Closing credit card accounts

lisyloo

I really dont know why it says to keep the oldest card account open

Lenders like to see a bit of stability.
So they don't like people that move house a lot. So length at address is a factor.
In the same way they will also look at length of time you've had your accounts. They like to see some long term relationships.
This is very general advice as each lender has different ways of scoring.
Remeber this card will still be on your account for six years after you close it. So it will still be there for a while. So just because it's settled does not necesasrily remove it from the credit scoring.

If all your other credit relationships are really short then there could be an argument for keeping it open to keep a long term relationship on an open account.

But this is all guesswork.
None of us knows any lenders exact scoring method.
Ultimately your incomes, LTV, any late payments are much more important factors than this old account for the purposes of the mortgage.

chexum

Hopefully one more detail - it's not really about closing the "old" accounts, but not closing the fresh ones

When lenders look back 1, 2 or three years, they may see all settled accounts, and the histories of those. If you close accounts too quickly, you freeze your history in the state that it looks like you prefer to open and close accounts on a whim.

If the rest of the accounts are open for longer than a few years (maybe 12-18 months minimum), it doesn't get any better, your history with them is good already, you don't need that rusty old card anymore