topic Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity? in Credit Cards

Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

NRB525 — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 10:54:49 GMT

I'm not talking about a situation where the card balance wasn't being paid, went to collections, or BK type situations.

Rather, you had a card, it was charging an AF, you weren't using it, and the bank closed the card after a period of inactivity?

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

SouthJamaica — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 13:19:13 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
I'm not talking about a situation where the card balance wasn't being paid, went to collections, or BK type situations.

Rather, you had a card, it was charging an AF, you weren't using it, and the bank closed the card after a period of inactivity?

Great question

I don't know the answer because I've never had inactivity

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

simplynoir — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 13:28:12 GMT

I can't see a credit card company ever doing this because it's basically free money. Maybe CLD if the limit is too high for non-use but keep the card open

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

wasCB14 — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 17:14:25 GMT

I recall reading ONE report of it, and there may have been more to the story than inactivity, and it was back when Cap1 charged an AF on the Platinum. The report was silent on whether the AF was paid.

So even if my memory of it is perfect and I got the full story, it's definitely unusual.

Back when Amex Gold was PRG and the AF was much lower with a different set of perks, I did ask Amex this. The rep, after investigating the matter for several minutes and presumably contacting some superior, said that as long as the AF was paid the card did not need spend to stay open.

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

K-in-Boston — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 17:37:16 GMT

@simplynoir wrote:
I can't see a credit card company ever doing this because it's basically free money. Maybe CLD if the limit is too high for non-use but keep the card open

This exactly. Amex might be a bad example to use since all signs point to activity on any account will keep all of them open, but my personal Delta Platinum Card has had no activity other than AF for about 18 months and my Blue (which has no AF) hasn't had any activity in ages since Amex fixed the "same Amex Offer on multiple cards" loophole.

Particularly in the airline and hotel card segments, there can be perfectly logical reasons to continue to pay annual fees without using the cards purely for perks or free night/companion certificates.

But I don't recall seeing any closures simply for inactivity as long as the AF was being paid and there were no other reasons to close the card.

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 17:54:56 GMT

AF and payment of that AF IS activity. Few lenders close major credit cards before a year of inactivity so it makes sense that the AF and payment of the AF would restart that clock.

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 22:05:11 GMT

I agree, if you're paying $250 for Gold and not using it. though i don't know why anyone would. lol

I can't really see Amex closing it, it's free Money!

Though i guess it depends on the issuer, and how written in stone the non use clause is or its verbiage on the matter.

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

NoMoreE46 — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 17:43:07 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
I'm not talking about a situation where the card balance wasn't being paid, went to collections, or BK type situations.

Rather, you had a card, it was charging an AF, you weren't using it, and the bank closed the card after a period of inactivity?

I was curious about this exact topic... Thus, it appears that the answer is no as the payment of the AF is deemed as an activity unless the payment is excluded as activity by the isuer.

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

recoveringfrombk7 — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 22:43:21 GMT

DH just got a massive CLD from cap one on an AF ($5/month) card for inactivity, which led him to close it (9500 -> 2000). Up until that point it had been 5 years or more of no activity. Prior to that the limit had been cycled many times over the course of the 20 years he had it. We tried to PC it or waive the fee for years now and no dice. Feels good to finally get rid of it.

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

NoMoreE46 — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 23:40:48 GMT

@recoveringfrombk7

Would you share with us which card from Capital One?

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

recoveringfrombk7 — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 23:49:15 GMT

@NoMoreE46 wrote:
@recoveringfrombk7

Would you share with us which card from Capital One?

Yes of course. Sorry! An old old old Platinum that started at $500. Though clearly he got CLIs with use over the 20+ years he had it, it was bucketed in the sense that it couldn't be PC'd or AF waived. All we ever got was he should apply for a new card, but for us a company that refuses to improve a cardholder's situation after heavy use and timely payments wasn't for us. We just dragged our feet closing it due to the age and this pushed us to do what should have been done.

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

sammydavidjr — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 00:26:09 GMT

It happened to me. Citi closed a Citi Aadvantage American Express that I had due to inactivity. I think the theoretical annual fee for the card was in the $75/95 range, but I wasn't paying the full amount: I had received an offer for the card a few months after opening a Citi AAdvantage Gold MC (about 10 years ago). I can't remember the details, but the offer either waived or heavily discounted the annual fee of the Amex (maybe down to $30) so long as I also kept the Mastercard open. I barely ever used the Amex after collecting the SUB, and the card ended up being closed in 2015 due to inactivity. I recently closed the MC on my own steam.

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

NoMoreE46 — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 01:04:46 GMT

Thanks for sharing that @recoveringfrombk7

Re: Has anyone had an Annual Fee card closed for inactivity?

NRB525 — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 04:34:53 GMT

So the category "Legacy card with AF that the bank is no longer marketing" seems like a good candidate for the bank to try to close it out. This would seem to indicate that there is a low value AF that doesn't offset the administrative maintenance costs for the account, when no swipe or interest income is avaialble.