Thread: Approved for Delta! Should I cancel my secured card?

Happy to have found this forum. Long time lurker and recent registrant.

I pulled the trigger last Friday for the Delta Gold AMEX card and was not instantly approved, but was told 24hrs later "Congratulations & welcome to American Express!"

I don't have the best credit due to some mishaps in the past. I've had no issues leasing vehicles and have never been late on any payments.

Currently I have two "secured" credit cards

1. HSBC HouseHold Bank Master Card (horrible) $200 limit since 2006 and NO credit limit increases

2. Continental Finance Master Card since 2006 ($10 per month fee) $1,075 limit and gradual credit increases since 2006.

Should I cancel and would it look bad on my credit history? I'm looking to stay with Amex for a long time and going to be using that card probably 85% of the time. It urks me that one of my Master Cards cost me ($120) a year to help rebuild credit.

Thoughts?

I would not cancel the HSBC Card since it is fee-free and would maintain the 2006 credit history starting point.

I would definitely cancel the $120/year Continental thing. That's unnecessary unless you absolutely need that credit line for some reason.

YMMV, but the canceled card will actually stay on your history for a bit and maintain whatever average age/history you currently have. By the time it drops off, it probably won't even be a big deal.

Congrats on the approval.

Closing the Continental Finance card would reduce your debt to credit ratio by a bit as once it is closed, the $1,075 credit limit would no longer be factored in. However, in terms of AAoA, you are fine because even when closed, your accounts' opening dates will still be factored into your AAoA.

I would deffo close that Continental Finance card eventually due to the $120 annual fee. It is just a matter of when you should close it.....

Do you have any other Visa/MasterCard accounts? If you do have one or more with decent credit lines and you have low balances, then yes, close this card immediately. If you do not have any other Visa or MasterCard accounts I would suggest hanging onto it until you have procured a suitable replacement (ie credit line of $1,000 or more).

As far as the Household Bank card...it was my understanding that Household, while owned by HSBC, never unsecurred their cards. It is yet to be determined if Capital One will. I would say both of your secured cards should be on the chopping block eventually, but for now, it is not costing you anything or barely anything to keep, you might hang onto the Household for a while.

Thanks for the advice and feedback. No I don't have any other Visa or MasterCard accounts. Only Visa I have is my Bank of America Debit Card and I've been banking with them since I was 15 years old; I'm old and 32 now lol. I have 3 accounts with them. I also have two ING accounts (now Capital One 360).

I do want to ditch that Continental Finance card sooner than later but wondering if I should even consider applying for a Visa now? Not sure what my chances are of even being approved for a Visa with a bank since I was just approved for the Amex. I did see that Bank of America has the BankAmericard Cash Rewards Visa and considering they are my bank, maybe they would take a chance on me? Not sure if this is an easy card to qualify for or not. What do you think?

well certainly the Bank of America is a major bank , people who travel and people who don't travel have there card. This isn't a key bank, M&T, citizens bank or Td bank. Bank of America is certainly a higher level bank. I wouldn't recemond this as a persons first credit card
but once somebody has good credit this is a good card to get. it's not an easy card to get.

being you closed out 2 cards that lowers your score, like what the 2 posters said certainly the card with the 120 annual fee has to go.
if that low limit card is still open this is what I would do if I were you. I would take a ride down to Bank of America and apply for the card you want the cash rewards card assuming your approved when you get the card in the mail , then I would cancel your Hsbc 200 limit card.
but since this card has no annual fee, get the better card first then cancel.
you have an American Express so you seem to be fine.