topic Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why in Credit Cards

amex card canceled. No one knows why

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 14:45:38 GMT

I currently have an amex corporate and an amex blue. The other day I applied and was approved for a simply cash business card. Later on that day I log into my amex account and it said my blue was cancelled. I called amex and they said it was canceled that morning but had no idea why and offered to reinstate it. Since I haven't used the card in almost 3 years I just told them to keep it canceled. Any ideas how that could happen?

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

coldnmn — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 14:54:32 GMT

Welcome to the forum. If the card hadn't been used in three years credit card companies have closed cards in a lot shorter time for non use. That is more then likely the reason.

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

Gunnar419 — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 15:05:06 GMT

@coldnmn wrote:
Welcome to the forum. If the card hadn't been used in three years credit card companies have closed cards in a lot shorter time for non use. That is more then likely the reason.

+1 A few ccs will cancel a card if you go as little as six months without using it. YMMV, but closing cards for non use is standard practice.

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

pizzadude — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 16:04:19 GMT

+1. And I expect you'll receive a letter from AMEX explaning this.

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

youngandcreditwrthy — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 21:30:23 GMT

Yeah, it's prob due to non use.

a good rule of thumb is to use every card you have at least once every 3-6 months and pif to keep em open and active, esp if you have existing balances to keep util LOW lol

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

aubie1kenobie2 — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 21:55:11 GMT

@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Yeah, it's prob due to non use.

a good rule of thumb is to use every card you have at least once every 3-6 months and pif to keep em open and active, esp if you have existing balances to keep util LOW lol

Does that rule also apply to store cards?

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

JustinS — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 22:10:22 GMT

@aubie1kenobie2 wrote:
@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Yeah, it's prob due to non use.

a good rule of thumb is to use every card you have at least once every 3-6 months and pif to keep em open and active, esp if you have existing balances to keep util LOW lol
Does that rule also apply to store cards?

I'd wager as much. For example Bon-ton I think is as little as a year of no activity and it could get closed. From asking Kay Jewelers closes if no activity for 2years.

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

red259 — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 22:22:24 GMT

Will credit card companies close AF cards for non-use? Seems like it would be silly for them to do so and lose the fee but you never know.

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

-Wade- — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 22:26:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I currently have an amex corporate and an amex blue. The other day I applied and was approved for a simply cash business card. Later on that day I log into my amex account and it said my blue was cancelled. I called amex and they said it was canceled that morning but had no idea why and offered to reinstate it. Since I haven't used the card in almost 3 years I just told them to keep it canceled. Any ideas how that could happen?

That's why they closed it inactivity , If you pull your report it should say closed due to inactivity........ Amex did me the same way in 2006. if you have good credit you can open a new 1 and get the member date to the date you open your first card. Good luck on what ever you do

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

pizzadude — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 22:39:35 GMT

@red259 wrote:
Will credit card companies close AF cards for non-use? Seems like it would be silly for them to do so and lose the fee but you never know.

It will vary by creditor ~ although I suspect cards with high AFs are rarely closed for inactivity ~ and are probably less likely to go unused for longer periods of time.

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

red259 — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 22:48:10 GMT

@pizzadude wrote:
@red259 wrote:
Will credit card companies close AF cards for non-use? Seems like it would be silly for them to do so and lose the fee but you never know.
It will vary by creditor ~ although I suspect cards with high AFs are rarely closed for inactivity ~ and are probably less likely to go unused for longer periods of time.

At first I agreed with this statement. Who would pay for an AF card and then not use it? However, on reflection there are some situations I could see. Some hotel/airline cards people may get for the benefits, but rarely put actual charges on. If companies sometimes close cards with as little as six months activity I can see situations occuring where people only use an AF card for the first three months to make initial spend (while the AF is waived) and then maybe going 9 months while working on other cards with the idea they will PC the card into a non-af card at the end of the year. Although I do agree that AF cards would be much less likely to be closed for inactivity.

Re: amex card canceled. No one knows why

sjt — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 21:37:27 GMT

Like the other posters mentioned it was probably for inactivity.

More and more lenders are aggressively closing inactive accounts because they are required to book the credit line as a liability and an inactive account doesnt make any money. When they close an inactive account they are able to reallocate the line to someone else without increasing their exposure. They started being agressive during the meltdown.