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Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020


@Revelate wrote:

@kdm31091 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@redpat wrote:

Congrats and welcome to the club AJC.  I thinned the herd a while back, dumped disco, edp, amex spg, Prestige, Barclay aa, Venture, Macy Amex and chase fu.

 

Centurion lounge is now open in CLT now citi aa Exec is on the fence.  

I'm finding out that I can live with just having Amex and chase as my credit card providers.  All this stuff of having to diversify is crap imo, credit cards are not an investment portfolio.  If you have an Amex you need to have a visa or MasterCard card also.

 

AJC, pick the ones you like and 86 the others, there is nothing to worry about.


Like the stock market, if you are not diverse, you can take a beating. Having all technology stocks is risky. If just the technology sector tanks, you tank. Having 5 cards, and all of them Chase cards is risky. If they decide to close all your accounts, you have no cards. We had some here who had all of their cards from a single issuer closed (Chase/BoA).

 

I read the small detailed terms of my new CFU. Caught a 1-liner that said to the effect that we can close your accounts at any time, not because of your activity or non-activity, but because of our business needs.

 

Having all your eggs in the same basket that gets taken from you while you did nothing wrong is too risky.


I agree, although the person you quoted has two lenders not just one. You shouldn't depend on only one bank, but at the same time, these aren't assets or investments. If a bank decides they don't like you, you could open cards elsewhere. 

 

I am not discrediting diversity but I don't think the average consumer needs cards from 5 banks if they don't want to manage that (or even more commonly, spend more than they can afford because of all the credit lines). I think 2 or 3 is probably sufficient. That's just my take on it. 


Actually if the proverbial fecal matter hits the air circulation device, you might not be able to open up new accounts.   This has been the case a few times in our lifetimes.

 

If the credit markets tighten generally almost all lenders do so at once, and suddenly you might not be able to get anything from even Synchrony you might be even lower on the chain as liquidity when scarce gets expensive (in terms of APR's and fees) in a hurry... it's another reason I'm going to be re-opening my HELOC after my refinance, non-trivial safety net financially if credit markets tighten.

 

My personal opinion is two lenders is too few especially when they're the same tier, it's why I am going to keep my 10K C1 QS come hell or high water because I'm far more confident in Capital One not whacking me than even Chase where I'm CPC.  Amex can and probably will flush most if not all of my accounts if things really go sideways.  They may not as I have some accounts with AF's but if it really gets ugly and things get tight, fact is I'm not using the lines.

 

Really looking at this pragmatically, Chase + Amex excellent for now, I like having Cap 1 as a different tier lender in case the prime/super prime market goes sideways, and I'm going to keep my relationships with CU's because those are going to be slower to react and *might* not be quite as ruthless when it comes to purging their credit portfolio.

 

FWIW I think Chase is higher risk than Amex in such a downturn, Chase has a lot of other business lines that they could plow money into whereas Amex is a lot more limited in the products they can market and offer.


True. The same reasons that make it difficult to get approved for new lending might be the same reasons cards get closed. It's like the same door being closed and locked.

 

I'd put some occasional spend on your security net Cap 1 card to keep it there just in case.

Message 91 of 119
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020


@Anonymous wrote:


True. The same reasons that make it difficult to get approved for new lending might be the same reasons cards get closed. It's like the same door being closed and locked.

 

I'd put some occasional spend on your security net Cap 1 card to keep it there just in case.


Good advice for any tradeline you truly want to keep especially if it's the only one from a given lender (Vis a vis non-trivial use of Amex or Chase cards most likely the rest of your accounts with them won't be closed for inactivity or at least that's held true since roughly 2012).

 

In my case with Cap 1 I trot it out every six months or so, getting to be about that time anyway for when I get through the double the mess double the pain mortgage processes.




        
Message 92 of 119
Kforce
Senior Contributor

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020

Because 5-7 works for me does not mean 12-15 is not your ideal number.

Thirteen is less work and simpler than 24.

Also many just love getting and having a lot of cards. Nothing wrong with a CC hobby.

No two people have the same spend so "Everyone" thinking about a new card or getting rid of cards should think about each move like a chess game.

.

Six years ago I  put 6 months of real spend history into a spreadsheet playing with many card combos with my real spend as values.

Got the best 5 card hand for my spend. A couple got nerfed and picked up a couple new because of the loss. Years go by and new cards come and go but none are worth a change in lineup.  My spend is very diverse and the largest chunks fall into general category. This makes collecting cashback cards less value for me than some others.  I think many could get 3% with 3 cards and 4% with about 7-8 cards. Going for that last 1% is where the real card count goes up. 

 

My spend is not where the gold is found.      Smiley Sad

This translates into needing less cards.        Smiley LOL

 

 

Message 93 of 119
M_Smart007
Legendary Contributor

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020




@redpat wrote:

 

 

AJC, pick the ones you like and 86 the others, there is nothing to worry about.


 


@AverageJoesCredit  ..

I am not sure what that means???  .."86" the others?

 

Message 94 of 119
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020

86 is slang for get rid of....

Message 95 of 119
AverageJoesCredit
Legendary Contributor

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020


@Anonymous wrote:

86 is slang for get rid of....


Thank Fico🥴 if @redpat  had said 😄💳🔥

Message 96 of 119
Guyatthebeach
Valued Contributor

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020

AJC,

 

A surcharge that big is price gouging in my opinion.  It shouldn't cost that much to ship to PR.  That's just wrong.  

I don't blame you one bit on closing that Walmart store card.  You won't miss it at all.

 

Right now I have 30 cards and I plan on consolidating and closing the rarely used cards in 2022 when my bankruptcy falls off my CR.

 

Guyatthebeach

Message 97 of 119
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020

@Guyatthebeach  how much longer you have with BK on reports? 

Message 98 of 119
Guyatthebeach
Valued Contributor

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020


@Remedios wrote:

@Guyatthebeach  how much longer you have with BK on reports? 


It should drop off around November 2021.  I filed November 30, 2011.

 

Guyatthebeach

Message 99 of 119
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Finally Closing Credit Cards 2020


@Guyatthebeach wrote:

@Remedios wrote:

@Guyatthebeach  how much longer you have with BK on reports? 


It should drop off around November 2021.  I filed November 30, 2011.

 

Guyatthebeach


Almost there! TU will remove six months early, so put it on your calendar to call in May. Wouldn't mess with the other two. 

Message 100 of 119
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