Credit Cards

[TowerHill]

A couple questions about the now defunct Compusa and their credit card issued by HSBC.

I have a Compusa Card that has a zero balance,  Issued in 2006.  late last year when Compusa closed it's doors I received a notice on my CC statement that I can no longer "use" the card due to Compusa going out of business.

The card remains status "open" with my credit line available. 

I initialy didn't want to close the account because it was helping my credit in the usual ways.  0 balance is helping overall utilization, and average account age.  Being a store card, it helps with mix of credit I assume as well.

Are there any risks in keeping it open?  Can they close it arbitrarily?

I want to avoid a "closed by credit grantor" description om my credit report.

Is there a way I can keep the card from going "inactive" ? (like mailing them a payment of one dollar)

side note... the Compusa website is a copletely different company now and does not accept the compusa card.

Message Edited by TowerHill on 01-08-2009 03:01 PM

[llecs]

There's no risk in keeping it open, but they can close it at any time. "Closed by credit grantor" isn't a bad or derog statement. It has no bearing on your score and can be easily explained during a manual review. I'd continue making payments as scheduled. Once marked "closed", it will continue to help your utilization IF you are still carrying a balance by then. Once the balance reaches $0, then it is removed from the utilization part of the equation. I'd probably pay it as scheduled. Paying less than the minimum could result in late fees and/or lates.

[TowerHill]

Thank you for the response, but I am a little confused.

I'll put it a different way.

The card has a zero balance already.  HSBC is not closing (for now) the account even though Compusa closed its physical doors forever.  I essentially have a card that is gone "inactive" due to the fact that there is no way to use it.  My last payment (PIF) was made 6+ months ago and the inactivity started from that point.  If there was a way to create some type of activity on the account to keep it in the FICO mix and keep it from being closed by HSBC, i'm all ears.

I had wanted to keep it open and active for the standard FICO perks.  Mix of Credit, Credit Utilization, an aging Trade Line etc...

On the other hand....   Will HSBC let me keep this account open indefinately even though they have told me it can not be used any longer for purchases (on the statement).  The account has now gone "inactive" and FICO is probably already ignoring it for credit utilization purposes.

Any Ideas?

Message Edited by TowerHill on 01-08-2009 04:42 PM

[llecs]

Ah, my bad. Totally missed the $0 balance.

Maybe you could try a product change with HSBC? Like to Best Buy or something like that.

[marty56]

Keep it open and PIF.  I have one also which has been PIF for over a year and I am getting pre-approvals offers from HSBC so think of it as a possible bridge card to something else.

LOL I am not interested in a new CCs but you might be.

[haulingthescoreup]

OP's balance is $0. There's nothing left to PIF.

OP, I think you're probably stuck. FWIW, in this economy this will continue to happen as stores go BK.

HSBC has been known to close accounts (from stores still in business) when the card hadn't been used in a couple of months, so I'd say that the clock is ticking.

The card should still continue to report for up to 10 years, if that's any consolation.


eta: just noticed that this is on Understanding. Moving to Credit Cards forum.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 01-08-2009 04:57 PM

[marty56]

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TowerHill wrote:

I want to avoid a "closed by credit grantor" description om my credit report.

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I forgot to add that most of my CCs where closed by the CCC when I went into DMP and as far as I can tell, it hasn't prevented me from getting the credit I needed.

LOL I would trade my 120 day late BofA TL for one that says closed by grantor in a New York minute.

[LilMirth]

I agree with the others that you should just keep it open. It a good tradeline, and helping with your utilization. HSBC could close it at any time, but obviously you've been under the radar for a while.

What I wouldn't do is send them any type of payment for that account, in an effort to keep it active. I think that'd be a really quick way for them to realize that the account is open when they are likely to prefer it closed. Either keep doing what you're doing (nothing), or call their sales department and ask a general question about whether or not they'll do product changes. Don't give them your name & account info, just present it as a hypothetical. If they say "no", then keep flying under the radar. If they say yes, give them your name and account info, and tell them that you'd like to do that.

[score_building]

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LilMirth wrote:

I agree with the others that you should just keep it open. It a good tradeline, and helping with your utilization. HSBC could close it at any time, but obviously you've been under the radar for a while.

What I wouldn't do is send them any type of payment for that account, in an effort to keep it active. I think that'd be a really quick way for them to realize that the account is open when they are likely to prefer it closed. Either keep doing what you're doing (nothing), or call their sales department and ask a general question about whether or not they'll do product changes. Don't give them your name & account info, just present it as a hypothetical. If they say "no", then keep flying under the radar. If they say yes, give them your name and account info, and tell them that you'd like to do that.

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don't try this from your home phone or any other number they have for you, otherwise they can easily id you.

[LilMirth]

Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that. I can just imagine the credit analyst on the other side of the phone, rolling his or her eyes, and thinking, "When will they ever learn?" 

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score_building wrote:

don't try this from your home phone or any other number they have for you, otherwise they can easily id you.

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