How to cancel Capitol One account

[senseidab]

I just opened a Capitol One account they have yet to report it the the Credit Agencies. I have a small balance I want to payoff immeadiatly and close the account (heard nothing but bad things) Can I close it before they even report it open?    TY

[Migraine]

IMO,I would keep it open even if you don't make any purchases.Just keep the balance very close to being paid in full & make your payments timely & at least the minimum.

A phone call to Capitol letting them know the sole purpose is to raise your score may prompt the office to report it in good standing.~Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

I agree.  I'd keep it to build history and a good ut and payment record.

[senseidab]

The only thing im really concerned about is they don't report credit limits....will this make my score drop?

[Anonymous]

What you have to do (and this is the ONLY time I recommend charging a card to anywhere near its limit) is to charge the card to within about $30 of the CL, and wait for the balance to be reported. This high balance will then be reported as the credit limit. Then immediately pay the card down to below 10% utilization.

You will take a minor, one-time hit to FICO for doing this, but as soon as you pay down and your new balance is reported to the CRAs, your FICO should recover.

I'm waiting for my CL to reach $500 before I bother with this...no sense going through it to report a CL of $270 or so.

[Anonymous]

senseidab,

PIF the Cap 1 card. Either shred it or make sure you don't let even a $1 balance float each month. Allowing it to sit on your report with a $0 balance will give you some FICO score love over time. Closing it will gain you nothing from where you are today as it's exceedingly unlikely they won't report it even if you close it today.

Cap 1 claims they are gonna start reporting balances this year, but the glaciers are also getting closer. It's a race to see which comes first.

If I'm pleasantly surprised and they start reporting balances, then they are likely to see an increase in the number of apps and their standards for issuing might rise. It's not like you're getting in on the ground floor of a golden opportunity, but I think you're better off to let the card sit on your report.

[Anonymous]

Capital one Cards have not helped my credit any- they do not report the credit limit so no matter what the balance is on the card- maxed out or $10 it does not make a difference.  Not sure why Cap One does not report credit limit but it does not help with scores.

[Anonymous]

I have a cap one card with a 2500 CL.........  I took a drop in fico score when they first reported and I was furious as my sole purpose for opening the card was to help raise my score.  I called to see what happened and was told that the drop took place because the card looked to be maxed out since the CL wasn't being reported.  So I had to play the game. I ran the card up to $2400 and paid it down to $200. That is the only way to win with a CAP 1 CC.

[Nick777]

I'm not sure about that, but in my experience, Capital One has been good to me. Even though my interest rate is higher with that card and they are more hesitant to raise credit lines than Amex, I use the card to pay a storage bin bill automatically. Keeping the card over time, even to just have 1 bill automatically paid, will help your score. Also, keeping the % charged on the card will help your overall credit-debt ratio. On the other hand, depending on the length of your other credit accounts, and the number of them, adding a new account will decrease the average time you held an account for. I recommend reading up on the scoring methods and examining your report to find your best choice. -Nick

[Anonymous]

In doing what I mentioned in my previous post, this allowed me to use the CAP 1 card to my benefit. The high balance of 2400 is being reported and a balance of $200 is less than 10% utilization. the fico score module is using my high balance in the place of the credit limit that Cap 1 doesn't report.