I currently have a Chase Southwest and Freedom card. In the past 3 months, my cards have been compromised several times. Chase has handled the matter very poorly and I'm tired of their customer service. I currently put about $50,000 a year combined on the two cards. I have had both cards for about 8 years. I always pay the balance in full per month and my last FICO score was 839. I am thinking about closing both of these cards and getting two different cards with my bank, USAA. I like to have two cards in case one gets compromised, I have a backup. The cards pay 1.5% cash back on all purchases, but more importantly I have been with USAA for over 25 years and I trust them. I have heard closing accounts, even accounts that are in good standing, will hurt my credit. What is the best way to do this? Option 1: Close both Chase accounts and open two new USAA accounts. Option 2: Keep both Chase accounts open, but reduce both of their credit limits substantially, then open one USAA account with a high limit. Option 3: Is there a better option? Thanks in advance! Jon
Welcome to Creditnet Jon, and sorry for the slow reply. And congrats on having such a great credit score too! I hope you will hang around from time and time and share your knowledge with others. Closing accounts in good standing can and most likely will hurt your FICO score. My recommendation would be to get 2 new cards that you're happy with first. Then, once you have those new cards in place with equal or greater limits, I would still keep the old accounts in place. Lower the credit limits, and just don't use them anymore. Let us know which way you decide to go!
Does Chase have a "freeze" feature? I was surprised even C1 now supports freezing from within their wallet app. Once you get the new cards, freeze the Chase cards, and only unfreeze when you want to show them a little love.
I don't believe Chase offers a freeze option for their cardholders. If so, I haven't seen it available for any of the Chase cards I have.
