Credit Cards

[lasnj]

I was recently notified that Citibank closed my credit card, which I have had for over twenty years.  It was cancelled as I had not used it in several months and there was zero balance.  I understand that many companies are doing this.  I called but they would not reactivate it-I would have to apply for a new card and I don't want to do that as that will affect my FICO score.  My question is does their cancelling my card affect my FICO score?  I did not close it, and this account obviously had good history.  Any information would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

[Creditaddict]

If it's your oldest account, it will effect your age of accounts.

If you have other debt, loosing all that credit line, will hurt your utilization in turn effecting your credit score.

This is a great reminder to all, to use your account at least 1 every 3 months. 

[iwantbettercredit]

Since you have had the account for twenty years and their was no balance I do not think it would hurt your fico, however, one cannot really tell because of all the financial mess these days.  I do think that was pretty crappy of them not to re-activate it if you have been a loyal and good customer for 20 years.  I don't know what this world is coming to anymore when I hear stories like this.  I would call again and ask for a supervisor and see if they will re-activate it.  Good luck

[iwantbettercredit]

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Creditaddict wrote:

If it's your oldest account, it will effect your age of accounts.

If you have other debt, loosing all that credit line, will hurt your utilization in turn effecting your credit score.

This is a great reminder to all, to use your account at least 1 every 3 months. 

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If that is her oldest account, and there was no balance. It will still remain in her report for 7-10 years, I really do not think it will hurt her fico. There is no neg reporting other that it being non active, still old with good history behind it,

[iwantbettercredit]

Sorry, i referred to you as "her" and I don't know if you are him or her.  So sorry could be "him"

[sidewinder]

Since you will lose the CL, if it raises your overall util, it could hurt your score until you got your util back in check.

The account will still count in your age and should remain for 10 years from the date closed.

[MojaveMoon]

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lasnj wrote:
I was recently notified that Citibank closed my credit card, which I have had for over twenty years.  It was cancelled as I had not used it in several months and there was zero balance.

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May I ask exactly how long was the period of inactivity ? (so that I can avoid that same fate).

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. I had heard of Citi closing accounts for inactivity, but I don't think that I had heard of Citibank closing accounts with less than twelve months of inactivity.

[CreditAble]

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MojaveMoon wrote:


May I ask exactly how long was the period of inactivity ? (so that I can avoid that same fate).

 I had heard of Citi closing accounts for inactivity, but I don't think that I had heard of Citibank closing accounts with less than twelve months of inactivity.

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The actual inactive time period might not be applicable to others with different cedit profiles.

I play it very safe. I simply use every card every month for small purchases right at the beginning of the new statement period. Once the charge posts, I PIF online. Every card gets updated every month that way. The balances that report to the bureaus at the statement closing dates are all "0" except for the one or two tradelines that I want to report balances. 

I definitely don't risk being closed for inactivity.

There have been no CLDs either (so far).

 I am not however expecting to keep my high limits up for ever. My average usage (charges) seldom exceed 1/2 or 1/10th of 1% of my credit limits. 

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[maestro]

If you need the credit card you should apply for it.

FICO score is a means to an end, not the end.

[haulingthescoreup]

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maestro wrote:

If you need the credit card you should apply for it.

FICO score is a means to an end, not the end.

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Very true, but age of accounts is a huge factor in scoring, and one that is hard to replace. It's a shame that Citi was not willing to restore the account.

The good news for OP is that the account should continue to report for another 10 years, counting for both longest history (if this was the oldest card) and helping AAoA (average age of accounts.)