Should I cancel my Citi Secured?

[ACN323]

Opened in Dec. 2018, did not graduate at 18 months, was told they'd need to hold my deposit for another year then review, (so next June potentially) Was using the card all the time before, PIF, letting small balance report etc. but have not used in a few months. Use my graduated Disco as my daily driver. The Citi is my oldest card, Disco came 6 months after. I really want to cancel and get my deposit back, but also don't want to botch my credit in the process by closing it. They are my only two cards, with the 3rd being DH's Amex that I'm an AU on. Will it be a big loss if my Disco was opened 6 months later?  Should I leave it? I just don't want it to get closed by Citi for non-usage, but I also don't want to keep it going for the sake of just keeping it. I know Citi is stingy even if it does graduate. Thoughts? 

[gdale6]

I would obtain another card that fits into your spending prior to closing as you would lose some Fico points for not having that 3rd open card. Other than this I dont see a problem with closing it, no reason to let the bank have your capital if you are not going to use their product.

[fatcomic]

I agree, replace the card with an unsecured option first and close it out.   

[ACN323]

@gdale6 my goal was to apply for the Amex BCE or Delta Gold when my scores get into or closer to 700. I guess I might just have to bite the bullet and keep it active until then. Thank you for the advice and helpful info! 

[ACN323]

@fatcomic Thank you for the advice! Agree, think that'll be my course of action. 

[RLFLOWS]

I am in the same situation as you are with the Citi Secured card. Have had mine since September 2018. It's my second oldest card but received the same letter you did. Was pissed off it didn't graduate but with 2+ years history I decided to keep it open ($200 deposit).Only difference is that I now have 12 credit cards.

[ACN323]

@RLFLOWS ugh, sorry to hear yours also didn't graduate! It's so frustrating! But happy to hear you've obtained other cards. Do you think you'll cancel it in the future or just keep it? 

[Shaw83]

Same thing just happened to me, I got the letter last week saying they're going to leave it secured for another year. I'm closing due to not being able to do balance transfers or anything. 

[Anonymous]

@ACN323 @RLFLOWS  @Shaw83  

Do you all care to share some data points at the time you received the letter that it will not unsecure for a year? Maybe what your scores were at the start compared to what they are now? Did you open a lot of accounts since then? Or if your letters stated the reasons why. 

I have a citi secured only sitting at 7 months and I posted wanting info on it growing upon graduation. I decided to keep it for now since I feel there's potential. I could be change my mind after 18 months or being put in your shoes. 

[ACN323]

@Shaw83 so frustrating! I thought for sure mine was going to graduate since my scores had improved by like 80 points from when I initially opened it, and I had perfect payment history with them. Guess not. Kudos to you for closing it! Can't wait to boot mine.