topic Re: Close HSBC myself or let them? in Credit Cards

Close HSBC myself or let them?

PandaGirl77 — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 22:10:56 GMT

So I got this, I dont like this card. Does either one or the other look better for me to close it first or let them close it? Is it worth putting some charges on it to keep it in my profile? Does HSBC have anything good to offer going forward?

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

UH_HUH — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 22:37:02 GMT

@PandaGirl77 wrote:
So I got this, I dont like this card. Does either one or the other look better for me to close it first or let them close it? Is it worth putting some charges on it to keep it in my profile? Does HSBC have anything good to offer going forward?

I have had the Cash Rewards MC for about 9 months.

I have only put one chage on it. That was after they gave me a sp CLI

of $2,500.00 with no charges at the time. At $13,500 now.

They have BT offers for me and are allways sending new

offers. If you throw a charge on it I see no reason to close it.

Does not matter if you close it they do, Maybe to an underwriter but

even then,not likely. There not that bad in my humble opinion.

Whatever you do Good Luck :-)

Cheers

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 22:31:34 GMT

If it were me and I didn't like/have use for a card, i would close it first. Just so that I can have the satisfaction of doing so, in my mind it looks better when closed by consumer upon manual UW versu by grantor. And especially given the time we're living in ATM.

That said, it really doesn't matter either way.

Though if there's no AF and it's an older TL you might want to keep it for age.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

PandaGirl77 — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 22:55:45 GMT

@UH_HUH wrote:
@PandaGirl77 wrote:
So I got this, I dont like this card. Does either one or the other look better for me to close it first or let them close it? Is it worth putting some charges on it to keep it in my profile? Does HSBC have anything good to offer going forward?
I have had the Cash Rewards MC for about 9 months.
I have only put one chage on it. That was after they gave me a sp CLI
of $2,500.00 with no charges at the time. At $13,500 now.
They have BT offers for me and are allways sending new
offers. If you throw a charge on it I see no reason to close it.
Does not matter if you close it they do, Maybe to an underwriter but
even then,not likely. There not that bad in my humble opinion.
Whatever you do Good Luck :-)
Cheers

So after reading your post, I figured why not give them a call if it's SP. The rep told me requesting CLI would be HP. So that was that. I guess I'm considering it on the chopping block. You have definitely had good experience with them!

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

UH_HUH — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 07:06:37 GMT

@PandaGirl77 if you go to the approvals section and search

for a thread called HSBC CLI you can see how I got a sp cli.

I know of at least 2 other card holders who got one this way.

I'm not sure about MyFico rules about certain things you can

post,so just read the whole thread and you can see how I did it and how someone

else who has the card did. Not a long read,sorry I can't just

put the hyperlink in my post. I am not that tech savvy,

GL,

Cheers

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

wasCB14 — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 08:06:04 GMT

I'd go ahead and close it.

It's one thing to keep a card active if you get only a little value from it. But if it really serves no purpose and you'd be willing to lose it, then I think it best to close it. Then you don't have to keep an eye on it for fraudulent transactions. Even though you've not used the card recently, some soon-to-be-hacked merchant may still have the number on file.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

pinkandgrey — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 12:54:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If it were me and I didn't like/have use for a card, i would close it first. Just so that I can have the satisfaction of doing so, in my mind it looks better when closed by consumer upon manual UW versu by grantor. And especially given the time we're living in ATM.

That said, it really doesn't matter either way.

Though if there's no AF and it's an older TL you might want to keep it for age.

This is exactly what I would say. If I didn't want the card, I would most definitely close it myself and make sure that the report reflects "closed by consumer."

If you don't think the card has much to offer you, then close away!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 15:32:45 GMT

Close it yourself so it is noted "Closed by consumer" and not "Canceled by credit grantor"....

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

K-in-Boston — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 16:49:51 GMT

If it's not serving a purpose, either close it or just sock drawer it until they close it.

Closed by consumer vs closed by credit grantor really doesn't make a difference, it's mostly cosmetic. The only time that would ever be a factor is if you were undergoing a manual review, and had a string of them at once. Then an underwriter might think that perhaps you were having difficulty paying the accounts, but the creditors decided to just close the accounts instead of reporting them as late. But a "closed by credit grantor" here and there is nothing to be concerned with.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

NoMoreE46 — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 17:58:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
...in my mind it looks better when closed by consumer upon manual UW versus by grantor.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

wasCB14 — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 18:31:22 GMT

How clear is the evidence that "closed by consumer" is actually any better? Has anyone actually had an underwriter mention it? Or is it just another instance of the "If I were a lender..." game?

Lenders and consumers close accounts for various reasons. And unless you're pushing for a very large credit limit or an unusual number of cards with a lender, you probably won't be talking to underwriters unless your profile is borderline in some way.

If an issuer closes a card for inactivity, that should be pretty clear from the report with a long stretch of $0 balances.

If an account has a history of high utilization and tiny payments, "closed by consumer" isn't going to remove that.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

K-in-Boston — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 19:59:41 GMT

I've personally never heard of any data points of someone having an issue with the remark. In my last post, I used the hypothetical of seeing a lot of them in a short stretch of time, perhaps signifying an issue that isn't otherwise reflected on a credit report and may cause an underwriter to question them.

Certainly, if I were underwriting a mortgage and see that someone just had 6 accounts closed by lender in March and April and the person is applying for mortgage today, it would cause me to raise my eyebrow and inquire further as to whether they were all closed due to non-payment or late payments that were not reflected as 30+ day lates.

But my reports are littered with closed by credit grantor, and it has never caused an issue or even been mentioned. Cards get closed for non-use. Many people have that department store card they got 20 years ago and forgot they even had until it gets closed. Cards also get discontinued or moved to lenders who report a new account, even if carrying the same opening date as the original account. Lots of perfectly reasonable reasons that an account could be closed by credit grantor.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

ChazzieT — Sat, 06 Jun 2020 01:10:15 GMT

@PandaGirl77 wrote:
So I got this, I dont like this card. Does either one or the other look better for me to close it first or let them close it? Is it worth putting some charges on it to keep it in my profile? Does HSBC have anything good to offer going forward?

Do they have another card you like? Maybe ask for a product change. Ask if they have any retention offers (0% APR, BT deals, etc) that might make the card more appealing to you.

Considering the economic uncertainty of the moment. I wouldn't close a card unless I had really good reason to. Slap a $10 charge on it and stick it in the sock drawer.

Since I got the AOD Visa, my Cap One Savor One gets just enough use to keep it active. I have few enough cards that watching for fraudulent activity is easy enough, so I don't mind keeping it open, just in case I ever need it.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:01:44 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
How clear is the evidence that "closed by consumer" is actually any better? Has anyone actually had an underwriter mention it? Or is it just another instance of the "If I were a lender..." game?

Lenders and consumers close accounts for various reasons. And unless you're pushing for a very large credit limit or an unusual number of cards with a lender, you probably won't be talking to underwriters unless your profile is borderline in some way.

If an issuer closes a card for inactivity, that should be pretty clear from the report with a long stretch of $0 balances.

If an account has a history of high utilization and tiny payments, "closed by consumer" isn't going to remove that.

I am an underwriter and I mentioned this earlier in the thread. My recommendation is close your own accounts, don't let creditor do it.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

NoMoreE46 — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 17:24:58 GMT

@Anonymous

I am an underwriter and I mentioned this earlier in the thread. My recommendation is close your own accounts, don't let creditor do it.

And here we have it folks.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

K-in-Boston — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 17:36:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am an underwriter and I mentioned this earlier in the thread. My recommendation is close your own accounts, don't let creditor do it.

Quite curious as to "why?" I mentioned some reasons why it might potentially raise eyebrows in my last post (i.e. a number of them grouped together may show a lot of missed payments that were never reported as 30+ lates), but other than those reasons I honestly can't see how this is possibly an issue.

Is the person who opened a Best Buy card in 1995 and had their account "closed by credit grantor" when HSBC sold the accounts to CapOne in 2011 somehow a higher risk than someone who got their card in 2013 when CapOne sold the accounts to Citi since Citi just changed the name but kept reporting the same accounts? Is a person a high risk because they got a Virgin America airline credit card and when Alaska acquired them, the accounts were not sold to Bank of America and changed to Alaska Airlines cards? I have numerous "closed by credit grantor" remarks on my reports; they have never been mentioned.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:33:45 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I am an underwriter and I mentioned this earlier in the thread. My recommendation is close your own accounts, don't let creditor do it.
Quite curious as to "why?" I mentioned some reasons why it might potentially raise eyebrows in my last post (i.e. a number of them grouped together may show a lot of missed payments that were never reported as 30+ lates), but other than those reasons I honestly can't see how this is possibly an issue.

Is the person who opened a Best Buy card in 1995 and had their account "closed by credit grantor" when HSBC sold the accounts to CapOne in 2011 somehow a higher risk than someone who got their card in 2013 when CapOne sold the accounts to Citi since Citi just changed the name but kept reporting the same accounts? Is a person a high risk because they got a Virgin America airline credit card and when Alaska acquired them, the accounts were not sold to Bank of America and changed to Alaska Airlines cards? I have numerous "closed by credit grantor" remarks on my reports; they have never been mentioned

I cannot speak for other UWs, but if I see several "closed by creditors" I will look at dates to determine if an event occured and if there are derogatory or collections associated. "Closed by creditor" *can* be a red flag. I work for a smaller bank and we do look at credit reports fairly carefully. If at all possible, close credit lines yourself and avoid closer scrutiny of your credit report. Often it is beyond your control (as you have described with cards switching banks) in those cases don't worry about it.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

Remedios — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 21:36:09 GMT

My experience is the opposite from what you described.

US Bank underwriter showed no interest in a few cards closed by lenders. Instead, he was focused on why I closed some of them, because he thought churning was involved.

Re: Close HSBC myself or let them?

wasCB14 — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 00:09:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I am an underwriter and I mentioned this earlier in the thread. My recommendation is close your own accounts, don't let creditor do it.
Quite curious as to "why?" I mentioned some reasons why it might potentially raise eyebrows in my last post (i.e. a number of them grouped together may show a lot of missed payments that were never reported as 30+ lates), but other than those reasons I honestly can't see how this is possibly an issue.

Is the person who opened a Best Buy card in 1995 and had their account "closed by credit grantor" when HSBC sold the accounts to CapOne in 2011 somehow a higher risk than someone who got their card in 2013 when CapOne sold the accounts to Citi since Citi just changed the name but kept reporting the same accounts? Is a person a high risk because they got a Virgin America airline credit card and when Alaska acquired them, the accounts were not sold to Bank of America and changed to Alaska Airlines cards? I have numerous "closed by credit grantor" remarks on my reports; they have never been mentioned
I cannot speak for other UWs, but if I see several "closed by creditors" I will look at dates to determine if an event occured and if there are derogatory or collections associated. "Closed by creditor" *can* be a red flag. I work for a smaller bank and we do look at credit reports fairly carefully. If at all possible, close credit lines yourself and avoid closer scrutiny of your credit report. Often it is beyond your control (as you have described with cards switching banks) in those cases don't worry about it.

What is the threshold that might actually hurt an application?

A few scattered "closed by creditors" and no further evidence of an event?

A few "closed by creditors" suspiciously within a period of a few weeks or months, but no further evidence of an event?

A cbc with unusually high utilization and low payments?

I would just think a closure for inactivity would be pretty obvious...$0 balances and $0 payments for 6, 12, or 24 months. What's there to be suspicious about? It's easy to distinguish from a card with frequently high balances and less than full payments where there might be concern about a PFD late.

And to be clear, I do believe in "active" closing...just more with a fraud prevention motive than a "favorable reporting" one.