Before you cancel that card ...

[expatCanuck]

I've been cleaning up my financial house lately - mortgage refi, construction (home equity) loan.

Had to conduct some 'clean up' work to qualify -- paying down CC balances, closing a card.

After successes on those, an undisciplined CC spree, followed by consolidation.  Then comes the mail from Citi advising that it's replacing my Forward Visa with a TYP MC -- which will leave me with 4 MCs and 1 Visa.

So, I'm preparing to close my Citizens Bank MC ('cause it has 6K limit rather than the Citi's 8K limit, I've moved from the northeast, have enough credit, and I'm just not a sock drawer kind of guy) but, for reasons unknown, I look up the card details.  Turns out that this card (which I've had for 8 years) has no foreign transaction fees.  Who'da thunk?

So it stays (and is now my Uber/Lyft card of choice).

No need for the Citi TYP MC tho' -- not gonna bother activating it when it arrives.

So before you cancel that card that you don't (think you'll) use, double-check its attributes.

Hopefully, around this time next year (when the New Credit section of my FICO score crawls out of 'Poor'), I'll pick up a Cap One Quicksilver ... balance out the MC / Visa scales somewhat.

[kdm31091]

Not to discredit your overall point, because it is important to carefully weigh decisions like closing accounts (especially when many issuers are making it more difficult to get approved for new accounts); but I just don't understand the network thing i.e. Visa/MC. 99% of the time, at least domestically, they are interchangeable. One in the same.

The only major example I can think of is Costco only taking Visa. Again, not to discredit your point - I just find network diversity to be pretty unimportant, at least in the US. There are many features of a card to compare and network should IMO be the one of the last considerations well below the other benefits.

[expatCanuck]

I travel some, and am at a point in my life where (I'm cautiously optimistic that) I'll be travelling more.  Never encounterd a situation in which MC was accepted but not Visa, but have encountered the reverse.  I'd like a second Visa card, non-AF, that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees -- a back-up, if you will.

[Anonymous]

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@expatCanuck wrote:

I've been cleaning my financial house as of late -- mortgage refi, construction (home equity) loan.

Had to conduct some 'clean up' work to qualify -- paying down CC balances, closing a card.

After successes on those, a CC spree, followed by consolidation.  Then comes the mail from Citi advising that it's replacing my Forward Visa with a TYP MC -- which will leave me with 4 MCs and 1 Visa.

So, I'm preparing to close my Citizens Bank MC ('cause it has 6K limit rather than the Citi's 8K limit, I've moved out of the northeast, have enough credit, and I'm just not a sock drawer kind of guy) but, for reasons unknown, look up its details on the web.  Turns out that this card has no foreign transaction fees.  And no annual fee.  It stays (and is now my Uber/Lyft card of choice).

No need for the Citi TYP MC tho' -- not gonna bother activating it when it arrives.

So before you cancel that card that you don't (think you'll) use, double-check its attributes.

Hopefully, around this time next year (when the New Credit section of my FICO score crawls out of 'Poor'), I'll pick up a Cap One Quicksilver ... balance out the MC / Visa scales somewhat.

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Whether you activate the Citi TYP MC or not it will report on your credit report and will be out there in the credit world.

[expatCanuck]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Whether you activate the Citi TYP MC or not it will report on your credit report and will be out there in the credit world.

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Now that's interesting.  I'd have thought that this would be a product change -- Citi Forward Visa to TYP MC, and the account would somehow morph, with an uninterrupted age.  One 8-year-old account ends, a new one begins with an age of zero?  If so, I might as well close it before the final Forward statement.

[HeavenOhio]

It should be a product change. But it would continue to report as an open account.

[Anonymous]

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@expatCanuck wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Whether you activate the Citi TYP MC or not it will report on your credit report and will be out there in the credit world.

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Now that's interesting.  I'd have thought that this would be a product change -- Citi Forward Visa to TYP MC, and the account would somehow morph, with an uninterrupted age.  One 8-year-old account ends, a new one begins with an age of zero?  If so, I might as well close it before the final Forward statement.

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Oh no, eh. The 412800 Visa number simply changes to a MasterCard number eh. 542418 or 546616 depending on if it is a platinum level or World eh. The same open date, payment history etc remains in tact with a different account number is all, eh. 

[arkane]

That's aboat one eh's too many eh.

[expatCanuck]

<Invective thoughts cross his mind but, before his fingers touch the keyboard, a soothing wave of Canadian politeness washes over him.>

[Anonymous]

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@expatCanuck wrote:

<Invective thoughts cross his mind but, before his fingers touch the keyboard, a soothing wave of Canadian politeness washes over him.>

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+1 BWHAHAHAHAHAHA I was going to correct the poster after me and make it all overly polite. Sore-ie just having some fun