Disagree that closing old cards always hurts your score

I closed a Capital One card I had for 11 years back in March because of the annual fee. Everyone online said my score would tank. Lost about 15 points initially, but by July my FICO 8 was back up 22 points higher than before. The utilization ratio on my remaining cards actually improved because I paid down a balance I was carrying. I think the panic about closing old accounts is overblown if you manage your other cards well. Has anyone else seen their score recover faster than the 'experts' claim?

3 comments

3 Comments

ross.angela1mo ago

.. actually, your score doesn't just bounce back from paying down a balance, it can pop higher because utilization is a pretty big chunk of the FICO pie. I've seen the same thing happen to me when I closed a store card and paid off another one at the same time.

julia_fisher281mo agoProlific Poster

Wait, you actually got a higher score after closing a card?

karenw231mo ago

You said "popped higher" and that's exactly what happened to me once. I had a store card I barely used and a regular card with a small balance. Paid off the regular one and closed the store card on the same day, and a month later my score went up about 15 points. I was kind of surprised because I always thought closing a card would ding you. It got me thinking about how that utilization thing really might be a bigger piece of the pie than people give it credit for. Of course, now I just keep my oldest cards open and pay them down slowly.