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About LinkBacksIf I decide sometime in the near future to get a more premium credit card (currently as a college student I use a discover card) is it bad to cancel out my Discover card if I'm approved for another? Does this negatively affect my credit score? I'm the kind of person that would only want one active card in my possession. Thanks!
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Green Member
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Is it bad to cancel a credit card?
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Gold Member
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Any good kind of credit history always helps with your credit score. All I can tell you, is that if it has no annual fee it would probably be best if you just left it active and left it in a safe drawer if you don't want to use it. If it has an annual fee and if you REALLY don't want it, you could cancel it (you should also be willing to take the hit to your credit score if/when its history falls of your credit report.)
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Centurion Member
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Is it bad to cancel the credit card? Well that depends on a number of things but as dfm said usually it's best to keep it open if it's not costing you anything to do so. As far as more premium cards, you may be surprised to learn that Discover's credit score requirements are actually quite rigorous and often times stricter than American Express. Even though it is a student card now, once you graduate my guess would be that Discover will switch it to a regular More card for you which is not always easy to be approved for these days.
But going back to the potential impact and whether it will be bad for you to cancel your credit card, I think you will find this post helpful: How does closing a credit card affect your credit score?Disclosure: I am a moderator/paid staff of this site, which does have advertising relationships with some credit cards that are discussed. Regardless, anything I say is my honest opinion.
Current Cards: American Express: Blue Cash, Simply Cash Bank of America: WorldPoints Platinum Plus Chase: Amazon, British Airways, Cash Plus Rewards, Freedom, Ink Cash Citi: Thank You Premier, Dividend Platinum Select Discover: More
Primary Everyday Card: American Express Blue Cash
Primary Travel Card: Citi Thank You Premier
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Green Member
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No it is not bad to cancel a credit card if you have a long solid credit history.
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Green Member
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Actually the card is the exact same as the normal Discover more card. The only difference the "student card" made is when I went through Discover for Credit approval, they were much more lenient of my lack of credit. All the benefits and financial statistics are the same...I guess it would be smart to have more than one though incase somewhere doesn't accept Discover...Even though it is a student card now, once you graduate my guess would be that Discover will switch it to a regular More card for you which is not always easy to be approved for these days.
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Centurion Member
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Yes you are correct, the student and non-student version of the More are essentially identical, with the exception of one of the insurance benefits which may differ slightly if I recall correctly.
Disclosure: I am a moderator/paid staff of this site, which does have advertising relationships with some credit cards that are discussed. Regardless, anything I say is my honest opinion.
Current Cards: American Express: Blue Cash, Simply Cash Bank of America: WorldPoints Platinum Plus Chase: Amazon, British Airways, Cash Plus Rewards, Freedom, Ink Cash Citi: Thank You Premier, Dividend Platinum Select Discover: More
Primary Everyday Card: American Express Blue Cash
Primary Travel Card: Citi Thank You Premier
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