topic Re: Closing cards in Credit Cards

Closing cards

Basspro2 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 13:26:31 GMT

Hello, I know this is not recommended by many, but I have two Barclay cards I do not use at all anymore seeing I have applied for better cards. One is Barclay NFL with 21% interest CL of $ 5700.00 and the other is William Sonoma Visa.CL of $2000.00.When I applied i was rebuilding so you go for what you can get. I have almost $50.000.00 in availiable credit and the rewards on both these card I have no use for. How bad would it hurt me to close these? They are not my oldest cards and I only have 1% utility if that. I'm just tired of juggling cards and spending very little to keep them open. Any advise? Thanks everyone.

Re: Closing cards

kdm31091 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 13:32:53 GMT

I think with your total credit available of $50k, closing those two is not going to cause a huge problem. You are losing $7700 in credit total. You can always do the math and figure out what your new utilization will be with them gone, but it doesn't sound like a big deal.

I'm a big proponent of the idea that once a card is no longer useful for you, whether it has an AF or not, there is no point in keeping it open outside of utilization concerns. If util is not going to be a problem, and the card is not going to be useful for you again, it's (IMO) a PITA to keep it open with recurring charges with no real gain. If the card is not going to be useful anymore, why keep it just to keep it? Why expend the energy and time on charges every so often to keep it alive when you know it is not going to be of use for you? You do not owe the creditor anything as far as keeping your account open with them forever. Even if utilization is a problem, go for CLIs on your existing cards and once you have gotten some CLIs you can certainly close the unwanted cards without any concerns.

I think you are totally fine to close those cards but you will hear different perspectives on this. Good luck.

Re: Closing cards

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 13:42:11 GMT

Of course everybody does it differently and as KDM says, it's different perspectives..

I guess I'm just too lazy to call them up and waste anymore time with a card I don't want.

I also get the max juice out of my credit cards reporting time. If I don't want it anymore, I just throw it into the sock drawer and fugghet about it.

When the card company gets tired of it sitting in my sock drawer, they'll close it themselves saving me from wasting my time on a phone call.

Re: Closing cards

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 14:23:54 GMT

Sock drawering a card is overrated, since when/if it gets compromised, and you're not monitoring the account, you could be paying for charges you never made down the road. If you're not going to use the card, go ahead and close it.

Re: Closing cards

Basspro2 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 14:29:31 GMT

Hey thanks to all that replied....I will take your advise.....Hasn't failed me yet.

Re: Closing cards

onstar — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 14:35:39 GMT

More often than not, I say close it down. That's because typically, the people that ask these questions have like 30 cards with $100K+ in total CL, and they haven't used some of the cards ever.

In your case, I'd keep the Barclay for now, assuming there is no AF. $5700 is over 10% of your total CL. That's not insignificant. Plus if you are thinking of applying for another Barclay card in the future, having this could help you. Many people have successfully recon by shifting some available CL from an existing card. As for the W-S card, if you're really not going to shop at W-S, then I'd say cancel it. Normally, I SD any card for 12 months before cancelling. I figure, if I haven't used it in 12 months and don't feel the need to use it, then I shouldn't keep it.

Re: Closing cards

kdm31091 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 14:41:16 GMT

@onstar wrote:
More often than not, I say close it down. That's because typically, the people that ask these questions have like 30 cards with $100K+ in total CL, and they haven't used some of the cards ever.

In your case, I'd keep the Barclay for now, assuming there is no AF. $5700 is over 10% of your total CL. That's not insignificant. Plus if you are thinking of applying for another Barclay card in the future, having this could help you. Many people have successfully recon by shifting some available CL from an existing card. As for the W-S card, if you're really not going to shop at W-S, then I'd say cancel it. Normally, I SD any card for 12 months before cancelling. I figure, if I haven't used it in 12 months and don't feel the need to use it, then I shouldn't keep it.

That always puzzles me too. A lot of the big proponents of "keep everything open if it has no AF" have $50 or $100k in available credit with 15, 20, 25, 30 cards and closing a few cards would have virtually no effect for them, yet they insist you should keep it open. I just don't get it.

While 10% of OP's overall credit is somewhat significant it's not really if they are barely using any of their $50k. If you have a $1k overall balance on $50k your utilization is 2%. Even if they drop down to $40k available credit, your utilization is still only 2.5%. Hardly worth worrying about IMO.

Re: Closing cards

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 14:56:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Sock drawering a card is overrated, since when/if it gets compromised, and you're not monitoring the account, you could be paying for charges you never made down the road. If you're not going to use the card, go ahead and close it.

Back in the old days that used to happen but not anymore.

Every credit card has some kind of zero liability protection if you get compromised.

In the days prior to autopay and account alerts, I probably couldn't manage more then 2-3 credit cards.

With text alerts, autopay, email alerts, estatements, and free credit monitoring from Capital One and my CU I don't even have to think about my accounts, they think for me.

Re: Closing cards

onstar — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 14:58:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Sock drawering a card is overrated, since when/if it gets compromised, and you're not monitoring the account, you could be paying for charges you never made down the road. If you're not going to use the card, go ahead and close it.
Back in the old days that used to happen but not anymore.

Every credit card has some kind of zero liability protection if you get compromised.

With text alerts, email alerts, estatements, free credit monitoring from Capital One, Eagle CU, Equifax, I don't even have to think about my accounts, they think for me.

It's less about the financial loss if this happens and more about the hassle and time it takes to take care of it. I used to work in the personal finance sector, so I've seen dozens of cases pertaining to stolen cc or unauthorized use or identity theft. Those ain't fun.

Bottom line is, if the risks / liabilities / hassles outweigh the benefits / potential benefits, then get rid of it.

Re: Closing cards

Imperfectfuture — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:17:15 GMT

I go with the two year history. Like my quicksilver that will probably not grow, starting in the lower tier, I like my other cards better. Since the fee is perma gone, but they wouldn't upgrade the card, just have my netflix on it. You can float cap one awhile.

Whether I go for the visa, not so sure. Would have preferred a world MasterCard down the road. But unless we get at least 3k on that card, then PC to regular quicksilver, I need to close to make room for other cards, and not the double cash. Prefer more business cards.

Re: Closing cards

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:18:39 GMT

Are the cards over 12 months old? If not, I'd let them continue to age. If they are, and you don't use them, close them.

Re: Closing cards

kdm31091 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:40:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Are the cards over 12 months old? If not, I'd let them continue to age. If they are, and you don't use them, close them.

But they age regardless of being open or closed. Closing has no impact on this/AAOA.

If you are saying to let them age being open purely so it doesn't appear someone is churning new accounts, then I see your point.

Re: Closing cards

TURNERHOOVER — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:42:08 GMT

If you don't mind your util dropping then close them both.

Re: Closing cards

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 15:51:58 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Are the cards over 12 months old? If not, I'd let them continue to age. If they are, and you don't use them, close them.
But they age regardless of being open or closed. Closing has no impact on this/AAOA.

If you are saying to let them age being open purely so it doesn't appear someone is churning new accounts, then I see your point.

I was saying to let them age so that it doesn't look like churning. The AAoA issue doesn't matter to me, because they'll continue to age for 10 years.

Re: Closing cards

Basspro2 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 16:50:10 GMT

Hi guys, Thanks for all the response's. The problem I'm have is having to keep something I have no use for. I have applied and recieved much better cards on my journey. I'm old and probably won't be here in 10 years HAHAHA . I recieved increase's lately that make up for the loss. The interest rate on that card was rediculous and they would never budge, Not that I really cared because I always PIA. I did run alot of money thru it for awhile. But what if I couldn't for some reason.? 21.74 % is crazy on a NFL card I had no use for except to repair my credit.

Re: Closing cards

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 17:53:17 GMT

What team is your NFL card? If it's anybody in the AFC, dump that thing!

Re: Closing cards

Basspro2 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 17:56:01 GMT

I'm from Mass.....Who do you think? It's gone just got off the phone and turned around called Wally World and got a CLI to make up for it. No Loss as far as I see.