credit. We have 3 Visa cards with less than 300.00 balance on them combined right now One is a Disney, the other a Freedom and the 3rd we get perks on the Airline we fly to visit the Grandkids.

I'd LIKE to either change the Disney to some other rewards credit card with a decent interest rate or even get rid of it all together and just keep the other 2 cards.

I told this to my brother and he said "DON'T DO IT!" your score will take a ding.

Has  anyone done a switch? How much of a "ding" do they do? If I would switch to another card with the same Bank (Chase), would that be the best?

THanks for any imput!

[TheWanderingOne]

Credit scores are fluid. 

Mine varies thru-out the month, depending on the current balance on my credit cards. If I make a large purchase, it invariably takes a couple of point drop. When I pay the bill (I pay in full every month), it goes back up.

According to Nerd Wallet, a hard pull (done when you open a new card) typically takes less than 5 points off your credit score. It may stay that way for a few months. 

There's a lot more info out there on this topic, you just have to take a few minutes to research it. 

[wagirl]

I think  it depends on how long you've had a credit card? Am sure there are other factors too. I have around 9 credit cards--most are at least 20-30 years old, my Macys and Nordstrom are nearly 50 years old--got them when I was 19. I use just a couple tho but have closed out a few that just don't get used at all. Might have gotten a few points knocked off. I have a best buy one--and got notified that it would be closed if I didn't use it. I bought ink for my printer--that one is 20 years old. Did you try using our friend goog-le for info?

[monicakm]

@Nataliesgramma 

I am not too happy with my husband right now. We bought a new king size mattress yesterday. We have the money to pay cash for it but for some reason my husband wanted to open a line of credit for that store and pay it out in 12 months with no interest. Why!? We will be paying the exact amount either way and opening up a new line of credit puts a ding on your credit score. We don't use credit cards anymore, only a debit card. Our credit score is well into the 800s. I don't see the logic of his decision and try to change his mind. Men!  They sometimes defy logic 🙄

[Desertdi]

If you wanna hear something "funny"......the last time I was in my local bank and asked for "cash back".......the teller actually ASKED me WHAT I use it for.     

[cindyNC]

@Desertdi  That's really funny or not.............

I typically go into my bank every few months and get a couple of hundred dollars out in various bills.  I refuse to use my cards at restaurants.  

[They Call Me MR Wilkes]

The FICO Score uses a number of factors with different weighting:

On time payment history 

Oldest credit line

Recent inquiries 

New accounts opened

Credit used as % of available credit

On time payments have the highest impact; inquiries and new accounts are considered low impact.  Your biggest drop in score would come from missing required payments when due.  Everything else results in smaller drops.

I can check my score everyday on my banking app.

[kaydee50]

@Nataliesgramma   It has been my experience that opening a new credit card has minimal effect on your FICO score assuming all the other factors that are taken into consideration are good.

And if your credit is "excellent"'  (800+) a few points off won't matter since I believe an "excellent" credit score is 760 and above.

[Terrywu]

I thought it wasn't getting a new credit card that affected your score, but rather closing out a credit card.  My bank tells me not to close the card but to just discontinue using it.

[Carmie]

My credit score is well over 800.  I recently opened a new CC that gave me $150 for spending $500 in the next 60 days.  I jumped on that!  Free money!!!

I have no balance on any of my cc as I pay them off every month.  I thought I would get slammed by opening a new card.  My credit score went down 5 points.  I am still over the 800 mark.  It wasn't a big deal.

Some of my CC have a virtual " what if" on their sites.  I can plug in different things such as dropping a cc card, openeing a new one.  being late on a payment, etc.  and it will tell me what will happen to my credit score.