Should I cancel my Student Credit Card ? Need Advice !?

Hi all, I have VISA student credit card that I had since my sophmore year in college which is 7 years ago. They started me out with $500 initially and now my credit line slowly increased over the years to $8500. I dont have a balance on it as i only charge my $35 monthly gym membership on it and pay off when bill comes.


I have another Credit card which is another VISA but it is a platinum with $20,000 credit line with $800 a balance. I only have 2 credit cards and they both are VISA, Im thinking about applying for a Master Card and cancel my VISA Student credit card. Will canceling the student credit card hurt me or not canceling it will help my credit as I ahve had this card for 7 years and NEVER once late payment. My credit score is 776 and I'm just trying to do my best to keep it in good shape. Please let me know if I should keep the Student Credit Card or Cancel Iit. Thanks for all your advice in advance.





PS: i heard it is good to have a Visa and a MasterCard for your credit?

Should I cancel my Student Credit Card ? Need Advice !?
Whatever you do, DON'T cancel the card. It will automatically drop your credit history. Some say it's okay, but it isn't.


What happens is it "un-ages" your history file. Since you never had a late payment, you always want that on your file.


Most people should have 2-3 cards. One with a high limit for emergencies and business expenses on trips. One with a low limit for normal monthly expenditures which they pay off easily every month. And a third for whatever they deem appropriate as long as they can manage it in a responsible way.


From what you've said, you have no problem with the responsibility, so don't ruin a perfectly good credit rating by killing your history, which is what creditors look at more than anything else.
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Reply:A credit score of 776 is EXCELLENT! Keep the card. In fact, I'd suggest calling into customer service and inquire about a Reward's Card. Most institutions now have airline, merchandise, auto or some other rewards based card. Keep in mind, you might have to pay an annual fee depending on the type of reward card. There are some reward cards that come with annual fee.





Great job on maintaining your credit score.
Reply:I would keep it and try for the master card, now dont start using both just becasue you have more line open. Keep on, the student visa looked up somewere and use it only for life or death, something happens at least you have a way out. Now for the new maserscard just use it for the gym memeber ship. Keep doint what your doing dont go spending crazy.
Reply:Go with what credit cards give you the best interest rate. Your credit score is excellent already, unless you start missing payments you should be fine. You score also goes down when your credit is checked, ie. new card, loan, or just checking the score. Again, unless you changing cards a couple times a year your good.
Reply:One thing that helps your credit is the length of time you've had credit. Since that's probably one of your oldest sources, yes, it could hurt your credit to cancel it. It also helps not to run high balances which you don't. My advice, is to ask VISA to lower your limit to $250-500 if you only use it for your gym membership and then put it away. You'll still have the length on there and you won't be going over the percentage to hurt your credit. Credit card companies love increasing your limits to encourage you to spend more. You can ask them to lower your limits.
Reply:Dont cancel your credit card to get another one. When you cancel a credit card, they will eventually( after 7 years or so)take that off your credit report and you will lose all that good credit history. When you open a new credit file (get a new credit card) your credit score goes down for at least 6 months while you establish credit with that card. If you do open a new account and close that old one, expect to not have a 776 credit score again for another 2 years.





about 2 years ago i had a credit score of 680.(bankrupcy and a judgement made it so low) I only had 2 credit cards. I got a third credit card and my mid score went to 610 just like that! My score is now up to 708 now after 2 years. My oldest card only has a 500 dollar limit and i never use it except to pay the 40 dollar per year fee. I would rather pay that fee than get rid of it and risk having my score go down. My other cards have over 10,000 limit and are the ones i use all the time, but like you i pay it off when the bill comes.





You have a 776 score. Dont mess it up as its really hard to get that high of a score. You are in the top credit rating to where you are suppose to get the best rates for home purchases, business loans and all that. Keep the student card and keep on doing what you are doing. If it aint broke, dont fix it. :)
Reply:I don't think it matters to your credit score if you have 2 Visas or one Visa and one MC.


What can affect your credit score is your available credit. Why in the world do you need 28,000 in credit if you carry balances the total less than 1,000? A bank could see that you have the potential to run up 27 grand in additional debt and reject you because of that. I'd close one of those cards. Transfer the gym membership or the balance to the one you will keep open.