Does Closing a Credit Card Hurt Your FICO Credit Score?

Closing a card may lower your FICO score because it can reduce your total credit limit and shorten the average age of your revolving accounts. The effect isn't guaranteed, but it shows up most often when the closed card held a high limit or was one of your oldest accounts.

Your FICO score weighs credit utilization (about 30%) and average account age (roughly 15%). For example, a $5,000 total limit with a $1,000 balance yields 20% utilization; closing a $2,000 limit card pushes utilization to 33%, which can shave 5‑10 points off your FICO score. The impact usually fades within a few months if you keep balances low. The next section details the typical FICO drop range after you close a credit card.

Closing a credit card can cause the FICO score to dip, usually by a modest amount, but the exact drop depends on how the card fits into your overall credit profile.

• 5 - 10 points - typical if the closed card represents a small portion of total credit and you keep utilization under 30%.
• 10 - 20 points - common when the card holds a moderate balance or contributes noticeably to your overall credit limit.
• 20 - 30 points - possible if the card carried a high balance, its limit was a large share of total credit, or closing it sharply raises your utilization ratio.
• Less than 5 points - may occur when you have many older accounts, low balances, and ample remaining credit, so the closure barely shifts utilization or average age.
• No visible change - can happen if you have a very high credit limit overall, a long credit history, and the closed card's impact on utilization and age is negligible.

(See the next section on how your credit utilization changes when you close a card.)

Closing a card shrinks your total credit limit, so unless you also lower your balances your credit utilization will rise and may pull your FICO score down.

• Utilization = total balances ÷ total limits.
• Example: $1,200 balance on $4,000 total limits equals 30 % utilization. Close a $1,000 card, limits drop to $3,000, utilization jumps to 40 %.
• The higher the utilization, the larger the hit to the 30 % 'credit utilization' component of the FICO score.
• A rise of 5 - 10 percentage points can cause a drop of 10 - 20 FICO points, though the exact amount varies by credit profile.
• Paying down balances before closing, or keeping the card open with a $0 balance, keeps utilization steady.
• If you must close, do it after you've reduced balances enough that the new utilization stays below 30 %.

Your utilization change sets up the next factor - average account age - covered in the following section.

Closing a card can lower your average account age because the calculation only includes accounts that are still open; the older the closed account, the more the overall average may drop.

Since average account age accounts for about 15% of your FICO score, the impact is usually modest, but noticeable if you shutter a long‑standing card while keeping newer ones. For example, a 10‑year‑old account closed today leaves you with two 2‑year accounts, pulling the average down from 4.7 years to 2 years - a shift that may shave a few points off the FICO score.

The change often balances against credit utilization (30% of the score) and other factors, which you'll explore in the next section on which cards hurt your score most when you close them.

Closing the card that will dent your FICO score the most depends on how it influences utilization and account age.

• The card with the highest credit limit relative to your total available credit. Removing that limit usually spikes your overall utilization, which can shave 20‑30 points off a typical FICO score.
• Your oldest open account. Deleting it shortens your average account age, a factor that accounts for about 15 % of the score, and may cause a comparable drop.
• Any card where the balance sits near the credit line. Closing it forces the remaining balances onto fewer cards, raising utilization the most.
• A card issued by a major bureau‑reporting bank that has a long, on‑time payment history. Its loss removes a slice of positive payment data that FICO weighs heavily.
• A card with a high annual fee that you keep only for the credit limit. If the fee outweighs the benefit, the utilization impact usually outweighs any fee‑related credit‑building value.

These cards typically cause the biggest score dip; consider alternatives before pulling the plug.

• Closing a card can improve your FICO when the account is a high‑fee, high‑risk card that you've paid off and then eliminate, because removing the fee prevents future debt that would raise the 30 % utilization factor.
• If you secure a limit increase on another card before closing a low‑limit card, the total credit available rises while the balance stays low, so overall utilization drops and your FICO may climb.
• When a card carries a history of late payments, closing it before the next reporting cycle can stop additional late‑payment marks, protecting the 15 % age factor and the overall score.
• Dropping a rarely‑used authorized‑user card removes the chance of accidental overspending that could inflate utilization, thereby shielding your FICO from unexpected hits.
• Consolidating several cards into one with a better rewards structure and higher limit, then closing the extras, streamlines your credit profile; the simplified mix can slightly boost the score's credit‑history component.

Minimize the FICO score impact by planning ahead and adjusting key factors before you close a card.

1. Reduce balances now - keep overall credit utilization below 30 % (ideally under 10 %) because utilization accounts for 30 % of your FICO score. Paying down balances before the closure lowers the ratio instantly.
2. Boost limits elsewhere - request a credit‑limit increase on another card or open a new card with a high limit. A higher total limit offsets the loss of the closed account's capacity and protects utilization.
3. Preserve account age - if the card you want to close is your oldest, keep it open or transfer a small, recurring charge to a newer card instead. Average account age contributes about 15 % to your FICO score, so losing the oldest account can hurt more than a newer one.
4. Settle the account fully - pay the final balance and let the card show a zero balance for at least one billing cycle before you request closure. A zero balance signals good standing to the credit bureaus.
5. Choose the right timing - avoid closing any card within 30 days of applying for a mortgage or large loan; a pending inquiry can compound the temporary dip. (See the upcoming 'should you close cards before applying for a mortgage or loan?' section.)
6. Redirect recurring payments - move all automatic debits to another card at least two billing cycles before you close the original. This prevents missed payments, which can immediately lower your FICO score.
7. Track the effect - monitor your FICO score for the next 3 - 6 months. A modest dip typically recovers within six months if you maintain low utilization and on‑time payments. For more guidance on utilization, consult FICO's official resource page.

Instead of closing a card, raise its credit limit, downgrade to a no‑annual‑fee version, or keep it as a low‑use backup.

A higher limit lowers overall utilization, which accounts for roughly 30 % of the FICO score; a downgrade preserves the account's age, contributing about 15 % of the score, and the card still adds to your credit mix. how credit limit increases affect FICO scores

Implement by calling the issuer for a modest limit increase, requesting a product change to the free tier, and setting a tiny recurring charge you'll pay in full each month so the account stays active without encouraging overspend. These actions keep the line open, protect your utilization and age factors, and lead naturally into the next discussion about closing cards before a mortgage or loan application.

Keep the cards that are in good standing open until the mortgage or loan closes, because closing a revolving‑credit account trims your average account age and shrinks your credit‑mix component (both weigh about 15% of the FICO score). Those changes can nudge the score down just as lenders pull the final pull‑through, and they also raise your overall utilization if the remaining limits are lower.

For example, an older card with a $10,000 limit that you close forces a $5,000 balance on a $12,000 total limit to jump from 33% to 42% utilization, crossing the 30% sweet spot that most underwriters like to see.

If a card carries a steep annual fee, sits unused for years, or otherwise costs more than the credit‑building benefit, close it after you receive loan approval and the lender has locked in your FICO score. Wait at least a month after the decision, verify that your utilization stays below 30%, and confirm that the remaining accounts are at least a year old to minimize any short‑term dip. FICO's guidance on mortgage lending recommends this timing to protect the score you just secured.

Closing a joint, authorized‑user, or business credit card can change the credit utilization and average‑age components that drive your FICO score, so expect a modest, often temporary shift.

You'll see: • the joint account's limit disappears from both owners' utilization calculations, which may raise each FICO score if the limit was large relative to outstanding balances; • as an authorized user, the primary's history remains unchanged, but your own FICO score loses that positive account, so a slight dip is possible; • business cards that are personally guaranteed count toward your personal utilization, so closing them removes that exposure but also reduces total revolving credit, which can increase your utilization ratio for a short period.

Because utilization weighs about 30 % and account age about 15 % of the FICO score, any impact usually recovers within a few billing cycles once the remaining balances settle and the closed account ages out of the recent‑history window.