I have a great credit rating. We have a BOA Visa with very little benefits. I was thnking of getting the new BOA card that offers 1% cash back. If we do this, should we cancel BOA Visa with very little benefits, get the BOA 1% cash back card or keep both cards. ? Will either scenario have a negative effect on my score ?
It's not a wise move to cancel old cards unless there's an annual fee or something that doesn't make it worth it to keep the card. I doubt your current BOA card has an annual fee, so I would keep it open and use it from time to time to keep it active. Buy some gas or something and then pay it off. If you close it, it could have a negative effect on your credit utilization and hurt your FICO scores. The hard inquiry when you apply for a new card will hurt your scores just a bit (5 points or so), but they'll bounce back fast so I wouldn't worry too much about that. I'm also not a big fan of BOA (bad customer service experiences over many years), so I would avoid their new cash back card too. There are plenty of other cash back credit cards out there that are much better anyway. The Chase Freedom and Discover More cards are both good options that offer up to 5% cash back with no annual fee.
