Thread: Should you cancel store credit cards?

Hi,

I have a store credit card which I opened about two years ago. Its probably my oldest account since I closed my secured card I had before.

The card has a $1000 limit though I haven't ever used it. Opening it was a mistake...

My question is given that I don't use it and that I have a chase freedom card and Mexico zync card, is closing it a good idea or should I keep holding on it?

By the way its a cirrus not a MC or Visa (if that matters).

Thanks

thank you for helping me out it looks like you have a charge card, meaning you can only charge items at the store or outlet.

when applying for credit cards most places really don't look at these cards too much, a creditor will look a little bit at your card payment.

For example if Macys you charge 350 per month, and Macys American express you charge about the same amount, a credit card company would be more intrested on how you pay your macys american express.

do you work for this store? if it's just an ordinary store like JCPenneys, Home Depot, Sears, Target, Abercrombie? If you still work for the store I would hold onto the card. if you don't work at the stores I would recommend closing that card.

if the card you have is a store like Brooks Brothers, Locciante, Club Monaco, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, 7 for all mankind, for getting better deals I would recommend you keeping your card. by the way which card do you have?

Its a zales card. I don't work there and bought there only one. Didn't even use the card because it didn't have enough credit. Since then it just sits in my wallet. I'm not sure if its a charge card or not because I have never used it. I wasn't in a clear state of mind when I applied. Big mistake.

Anyway you don't think cancelling it will affect my credit score even though it's my oldest card?

correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this a jewlery store that's in malls? isn't it like littman jewlerys kind of like tous and torneou

My mall that I go shopping is Garden state plaza I swear theres a zales I belive it's a jewlery store.

you say you live in New York are you in the area of where the pallisades mall is? Rosevelt field mall ? Do you ever go to garden state plaza? like you I live in New York state But I like Paramus park and Garden state plaza.

it sits in your wallet next time you go to your local mall take it with you try to use it at the gap, american eagle or any store other than zales if the store sales man says we don't take that card then you know it's a charge card, when you take it out if it has a visa or mastercard logo on it and you can use all over then you know it's credit card.

what everybody means let's say you have a capitol1 no hassles credit card, a Discover card you recently got a wells fargo, Bank of america visa and a American express blue cash let's say for example your capitol1 and Discover are 10 years old which are your oldest cards what everybody means don't close out these cards.

But if your Zales doesn't have a Visa or master card , which is the store charge card. it's better to close out this card than have a card on your report that has no inactivity.
you could also let the card deactiviate.

I had a Lord & Taylor card used it a few times, then after a while it just deactiviated same as my Kohls charge card opened it in 2002
I was told it deactivitated in 2009. how you want to handle this situation is up to you, I think somebody at Lord&Taylor told me it's better for your credit to let your card deactiviate, I'm not saying that everybody says that and I'm not saying this person is absotuley correct, I'm stating what 1 person has to say.

If you had a Hugo Boss , 7for all man kind, Brooks Brothers ect, you used your card a few times but you now have a zync and a Chase Freedom, for getting better deals I would have said keep the card open, but since you have a jewley store card I'm sure your not in there using your card every week, since you don't work for the store, ok your report will get hit a little bit but as time goes on after using both your Chase freedom and your zync from American express your credit will go up.

good luck onto whatever you decide you want to do.

Its the same store your taking about. They have an outlet store in garden state mall.
I guess ill call and ask what is this thing. I tried to figure out myself, and I though about letting it deactivated but it doesn't even have an expiration day on it, not sure what that means...


Just finished talking to them. Its a store card which can be used only at their stores. But it is according to them a credit card.

what this means is if you don't use your card in a few years. Just like what happened with me with my Kohls card. I opened it up in 2002 and it deactivated in 2009, same as my Lord & Taylor over the course of years it became deactivated.

the same will happen with your card.

I wouldn't recommend closing it assuming it has no annual fee. Just leave it open and store the card somewhere. Most likely the card isn't a pure charge card (have to pay in full at end of month). It is helping you in a couple of different ways: One, it is enhancing your AAoA and oldest card. 2nd, if it is a revolving credit line, it is used in your utilization calculations. The fact is you took the inquiry hit for it a long time ago and there is no negative to keeping it aside from the hassle of having to close it in event it gets stolen (so keep it in a safe place).

Please explain why you wouldn't recommend him/her to close out a charge card that can only be used in it's store. It's not like gas where this person fills up every week. It's a jewelry store how often does anybody need to buy jewelry? If this person shopped in Zales the same amount of time they shop in JCP this person would be broke.

If he/she needs to buy jewelry on occasion they can use their credit card.

Unless this person works for Zales, or is super rich and can afford to shop there every week or has no other cards and is trying to build up credit, they need to close out this card. A Zales charge card isn't the best card to have on their credit report.

If they were going to apply for a Bank of America credit card and somebody looked at the report and saw a Zales card still open but only uses it once a year, Crashem do you think this looks good?

they need to close it.

Originally Posted by Money card

Please explain why you wouldn't recommend him/her to close out a charge card that can only be used in it's store. It's not like gas where this person fills up every week. It's a jewelry store how often does anybody need to buy jewelry? If this person shopped in Zales the same amount of time they shop in JCP this person would be broke.

If he/she needs to buy jewelry on occasion they can use their credit card.

Unless this person works for Zales, or is super rich and can afford to shop there every week or has no other cards and is trying to build up credit, they need to close out this card. A Zales charge card isn't the best card to have on their credit report.

If they were going to apply for a Bank of America credit card and somebody looked at the report and saw a Zales card still open but only uses it once a year, Crashem do you think this looks good?

they need to close it.

Money Card,

It is 2012, the computers run everything. If you read my original quote reply, I explained how it was helping his FICO score. One, it is helping his AAoA calculations and his credit length (ie oldest account). Obviously if he has a ton of cards, it won't hurt that much. 2nd, the credit limit on the card helps his utilization calculations (ie. what percentage of his credit he is using).

As for your comment, the fact is that underwriting is mostly done by computers these days. Manual review really only occurs during the mortgage process, a little during auto loan process, and during reconsideration. I highly doubt underwriter cares if there is some zale card for when the applicant got jewelry. It might not help but it won't hurt. My recommendation if anything is to see if they do soft inquiry for CLIs and to get more credit if so. The fact is at some point they will cancel the card from lack of use. Might as well keep it on their credit report as long as possible. In terms of perceived "prime" vs "sub prime" lenders, the fact is FICO scores don't take any of that into account. A 15k credit card from Orchard Bank vs a 15k credit card from Chase/Citibank/whoever, is treated the same. The real difference in lenders is simply that "prime" lenders have higher credit standards and will tend to give better cards in terms of rewards and credit lines. That's it.

Crashem it might be 2012 but computers don't run everything. People pay sales tax and shipping. Nothing is being helped. Some people who get an American express e-gift card have problems activating it. So computers don't run the world.

If the original poster had a Nordstrom or Kenneth Cole charge card and they only used it one time for getting better deals, I would say keep this card open. But come on Crashem it does no good keeping a Zales charge card open, the card is a 2 year old jewelry store card, it's not a 10 year old Lord&Taylor charge card.

If he/she needs to buy jewelry they can use their Chase Freedom or American Express Zync card.

If it was me I would close out this card.

There's no reason for this card to be on this person's credit report. Prime vs sub prime blah blah blah. Fico scores won't help this person if they have a charge card from a jewelry store with no activity.

If this person had a Exxon/Mobil card put 150.00 a month and they pay their bill in full this would help their Fico scores. Or if they had a Brooks Brothers card used the card every 3 months and payed the bill in full, this would help the Fico score.

Not holding onto a jewelry store card. Could you imagine if this person used the card every 3 months, depending upon how much they spend, this could be a real problem.