Credit Cards

[esfour]

I have a card issued by First USA, that was at a default rate of ~29%.  I called, they acknowledged it was a default rate, due to going over my limit or something about 16 months ago.  I then asked them to lower it, they said "currently no offers available."  SO, I paid it off, and no longer plan to use it.  However, it has a decent CL relative to my others and is my 2nd oldest card.  My concern is that I 0 it out, don't use it, and they cancel the account.  Is this a justified concern?  Will they do that?

Options, ideas?

Thanks.

[scoreclimber]

As long as it doesn't have an annual fee, I would probably charge somthing small on it every few months, just to let it report to the CRAs and then pay it off so you don't have the finance charge.  (or at least it would be very minimal with a small purchase). 

I just paid all my credit cards off and that's what I plan to do with mine that has a ridiculously high interest rate. 

[SmartCookie]

Is the card now owned by Chase?

[Rimeces]

I had a Capital One Student Visa with a $500 limit that I used in College. I hadn't used the card in over a year (had a zero balance). About 2 months ago, they sent me a letter saying that they were increasing my limit to $2,000.

So, not only did they not cancel me for not being active, they increased my limit! Ha!

[Sylviatob]

esfour, your concerns are certainly justified.

I too am at default interest rate on several cards from lates 2 years back. I solved my delima by paying in full every month WELL before the due date. And use it in a normal fashion, while being super careful about the utilizations. When I exceed 15% util, I keep it in my wallet, but turn it facing backwards so I'll know not to use it.  I've found more times than not I am paying zero interest on the account.  Of course I make at least 1 'interim payment' on the card prior to PIF'ing.

So far, it's worked for me.

[hdj]

I believe that for a lot of cards, 36 months of inactivity is grounds for closure of the account. If you just dust it off once every couple of months, your account will remain open, and as been said before, if you PIF before due then you don't have to worry about interest.

One snag you might run into is that because of reduced activity, your limits may be reduced, hurting your UTL. Some will do this, some may not.

[esfour]

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SmartCookie wrote:

Is the card now owned by Chase?

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Yes, I believe so.  Or, it was owned by Chase and is now owned by First USA, one of the two.

Thanks for the other responses.  I'll probably fill up with some gas every month or so.  I'll keep the automatic payment thing on, so at least I don't have to worry about sending them a check.  Using 5 or 6 different cards, just for small purposes, can be inconvenient come bill time.  I'd just hate to forget about one and wind up with a 30 day late!

Thanks.

[SmartCookie]

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esfour wrote:

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SmartCookie wrote:

Is the card now owned by Chase?

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Yes, I believe so.  Or, it was owned by Chase and is now owned by First USA, one of the two.

Thanks for the other responses.  I'll probably fill up with some gas every month or so.  I'll keep the automatic payment thing on, so at least I don't have to worry about sending them a check.  Using 5 or 6 different cards, just for small purposes, can be inconvenient come bill time.  I'd just hate to forget about one and wind up with a 30 day late!

Thanks.

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Chase bought them out a few years ago... I'm guessing you really have a Chase card.  I know you can sign onto either site and it will recognize your account.

Definitely keep the card because there will be a chance of a renegotiation with it.  In the meantime, see if they can convert it... you might get a lower APR out of another one of their cards. 

They would not reduce the rate on my UAL Visa... but I negotiated hard and got some bonus miles because they couldn't.  Yet on my other 2 cards I got really low fixed rates.... go figure.   

So, go to chase.com, check out some cards, and see... it's worth a shot. 

Definitely keep the card if not, good age... good CL.

[haulingthescoreup]

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esfour wrote:
Thanks for the other responses. I'll probably fill up with some gas every month or so. I'll keep the automatic payment thing on, so at least I don't have to worry about sending them a check. Using 5 or 6 different cards, just for small purposes, can be inconvenient come bill time. I'd just hate to forget about one and wind up with a 30 day late!

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You might consider starting a card-of-the-month club for your cards--seriously! Just carry one card at a time for a month, do the partial paydown before it posts, and then PIF it. Next month, the next card. They'll all rotate through often enough to stay current, you might get enough usage on each during its Special Month to encourage the CCC to look at a CL, and you only have to worry about one or two at a time.

Just be sure to pull up the online accounts once or twice a month on the ones in your sock drawer to make sure that everything's nice and quiet with them.

[hunting_bears]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:

You might consider starting a card-of-the-month club for your cards--seriously! Just carry one card at a time for a month, do the partial paydown before it posts, and then PIF it. Next month, the next card. They'll all rotate through often enough to stay current, you might get enough usage on each during its Special Month to encourage the CCC to look at a CL, and you only have to worry about one or two at a time.

Just be sure to pull up the online accounts once or twice a month on the ones in your sock drawer to make sure that everything's nice and quiet with them.

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I like that idea alot!  I think I'll start doing that.  I too have cards that are collecting dust that I don't want to be closed for inactivity and this would help greatly.