Do you get a warning before being closed for inactivity?

[mkhan1093]

Hey guys,

As the title says, just curious to know whether CCCs usually give you a warning before they close your card for no usage, or if they just do it out of the blue. I know the best solution is try to put a purchase on a card at least once every one or two months, but I'm just curious how long I can go and if there's any danger in it. Have a couple of minimum spends I'd like to meet but don't want to be in danger with the other cards I have.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@mkhan1093 wrote:

Hey guys,

As the title says, just curious to know whether CCCs usually give you a warning before they close your card for no usage, or if they just do it out of the blue. I know the best solution is try to put a purchase on a card at least once every one or two months, but I'm just curious how long I can go and if there's any danger in it. Have a couple of minimum spends I'd like to meet but don't want to be in danger with the other cards I have.

Thanks!

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Out of the blue is the rule.  Indeed a common refrain when someone posts about this happens to them is "... and they didn't even tell me they were going to do this!"

Every two months is way overkill if the goal is simply to prevent account closure (or even AA like a CLD).  Once every six months is more than enough.  I collect case studies of people who say card cancellation due to inactivity has happened to them.  The most aggressive were cases at 7-8 months and these were confined solely to Wells Fargo.  Almost all other cases were 13 months or later, so a person who took all his shoeboxed cards out at Christmas and used them (i.e. once every 12 months) would still be pretty darn safe.  Bear in mind that some people have major cards that they have not used for three years or more and are still open.  Store cards can stay open even longer.

Final note:

Card cancellation due to inactivity can happen much earlier than the typical 15 months or so if the card has never been used even once or (even worse) has never even been activated.  Therefore, a reasoanle part of anyone's policy when opening a new card is to activate it within a few days and then use it once fairly soon after that, e.g. within 60 days.  One of the many reasons I  not fond of store cards is that they tend to result in people buying things with them that they do not absolutely need -- on the grounds that they are "trying to build a history" or trying to keep the card from being closed.  In my opinion no one should ever buy anything with a credit card that he would not have been willing to use a debit card for.  If you do that, you are almost certainly losing money; its like paying an annual or even monthly fee.

[mkhan1093]

Wow, thanks for the informative response! Guess I should be good then for the most part

[Anonymous]

I know there are some people that have had cards in their wallet, unused, for 10-20 years without having them closed down on them.  It all depends on the lender.  I agree that every 6 months is adequate.  I'm a bit on the OCD side so I tend to swipe all of my cards every 3 months. 

I usually just use the self-checkout at the grocery store and use all of my cards (SD, whatever) once every 3 months.  I just swipe the first card, when the total comes up and says "OK" I hit "NO" and type in $10 or whatever, then do it again for another card, then another, etc. until I've swiped all of the cards.  This way I get usage on all of them in one place at one time for goods that I was going to pay for regardless and it literally takes me 1 minute total.

[Berk]

Here are my data points:

I've had 2 cards closed for inactivity in the past 10 years. I was warned in each case via email 1-3 months prior to the closing. 1 was closed for inactivity for 3 years, and 1 was closed for inactivity for 5 years. I just let them close as I never used them anyway.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Berk.  Were these major credit cards (Visa, MC, Amex, Discover) or store cards?

Also, was either card closed during the period of late 2008 through 2010?  That was a time when CC issuers closed a lot of cards due to inactivity.

[Berk]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks Berk.  Were these major credit cards (Visa, MC, Amex, Discover) or store cards?

Also, was either card closed during the period of late 2008 through 2010?  That was a time when CC issuers closed a lot of cards due to inactivity.

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One was a Kohls card that I hadn't used in 5 years and it was closed maybe 3 years ago. The other was closed last month. It was a ver low limit non rewards Visa issued by my credit union that I hadn't used in 3 years or so. 

[Anonymous]

That's in keeping with what I have seen.  Store cards can stay open but inactive a long time before an issuer decides to close them.  Major credit cards (e.g. a Visa) are closed sooner, though three years is longer than most.  My guess is that a CU that a person has had a relationship with for a long time might give you more time than a big issuer like BOA or Chase or Citi, so maybe that is why you get three years rather than 18 months (say).

I got lucky and remembered (in early 2011) to use a Chase card that I had not used in almost 3 years -- and it was my oldest card!  Somehow or other Chase let me through that period of purges and cancellations following the financial meltdown of 2008 without cancelling it