Will it be a problem if I don't use a credit card for a long time?

[jackff]

I currently have too many cards and it's hard to take care of all of them. I am a student and have low spending. Plus my college offers me meal plans in our dining halls, there are few chances for me to swipe my credit cards. Here are the four cards which I don't want to close because they don't have annual fee:

1. Amex blue cash everyday (there are few places accepting amex nearby)

2. Discover it (only use it for one quarter per year)

3. Chase freedom (same as Discover it)

4. Barclay Arrival fee free version (only use it abroad for its no foreign trans fee benefit)

Is it okay to put a credit card in my drawer and no using it for a long time? Will it be closed by the company? Or any possible troubles?

Thanks in advance.

[youngandcreditwrthy]

I would use them lightly and pif before the statement cuts each month. Or at the very least, use them a little every few months on a rotation to avoid any type of closure and to stay under the radar.

If you just completely sock drawer the, they eventually will get closed because they become a "non performing asset" to the extending bank.

[jackff]

---

@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:

I would use them lightly and pif before the statement cuts each month. Or at the very least, use them a little every few months on a rotation to avoid any type of closure and to stay under the radar.

If you just completely sock drawer the, they eventually will get closed because they become a "non performing asset" to the extending bank.

---

Thanks youngandcreditwrthy. I have 6 cards and thought that's a lot to me but you have 17

[longtimelurker]

Barclays in particular mentions in the terms that non usage (and they have a short time frame, 3 or 4 months) may/will result in closure.  So if you can only manage a few swipes a year, give priority to them

The Everyday isn't a great choice if you can't meet the 20 swipes a month threshold.   I would see if/when you can PC that to a different card.   But Amex seems OK about non-use, I had a card I didn't use for two or more years.

Edit: Never mind, read that as the new Everyday, rather than Blue Cash Everyday.

[jackff]

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

Barclays in particular mentions in the terms that non usage (and they have a short time frame, 3 or 4 months) may/will result in closure.  So if you can only manage a few swipes a year, give priority to them

The Everyday isn't a great choice if you can't meet the 20 swipes a month threshold.   I would see if/when you can PC that to a different card.   But Amex seems OK about non-use, I had a card I didn't use for two or more years.

---

Thanks longtimelurker. Then I will keep Barclays in my wallet. Mine is a blue cash everyday. I guess you meant the new Amex Everyday card?

Edit: Sorry didn't see your edit.

[asulaw]

---

@jackff wrote:

I currently have too many cards and it's hard to take care of all of them. I am a student and have low spending. Plus my college offers me meal plans in our dining halls, there are few chances for me to swipe my credit cards. Here are the four cards which I don't want to close because they don't have annual fee:

1. Amex blue cash everyday (there are few places accepting amex nearby)

2. Discover it (only use it for one quarter per year)

3. Chase freedom (same as Discover it)

4. Barclay Arrival fee free version (only use it aboard for its no foreign trans fee benefit)

Is it okay to put a credit card in my drawer and no using it for a long time? Will it be closed by the company? Or any possible troubles?

Thanks in advance.

---

I put monthly expenses like Netflix and other things like that onto my cards. I spread them out so that way I don't have to worry about there being a non-usage problem. Especially because the card I use most is my AU card.

[youngandcreditwrthy]

No prob. I have just as many closed accounts.

I only use 4 or 5 cards for my everyday/monthly expenses. I get a ton of cash back and points :-) I'm really not a big spender either - maybe 1k-2k a month and pif typically.

But the cards that don't get my everyday purchases get used AT LEAST once every six months.

the last charge on my 12,500 BR Visa was like $20 and I pif before the statement cuts to keep it reporting at $0 on the good ole credit report.

Yeah, Barclay's is a little stricter. I DEF'LY 100% recommend to just use every card every 3-6 months and pif. If your credit lines are sufficient, I'd pick a good one and use it to get rewards. Even as a college student, you prob spend 400 or 500 a month on random stuff(or at least I did in college LOL) so that's cashback you can still get!

Remember this too: a card that has a $0 balance is a bill you don't have to pay. The number of cards really doesn't matter or affect your budget IF they have a $0 balance.

[austinguy907]

Nah, leaving them in a SD for 6-12 month rotations isn't usually an issue.  I have a couple of them I only pull out on anniversaries to put $10 for tolls on just to force them to update periodically.  They haven't done anything adverse to the accounts at all.  The limits are just worthless @ $1500 / $5500 with high APR's. I tend to PIF most of the time but, when I need a big purchase I grab the lower rate / higher limit cards under 10% APR for extended payments.

[Chris679]

I have also gone 12 months or so w/o usage on many of my cards with no problems. I usually use them pretty heavily during the intro period though so they have a solid history.

[snoopycr]

To keep my cards active, I grab all of them when I go to the gas station. And put $10 on each card. and pay in full every month.

At an automated pump, you don't get dirty looks from cashiers for charging a few bucks on each card.