As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t close old credit card accounts because it can be bad for your credit scores. Yet although closing an account might hurt your scores, the damage might not occur for the reason you think.
Closed accounts – credit cards or otherwise – don’t suddenly disappear from your credit reports. Instead, they can remain on your reports for up to 7 – 10 years. Negative accounts are typically removed after seven years. Positive accounts typically remain for 10 years.