topic Re: Advice Appreciated in Credit Cards

Advice Appreciated

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 22:56:20 GMT

I currently have a Barclay Apple and Macy's store card that are useless to me. I don't use either and therefore shredded them both. The Barclay Apple is my second oldest card (Nov 2013) while the Macy's store card is relatively new (about 3 months). Should I close them myself or wait till the companies close them due to inactivity?

Re: Advice Appreciated

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:02:38 GMT

Both will have the same outcome. However, if you close them yourself you could dictate that you would like the accounts to be marked 'closed by consumer request' which gives other creditors a valid explaination of the closure, rather than let the creditors choose between 'closed by creditor' or 'closed due to inactivity' which may or may not cause suspiction when other creditors do a manual review. But I would not be worried either way, it is up to your preference. The accounts will continue to be included in your Average Age of Accounts for the next ten years after the closure. The only thing that can actually affect your credit score now is the decrease in your overall credit limit which could lead to a higher utilization. If that's a concern.

Re: Advice Appreciated

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:39:47 GMT

I'm not concerned by the utilization as I PIF majority of the time and don't make large purchases. Would I need to write to them or simply request this online? I've never closed an account. Are there any other short term effects of closing the accounts myself?

Re: Advice Appreciated

-NewGuy- — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:45:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm not concerned by the utilization as I PIF majority of the time and don't make large purchases. Would I need to write to them or simply request this online? I've never closed an account. Are there any other short term effects of closing the accounts myself?

There is the immediate effect on UTIL, and nothing else. After ten years, they will affect your AAoA when they stop reporting for good, as well as your length of credit history if your oldest account was closed. That's about it.

Re: Advice Appreciated

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:52:07 GMT

Considering my oldest credit card is <1 year from my newest, I'm assuming it shouldn't do much damage. Would this be an accurate assumption?

Re: Advice Appreciated

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:54:14 GMT

The most effective way to close is to call customer service and then request that it be marked as closed at customer request so that it is instanteous, all you have to endure is a few attempts to retain your business, if any (they might be worth your while actually). Alternatively, you can also use a live chat feature if it is available. It is much easier this way, in my opinion. I wouldn't use secure message as that will take a while going back and forth and they would probably request that you call most times. I would not worry about AAoA at all, as they will both continue to report for 10 years, and after 10 years all your accounts should have aged accordingly. Utilization should not be a problem if you pay in full before billing periods close and only report a small balance.

Re: Advice Appreciated

SunriseEarth — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:58:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I currently have a Barclay Apple and Macy's store card that are useless to me. I don't use either and therefore shredded them both. The Barclay Apple is my second oldest card (Nov 2013) while the Macy's store card is relatively new (about 3 months). Should I close them myself or wait till the companies close them due to inactivity?

Have you seen about PCing the Barclays to a product that fits your needs better? As for Macy's, I'm not sure how good that looks to have an account opened for such a short time and closing it. I'd recommend just SDing both and let them close for inactivity, if you have not use for them. They both seem very new to close.

Re: Advice Appreciated

TRC_WA — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 00:38:08 GMT

Closing a CC after 8 months?

Really?

The Barclay card is still a VISA you know...

Re: Advice Appreciated

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 00:46:37 GMT

I've become very frugal with my money lately - spending roughly only $100/mo. Most of this is spent on gas and I plan to use my Freedom (Visa) & BCE (Amex) for that while applying a small charges every once in awhile on my Better Balance Rewards (MC) to ensure the $25/quarter reward.

The Macy's card doesn't even report a limit from what I just noticed according to my CR.

If I allow them to close due to inactivity would that look worse to a grantor vs. reporting that it was closed upon the consumer's request?

Re: Advice Appreciated

Kenny — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 01:20:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I've become very frugal with my money lately - spending roughly only $100/mo. Most of this is spent on gas and I plan to use my Freedom (Visa) & BCE (Amex) for that while applying a small charges every once in awhile on my Better Balance Rewards (MC) to ensure the $25/quarter reward.

The Macy's card doesn't even report a limit from what I just noticed according to my CR.

If I allow them to close due to inactivity would that look worse to a grantor vs. reporting that it was closed upon the consumer's request?

It is neither negative nor positive. Many people don't want to allow it to be closed for inactivity to what it might say to an underwriter if they have to manually review your report. It really is just your preference.

If you want to close the accounts and you think it's a good move then do it. No need to request that it be noted with "Closed by consumer request." Because guess what? You're requesting to have it closed! lol Sometimes people get a little paranoid. At the end of the day, you just own the decisions you make and don't regret them later -- just think on it and you will be guided as to what you should do. No one can say what is best for you to do, because that's completely up to you.

Re: Advice Appreciated

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 01:49:22 GMT

I contacted Barclays to see about a PC to a Reward/Arrival card. Unfortunately they do not have any options available for a PC from Apple Financing to another one of their cards. For the time being, I'll hold onto the Apple Financing card and ponder on whether I should close the Macy's card... since they won't report a CL and I don't shop at Macy's any longer.

On a side note, when I notified the rep that I was thinking about closing the Apple Financing card, she immediately began offering me incentives on the card.

Re: Advice Appreciated

Kenny — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 01:50:02 GMT

You might want to PC it to the Rewards card it's 2% on Utilities -- that's something that's over other cards like Freedom and It.

Some people have said it's hit/miss with PCing with Barclays.

Re: Advice Appreciated

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 04:47:09 GMT

I was aiming to PC it to the Rewards or Arrival card but this particular rep wouldn't budge. I also only really spend money on gas with the exception of paying for school and attending outings once every few weeks.