topic Re: Closing unused cards in Credit Cards

Closing unused cards

afijunkie — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 14:15:06 GMT

I've been looking at reducing the amount cards I currently have and don't use. They have been in the sock drawer for some time. I would like to reduce down to 5 cards as I feel that is a lot more manageable. Listed below is what I have..any recommendations on what to close?

Chase CSP 25k opened last month (daily driver for sub)
Capitol One Venture 10k 5/19
Amex BCP 27k 3/18
Citi DC 10k 7/18
Disco 5k 7/18
BofA CR 40k 1/17
Disco 7.6k 1/17
Citi Costco 10k 11/16
Citi BestBuy 10k 3/16

Re: Closing unused cards

PutThatMoneyOnTheTable — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 14:23:44 GMT

Without knowing what your full credit file is, it seems your oldest card is 3-4 years old and I wouldn't recommend closing those. What is your utilization? Will closing the high credit limit affect your utilization?

Also, all of the cards listed are solid prime cards. There are three Citi cards, have you considered moving the credit limit from Citi DC (If possible) and closing that card out?

I'm sure others with weigh in soon with more suggestions and recommendation. JMO, nothing is wrong in SDing.

Re: Closing unused cards

kdm31091 — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 14:26:34 GMT

Citi typically won't reallocate limits without doing a HP, so while it's a good suggestion, it's worth considering whether it's worth a HP or not to you.

The "close vs SD" debate goes on all the time. I'm somewhere in the middle but more in the camp of closing if it's never going to serve you any purpose. There's no rush to close if it's a no AF card, but there's also not much benefit to keeping around unused cards if your utilization is already low. Even if they are prime, "good" cards, that doesn't mean they are useful for your situation, and it's ok to move on. Even going down to 5 cards, as long as your utilization remains low, I think you are unlikely to see much of a score change.

Re: Closing unused cards

afijunkie — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 14:28:28 GMT

Whoops forgot to add that my util is 1%. I was looking at reducing the number of cards that I just have no use for.

Re: Closing unused cards

BearsCubsOtters — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 14:29:54 GMT

@afijunkie wrote:
I've been looking at reducing the amount cards I currently have and don't use. They have been in the sock drawer for some time. I would like to reduce down to 5 cards as I feel that is a lot more manageable. Listed below is what I have..any recommendations on what to close?

Chase CSP 25k opened last month (daily driver for sub)
Capitol One Venture 10k 5/19 close or downgrade to Venture One/Quicksilver next year when AF hits
Amex BCP 27k 3/18
Citi DC 10k 7/18
Disco 5k 7/18 Close; one only needs one Discover Card
BofA CR 40k 1/17
Disco 7.6k 1/17
Citi Costco 10k 11/16
Citi BestBuy 10k 3/16 Tough one; its your oldest account but probably least useful. Is it a Visa?

You may need to provide everybody with more information such as what your normal spend is and where you like to pick up in extra catagories, i.e. BCP for groceries, BofA for the 3% catagory of your choice etc.

My main observation is that if you really want to reduce the number of open accounts than the Best Buy and second, 2018 Discover could go. Even though your Best Buy is the oldest account, it will report for up to 10 years helping you with average account age. Then, downgrade or close accounts that have an AF and are not being used (BCP/Venture after the first year free ends).

Re: Closing unused cards

afijunkie — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 14:36:10 GMT

I use the BCP for groceries and streaming. Costco for Costco trips and gas. Disco for rotating 5%. But the CSP is being used for everything right now. The best buy is a Visa only used a few times to take advantage of special financing.

Re: Closing unused cards

SouthJamaica — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 15:34:51 GMT

@afijunkie wrote:
I've been looking at reducing the amount cards I currently have and don't use. They have been in the sock drawer for some time. I would like to reduce down to 5 cards as I feel that is a lot more manageable. Listed below is what I have..any recommendations on what to close?

Chase CSP 25k opened last month (daily driver for sub)
Capitol One Venture 10k 5/19
Amex BCP 27k 3/18
Citi DC 10k 7/18
Disco 5k 7/18
BofA CR 40k 1/17
Disco 7.6k 1/17
Citi Costco 10k 11/16
Citi BestBuy 10k 3/16

All good cards. Sorry, there's nothing in your collection that cries out "close me"

Re: Closing unused cards

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 16:02:46 GMT

IMHO I would just close the unused cards. As your utilization is low, it shouldn't hurt you at all.

I typically always close unused cards and I never really see any affect on my scores, I even closed my oldest card not too long ago because it had a low limit and high APR and even that didn't affect me.

My only suggestion is too look at your card member agreements if you're closing cards that are less than a year old, some places like Amex will claw back the SUB if you close before the 1 year mark.

Re: Closing unused cards

Aim_High — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 18:37:33 GMT

@afijunkie wrote:
I've been looking at reducing the amount cards I currently have and don't use.
Listed below is what I have..any recommendations on what to close?

Chase CSP 25k opened last month (daily driver for sub)
Capitol One Venture 10k 5/19
Amex BCP 27k 3/18
Citi DC 10k 7/18
Disco 5k 7/18
BofA CR 40k 1/17
Disco 7.6k 1/17
Citi Costco 10k 11/16
Citi BestBuy 10k 3/16

CSP - it depends.

How much travel spend do you have? CSP is a good card but only useful long-term if you will travel. If you travel often, I would seriously consider upgrade to CSR. The AF "sounds" high at $450 but with the offsets and additional benefits, the cost difference between CSR and CSP is actually minimal.

Venture - Close it. Not even worth downgrading to the Venture ONE. Only good for the SUB. It's like a 2% card with an AF and the Venture One is just essentially a weak 1.25% cashback card. You are already doing better elsewhere.

AMEX BCP - Keep since it sounds like it's useful to your spend.

Discover - close the newer one. I think Discover will let you move credit line over but may require a HP to do it. Would give you over $12K limit with them, though.

CITI DC - Keep since it looks like it's your only card with 2% on anything.

CITI Costco - Should be a keeper, but depending on your spend level. 4% on gas and 3% on dining/travel is great.

CITI Best Buy - Close it. Even though it's your oldest, it's only older by 8 months. And you're not using it much. Even if CITI requires a HP, it might be worth it to move the $10K credit line over to your other two CITI cards to raise them to $15K each.

BofA CR - Keep. By far your largest CL and one of your older accounts.

I got you down to six but the final cut if you want five is up to you.

Keepers ... and higher new credit limits:

(1) CSP (maybe) ... $25K

(2) AMEX BCP ... $27K

(3) CITI DC ... $15K ?

(4) BofA CR ... $40K

(5) Disco ... $12.6K ?

(6) CITI Costco ... $15K ?

Re: Closing unused cards

JNA1 — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 18:48:09 GMT

Not to hijack the thread, but is there a difference in score changes if you close out a card vs the bank doing it? Also, how does long a bank typically leave an unused card open before closing them?

Sorry for the ignorance, I’m trying to learn!

Re: Closing unused cards

Aim_High — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 18:58:53 GMT

@JNA1 wrote:
Not to hijack the thread, but is there a difference in score changes if you close out a card vs the bank doing it? Also, how does long a bank typically leave an unused card open before closing them?
Sorry for the ignorance, I’m trying to learn!

No worries, we're all here to learn and trade helpful information.

HOW a card is closed has no bearing on credit score. It is reflected in the notations about the account, "closed by grantor" or "closed by consumer". While it doesn't affect your score, it probably looks better to have accounts the consumer closed over accounts closed by the lender, which could indicate some further issue at play. When I close an account, I write to the bank and indicate I want the account "closed by consumer."

The answer on time is that it just depends! Retail store cards are notorious for being closed fairly quickly if not used, a year or two perhaps. I have had major cards with big banks or credit unions not closed after a few years of non-use. In some cases, though, I had deposit accounts or other credit accounts with that lender. Other major banks are more picky if a card is not used regularly. If you don't have deposit accounts or other relationship with a lender, it's probably best to use a card every six months to a year if you don't want it closed or a credit line decrease, which sometimes happens before closure.

SDing (sock-drawering) a card is always an option for a card you have no interest in and plan to close eventually. Sometimes, the bank will just close it for you but you benefit from not having to manage it while also getting the credit line for utilization and average credit age.

Re: Closing unused cards

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 19:01:10 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@afijunkie wrote:
I've been looking at reducing the amount cards I currently have and don't use.
Listed below is what I have..any recommendations on what to close?

Chase CSP 25k opened last month (daily driver for sub)
Capitol One Venture 10k 5/19
Amex BCP 27k 3/18
Citi DC 10k 7/18
Disco 5k 7/18
BofA CR 40k 1/17
Disco 7.6k 1/17
Citi Costco 10k 11/16
Citi BestBuy 10k 3/16

Discover - close the newer one. I think Discover will let you move credit line over but may require a HP to do it. Would give you over $12K limit with them, though.

Disco 5k 7/18

Disco 7.6k 1/17 Keep this one

So, if you have a CLI available and have 2 Disco cards.... here's what you do.... Check for a CLI either online or call them, if one is available DON'T accept it... call in and ask them to combine them, they'll check for the CLI and then it's a SP to move some or all of your limit to the older card and close it out if you want.

As to Citi... you can call them and ask them about changing products... not sure how they will take on a change for BB/Costco but, they might offer Dividend or DC as an option. If you want to consolidate them after a PC to say all DC's then wait for that to process through and then call back and ask for a Supv to merge them into a single card... They have some odd rules where it's a HP to move things and they can only do a certain amount of moves with a single HP but, it's possible.. frontline reps will put up a fight or say it can't be done.

So, between Disco / Citi that would knock the count down by 3 while retaining the age / score properties.

Re: Closing unused cards

JNA1 — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 19:18:09 GMT

Thanks for the reply!

Since I’m just starting out on this, I’m going to try my best to be selective and only get cards I will use and ones that will continue to grow. I feel like so far my Discover card is one I will always use as long as they keep the 5% CB program. My Summit card was my first ever card that I got just to build credit, but I am a car guy who spends money at Summit, and they have some bonuses every now and then that basically equals 20% cash back, so I’ll probably always keep it around.

Re: Closing unused cards

afijunkie — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 19:20:04 GMT

I just got the CSP because of the higher sub compared to the CSR. We are planning to do a lot of traveling next year but will probably upgrade eventually to the CSR.
I want to downgrade or maybe close the Venture but it's under a year with 80000 miles. Would Capitol One downgrade and transfer the rewards?

Re: Closing unused cards

Aim_High — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 19:56:13 GMT

@afijunkie wrote:
I just got the CSP because of the higher sub compared to the CSR. We are planning to do a lot of traveling next year but will probably upgrade eventually to the CSR.
I want to downgrade or maybe close the Venture but it's under a year with 80000 miles. Would Capitol One downgrade and transfer the rewards?

That's a common misunderstanding.

Unless you're redeeming for pure cash which is not the best use of Ultimate Rewards, the CSP is not a higher SUB than CSR; it's actually the exact same.

The confusion is in the magnificaton factor. CSP adds 25% value when redeemed for travel. CSR adds 50% when redeemed for travel. So the 60K UR on CSP is worth $600 in cash. The 50K UR on CSR is worth $500 in cash. But redeemed for travel, they are both worth exactly $750. (50Kx1.5 and 60Kx1.25 both equal $750 in travel redemption on UR portal.)

Many people get the CSP first since it is easier to qualify for with the minimum CL of $5K for CSP/Visa Signature versus $10K for CSR/Visa Infinite.

From my understanding, Capital One may allow you to keep the accrued rewards if you downgrade to a Venture One. However, if you close the account, you will likely forfeit any unused rewards. I would clarify with customer service about options before any change.

Re: Closing unused cards

FieryDance — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 20:38:37 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@afijunkie wrote:
I just got the CSP because of the higher sub compared to the CSR. We are planning to do a lot of traveling next year but will probably upgrade eventually to the CSR.
I want to downgrade or maybe close the Venture but it's under a year with 80000 miles. Would Capitol One downgrade and transfer the rewards?
That's a common misunderstanding.

Unless you're redeeming for pure cash which is not the best use of Ultimate Rewards, the CSP is not a higher SUB than CSR; it's actually the exact same.

The confusion is in the magnificaton factor. CSP adds 25% value when redeemed for travel. CSR adds 50% when redeemed for travel. So the 60K UR on CSP is worth $600 in cash. The 50K UR on CSR is worth $500 in cash. But redeemed for travel, they are both worth exactly $750. (50Kx1.5 and 60Kx1.25 both equal $750 in travel redemption on UR portal.)

Many people get the CSP first since it is easier to qualify for with the minimum CL of $5K for CSP/Visa Signature versus $10K for CSR/Visa Infinite.

From my understanding, Capital One may allow you to keep the accrued rewards if you downgrade to a Venture One. However, if you close the account, you will likely forfeit any unused rewards. I would clarify with customer service about options before any change.

My understanding is the 1.5 and 1.25 factors from CSR, CSP and CIP are only for redeeming using the portal. When transferring to partners’ miles they are all at the same rate. Is that true?

And to OP, based on your use case the suggestions in this thread are all spot on. Specifically, I would close Citi BestBuy, combine the 2 Discovers and downgrade Venture to QuickSilver.

Re: Closing unused cards

Aim_High — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 21:16:36 GMT

@FieryDance wrote:
My understanding is the 1.5 and 1.25 factors from CSR, CSP and CIP are only for redeeming using the portal. When transferring to partners’ miles they are all at the same rate. Is that true?

And to OP, based on your use case the suggestions in this thread are all spot on. Specifically, I would close Citi BestBuy, combine the 2 Discovers and downgrade Venture to QuickSilver.

That's a good point, @FieryDance

The 1.25 and 1.50 bonus are only when redeeming on the Chase UR portal. This is the way I normally redeem, at least at the moment.

The points, if transferred, go out at a 1:1 ratio. However, the valuations to all partners is not at the same "rate", since the exact "value" you would get from any travel partner may vary, even with the particular way you apply them.

You may get better value by transfer versus directly through the UR portal but YMMV.

Re: Closing unused cards

FieryDance — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 21:24:36 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
@FieryDance wrote:
My understanding is the 1.5 and 1.25 factors from CSR, CSP and CIP are only for redeeming using the portal. When transferring to partners’ miles they are all at the same rate. Is that true?

And to OP, based on your use case the suggestions in this thread are all spot on. Specifically, I would close Citi BestBuy, combine the 2 Discovers and downgrade Venture to QuickSilver.
That's a good point, @FieryDance

The 1.25 and 1.50 bonus are only when redeeming on the Chase UR portal. This is the way I normally redeem, at least at the moment.

The points, if transferred, go out at a 1:1 ratio. However, the valuations to all partners is not at the same "rate", since the exact "value" you would get from any travel partner may vary, even with the particular way you apply them.

You may get better value by transfer versus directly through the UR portal but YMMV.

Yep, that’s my understanding as well. I was talking about the transfer ratio, not valuation of miles. Miles valuation would be a whole other topic.

Re: Closing unused cards

FieryDance — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 21:51:15 GMT

@afijunkie wrote:
I just got the CSP because of the higher sub compared to the CSR. We are planning to do a lot of traveling next year but will probably upgrade eventually to the CSR.
I want to downgrade or maybe close the Venture but it's under a year with 80000 miles. Would Capitol One downgrade and transfer the rewards?

I have read data points that if you downgrade Venture to VentureOne you WILL retain the miles and airline transfer partners. I have not read any affirmative data points indicating QS will do the same. It’s just the lack of negative data suggests to me QS is probably safe too.

So I would say to be 100% safe, downgrade your Venture to VentureOne first and use up your points and then either cancel or change it to QS.

We are actually in the same boat. Acquired a Venture last month and will use the miles for one specific trip and next year will downgrade.