Monday, December 3, 2007

A Verage Age of Credit History !!!

What is the average age of my credit history??

To keep it simple...say i have two credit cards. One of them was opened 10 years ago and is still open. The other was opened for one month and CLOSED because I didn't like the interest rate offered. (One of those 9.99, 12.99, or 17.99 offers then gave the crappy APR after approved). There is no negative history on either. I just want to know will the average age of credit history (according to credit bureau) be 5 years or 10 years??

(10 years + 1 month) / 2 = approx 5 yearsor 10 years / 1 = 10 years

I want to know if I am better off keeping a card with a bad apr to keep the avg age of credit from being dragged down so much??If its the average of ALL accounts then the average will move up much slower than if its the average of ONLY OPEN accounts.

To keep it simple...say i have two credit cards. One of them was opened 10 years ago and is still open. The other was opened for one month and CLOSED because I didn't like the interest rate offered. (One of those 9.99, 12.99, or 17.99 offers then gave the crappy APR after approved). There is no negative history on either.

I just want to know will the average age of credit history (according to credit bureau) be 5 years or 10 years??(10 years + 1 month) / 2 = approx 5 yearsor 10 years / 1 = 10 years I want to know if I am better off keeping a card with a bad apr to keep the avg age of credit from being dragged down so much??If its the average of ALL accounts then the average will move up much slower than if its the average of ONLY OPEN accounts. IN RESPONSE TO THE PERSON THAT ANSWERED MY QUESTION SECONDI'm happy with the 10 year old card, no plans in closing it.The new card is the one with the bad rate.

The Answer : As long as you don't cancel the 10 y/o card, you should be fine. My suggestion would be to contact customer service and request to close your account. You'll be transferred to the "retention" department in which they'll try to keep you around, especially if you've been a card holder for so long. If you've had perfect payment history all this time, there should be no reason why they won't lower your APR, especially if you're getting offers for other cards. If you're receiving any offers in the mail, keep them and use them as leverage. Make it look like you're serious about levaing them if they don't take care of you by lowering the rate. Remind them that you've been a loyal and excellent customer for the past decade and that it would be a shame to lose a customer. Hopefully they will see the light and take care of you. If not, then I would still keep the card, but I would BARELY use it, I mean like no more than about $10/month, to where it's showing activity.


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