Will closing a credit card affect my credit score?

I have one credit card, and I have payed every bill on time. I even have positive credit on it. Now, today I opened a Victoria's Secret credit card. If I pay my bill off with in one week, then close the card, will it hurt my credit?|||You can use this credit monitoring service to pre-estimate future scores for different scenarios of such payments - buildcredit.ifastnet.com|||Yes it will hurt your score in 2 ways.


Your score takes a 5-10 point hit just for applying for the V.S. credit card


It will take an additional 5-20 point dip for closing it.





I suggest that you wait at least 6 months before closing it. More realistically you shouldn't close it all, just keep it somewhere safe and don't use it because I'm sure there's no annual fee on it. Let the history of the card help your credit score.|||Yes. Your FICO score depends upon the average age of your accounts. Closing an older card reduces your average age. Your score also depends upon how much of your available credit you are using. With less available credit, any balance increases your percentage, lowering your score.





See http://www.myfico.com for more info.|||Closing credit affects you in 2 ways:


1. It reduces the overall available limits you have on all your credit cards.


2. You could be closing your oldest account which deletes part of your history.





Always keep that oldest card open.


Closing your VS card will not do you any good - it will still show on your reports.


And thank you for paying in full each month.


Carrying balances not only reduces your credit - in some cases it can destroy your life.


/|||Why would you open a credit card account and then close it a week later? Not smart. The credit inquiry dinged your score a few points. But closing that week old account really won't have any additional impact on your score.





Since you already opened the account, you may as well keep it open. Use the account occasionally and pay it in full. A second credit card account will help build your credit score. Just be smart enough not to carry any balances. That store card probably has a 30% interest rate.|||Yes, if you cancel the card, it will possibly affect your score because you will be limiting the amount of credit available to you.





Just put the thing in a drawer and don't use it if you just wanted it for the one time discount you got for opening it.