If you haven’t heard already, several large credit card issuers (Chase, Washington Mutual, Citibank, Capital One, HSBC) are currently closing millions of consumers’ credit cards without prior warning due to inactivity. This is their legal right, but it can also negatively affect your credit score. Here’s why and some steps that you can do about it:
How Can Closed Credit Cards Affect My Credit Score?
FICO has previously revealed the following breakdown of factors considered in credit scoring. We can also read between the lines of the questions asked by the free FICO Score Estimator by myFICO.
Capacity used. This simply means how much of your available credit you are using, sometimes referred to as utilization ratio. A lower ratio is better, either by lower balances or higher credit limits. If you’re maxed out on all your cards, obviously that’s not a good sign. Logically, closing credit cards means you have less available credit.
Length of credit history and past credit applications. To be specific, not the only length of your oldest line, but also the average age of all your accounts matters. In addition, you’ll have less need for new credit applications if you can keep your existing purchasing power.
Closed by creditor or consumer? A lesser concern is whether the account is marked as “closed by creditor” as opposed to “closed at consumer’s request”. Since FICO doesn’t release the details of their scoring algorithm, it is still debated whether this matters to the numeric score. Some credit repair experts say it does, others disagree. However, if someone does a manual review of your credit report, it can raise some questions as to why the account was closed by the lender.
How To Protect Your Credit Score
Okay, so we’ve established that just waiting for our inactive cards to be canceled can be bad. So what should we do about it? Here’s an action plan:
- Gather up or make a list of all your credit cards. I have mine in a spreadsheet – it is a pretty long list! Misplaced some? Grab your free report from the official AnnualCreditReport.com, which should list them all.
- Rank them according to importance to your credit score. From above, we see that credit cards with high limits and long histories are the best. Newer credit cards with low limits are least important.
- Start using the important ones! If you have a cell phone or cable bill, chances are that they accept credit cards. Not only that, but you can use multiple charges across multiple cards. I spent 20 minutes just charging $5-$10 to my Sprint bill across about 8 different cards to put some activity on them. Start from the most important card onwards.
- Consider canceling the rest. If you have a newer card with a low limit that you don’t ever plan on using again (just wanted the sign-up bonus?), it may actually help your score to simply cancel it. This way, it will also show as “closed by consumer”.
Make sure that it has a zero balance first, otherwise you make be stuck with penalties or your credit limit will be lowered to your balance amount, jacking up your utilization percentage and hurting your score.
I was too late for two Chase accounts and one Washington Mutual account I mentioned before, but I ended up closing a few cards preemptively and put some activity on the rest. All in all, perhaps this worked out for the best. Don’t we all want less clutter for the new year? 🙂
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Credit cards as we know them are dead.
After actions like these from banks people will be more cautious about getting credit cards.
In the long run is a lose-win proposition (win for consumers).
Sure it might help the banks in the short term but they will never be the same about credit cards.
Regarding the whole “closed by consumer” debate. Citi closed an account of mine late last year, and I had just recently gotten my credit report to review. Interestingly enough, it shows that it was “closed by consumer.” I assume yours from Chase and WAMU show up as closed by lender?
Citi just sent me a letter saying they’re closing one of my accounts due to inactivity at the end of the month. Think if I call them & beg to leave it open and that I’ll use they’ll budge? It had a 15k limit 🙁
I had one Citi and one Chase card closed on me due to inactivity. I went through my other inactive cards and made a small purchase (an MP3 from Amazon) just to have some activity.
I like my >800 FICO. I haven’t had any of my CC limits decreased, but I want to preserve my low utilization ratio and history of on-time payments. Can’t have record of on-time payments w/o activity on multiple cards, eh?
I find it odd that your credit score is based on how much credit you have, but dont use… its like saying we want you to have the ability to put yourself into debt up to your eyeballs, but not actually do it… if you have that much rope, but dont hang yourself, then we will give you more rope.
FICO should reward you having a small number of cards, maintaining 0 balance, and making on-time payments and additional payments towards the auto or mortgage debt you may have. Having too much available credit vs income should be included as a factor as well.
Question to our fearless blog leader…
Did the $25K in credit card debt at 0% interest hurt your FICO scores during your home purchase, and thus cost you on your home interest rate?
I recently got letters from both Chase and Citi about closing my accounts due to inactivity. I called both and they were able to move the credit limits from those cards that have been closed already to cards that are still active. In this way, I didn’t lose my overall credit limit. If you get such a letter, I think you can call them as well. It isn’t too late.
I keep a spreadsheet too, and also note any special benefits that make the card worth keeping. E.g., I keep the Capital One card because it has no currency exchange fee, and I keep the WaMu card for the free credit reports. Sometimes it’s worth keeping cards for reasons other than FICO.
I have a capital one credit card that I’ve probably only used once in the past year. Sounds like that will be getting closed. It doesn’t really concern me that much. I don’t need it.
good advice. i am going to do the same thing with my credit cards as well.
So oddly, it would appear if you petitioned all your credit card companies to have a higher limit, that it would help your credit score… (Although, if they did some sort of hard pull, it might hurt?)
I thought I also heard that length of account doesn’t matter if there isn’t regular activity… could be wrong on that one. I wonder if after a certain point (say 5 years) the benefit to your score maxes out.
At the end of the day, I heard a FICO rep say in a radio broadcast once that it NEVER helps your credit score to close an account, and it can possibly hurt it.
I’m looking to buy a house, so I’m interested in protecting my credit score at the moment…
The fact that Warren Buffett has a FICO score of 718 should be alarming… This score affects my ability to get a job, a house, etc. and I should be able to know how it is computed.
I wish someone who was turned down for a home loan could sue FICO to find out the formula. In much the same way that people who have DWIs have sued the makers of breathalyzers to get the source code and manufacturing specs. If you are being punished, you have the right to know why.
WaMu already canceled my card. I knew that was a possibility but decided I didn’t care enough to use the card. Capital One is my oldest card though so I suppose I should use it for something to keep it open.
I have had Chase and BOA cancel un-used cards on me in past 2 months. Citi lowered my credit line on one of my five cards. I really can’t blame them — I mean why wouldn’t they want to give the credit to someone else who actually uses the cards? They need to free up credit for new people. I definitely have way more cards than I need.
On the plus side, this means I’m free to open up new credit cards with them now and maybe get some of the new card bonuses again. I would like to check my credit though — I wonder if I’m below 800 now. I only use two cards, one gas rewards card, one college 529 (u-promise) card. Maybe I should change off a bit but I like things simple. I should take the 30 cards I have and stick each one on a day of the calendar, then use that one for the day (ha ha). But it would be great for my credit score.
Thanks for the tips. I’ve had a couple limits decreased and one or two cards closed on me for no apparent reason except inactivity.
I’ve already had a card or two closed on me in the last few months, I have one I need to use but I’ll have to find the card first! It’s my oldest account and has had no activity for years, it would be a bad one to lose.
Not to be cynical here, but I wonder if the CCs are doing this knowing it makes credit scores lower to then pave the way for them to charge you higher rates….. WHO would think they would do that …naugh…… 🙂
so my credit score is a good 50+ pts higher than Buffet.
at least I have something on him.
My Capital One card was just cancelled due to inactivity. It was my oldest card; I got it when I was about 18 years old (I’m 24 now).
My next card was probably a year or two after. I hope this doesn’t affect me too badly.
I only checked one credit bureau, and one of them says “closed by creditor” while others don’t say anything at all. The rest don’t seem to have reported to the bureau.
Denis – I had no luck with talking with WaMu or Chase after getting the inactive letter, but I did have luck with Citi. They said if I used it within 30 days it would stay open.
ChrisMR – Our mortgage loan was small enough that my wife qualified for it all in her name and income. So my credit score (although they checked it and said i was fine as well as an initial screen) was not even needed for the loan. I don’t know if it would have turned out to be an issue if it was sent all the way through underwriting.
PFR – Moving credit limits before closing is a good idea, if possible. By the time I got my Chase letter, the cards were already closed!
ThePessimist – Also a good point. Most of my good rewards cards get used regularly anyways, but also only use my Capital One for occasional international travel. No fees + 1% back is nice.
slightly off topic question here. Jonathan, I see above you say your wife qualified for the mortgage on her own, without your credit score being involved. I assume that means you are not listed on the mortgage but you are listed on title? Is that correct?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of setting it up that way? What if you buy a property with someone who you’re not married to? It seems a little risky to the person who is solely on the hook for the mortgage, but good for the person who is on title but not liable for the mortgage
But if you’re not on title either, then why would you do it that way? Just curious
Also, is “capacity used” – how is that figured? Lets say, I charge on avg $500/month and have a credit limit of $10K. I pay it off every month. Then, one month, I buy $5000 worth of new furniture and go to Hawaii on vacation, so I rack up $10K on the card. But I have the cash and will pay the bill when I get it. If someone were to look at my credit after I charge it but before I pay the bill, does that negatively affect my score?
I am 99.5% sure the only thing that hurts you is when you have a balance between months. All of mine showed no balance – i pay each bill in full every month.
If you charge that vacation and leave it sit there for 3 months, then it would have a negative impact.
I have a 802. I don’t do anything special. I have only a few cards and I’m not late on a payment or charge a lot. I almost never carry a balance.
I’ve grown skeptical of the cost-effectiveness of all of this. My total limit is $180k. I have $15k outstanding at 0% until May. It’s very hard to convince me to use any of these in any way. At the end of the day, my FICO around 720 entitles me to everything at the best rate, so what’s the potential gain? I’m certainly not going to use the big lines just to use them, for some FICO-in-the-sky… not until the day a truly compelling (large sums at 0% or perhaps 2% for over a year) offer comes. I’m far better off studying a new skill for my profession than futzing with this stuff. It’s good to know how it all works, but it’s better to know when to work it. cashback might interest me one day i guess. Even then, if I get 1% cash back, but the psychology of things encourages me to spend 1% more… no gain. Aside from true 0% arbitrage, I have little purpose for the whole mess.
auntie_green –
As far as I can tell, all of my card issuers report balances as of the statement date. And it’s the latest balances that are used for FICO – past balances don’t matter.
So, to your question, your FICO score would indeed go down if you maxed out your card. It would go up again when the issuer reports your paid-off balance, which would be after the next statement date. So, you’re looking at a month of reduced FICO score.
If you’re planning on applying for debt soon, and need to make heavy use of the card, you may want to pay the card off before the statement date. Since the issuer only reports the statement balance, that will keep activity from affecting your score.
I think it’s a good post, but from the comments, and as usual, I think a lot of people are over reacting. A couple of regularly used cards with a few thousand dollars in limit, is plenty to KEEP a 800+ credit score. We never keep open old accounts, we only carry 2 cards, my credit reports only shows $10k in available credit, and our FICO has largely been 750 – 820 (top tier) the last decade. BTW, 720 is an EXCELLENT score that will get you the best benefits. At some point it doesn’t matter what your score is, as long as it is 700+. Likewise, once you get in the 800s it is hard to lower that score with stuff like this. Stop paying on time, and that’s another story.
This is something to be more concerned about if you are early in the credit building process though, for sure. Having 15 years of credit, and a mortgage, I can’t say I am concerned. We just had one card closed that we were going to close anyway. Saved us the hassle. 😀
Do you think this applies to store cards as well?
Well, apparently, using your credit card doesn’t help either. I purchased something on an AmEx card to keep it alive. While they didn’t close my account, they did lower my credit limit from $20,000 to $500 one day later!
Do you know the effect of an opt-out credit card closing? Citi recently bumped the interest rate on one my cards from 9.9% fixed to 10.99% plus prime. I called and opted out, which essentially means opting out of having the card, and so the card will close upon expiration.
Mike – that’s really crazy. I’ve never heard of such a reduction. I wonder if they think that if someone starts using a card out of the blue that it means they just lost their job and will start needing to live on credit?
Hi All,
It may be little out of topic, but do you guys have any service for Indentity theft Protection/ Credit Monitoring and FIKO score checking?
I searched this forum and did not find any topic with it.
Please let me know…
Thanks
What would happen if you left a permanent positive balance of $5 on these cards? Would credit companies still be able to close them? Would they simply cut you a check, or would they be unable to close them due to the non-zero balance?
My Chase Visa was just closed due to inactivity. Is there anything that can be done to reverse this decision. Calling doesn’t help as I’ve talked to “supervisors” who are useless. I’m trying to buy a house so I don’t want my credit score to drop.
How am I who doesn’t carry a balance the one getting screwed here in all this credit crisis? Didn’t JPMorgan Chase recieve federal bailout money? Basically they took my tax money and screwed me.
I had a 20,000 AmEx dropped to 500 also, soon thereafter they canceled that account and one other. I have not lost my job etc, in fact just received a huge raise.
I called since it was my oldest card but it could not be reinstated
Too bad for them I guess, I will bring my $ elsewhere
I called Citi and they said the account will be closed no matter what but the customer service manager recommended I request the account to be closed so it wouldn’t hurt my credit score as much, so I did. I will begin to use some of the cards that I’ve abandoned to prevent this from happening again.
I haven’t used the card in 2 years and waiting to use it when my business picked up. I almost threw out a letter by Capitol One recently. They letter will close my account due to inactivity. I called, request that I have it closed. I hope that doesn’t effect my credit rating too much.
I request for it to be open but they said it can not be reversed as it’s “automatic”. I had the card for at least 5 years. Bummer! Credit card company have too much power over us, they need to be watched more carefully by us and Washington DC.
i read several comments about people needing spreadsheets to keep track of there credit cards, how stupid is it to have so many cards you need to write them down to keep track of them all? i have 1 credit card i never use except in extreme emergency’s, ive never had a checking acount or a debit card, good ol hard cash works just fine, and the last time it was checked my credit score was 815. throw all them cards away you dont need them.
We use one credit card for everything and pay it off each month. Had a GMAC card that had not had a balance for years, but kept it because it had an amount that would come off a GM vehicle if I purchased. They send me a letter saying they were reducing the credit line to 500 dollars. So I called to cancel and they tried to keep me by offering to take the credit line to 5000 dollars if I would keep the card. So was this a ploy to get me to use the card. I cancelled it anyway.
This is just the typical credit card trap that the average American has had to put up with. All the rules are in favor of the lending campanies and the consumers ge screwed. I don’t have a MBA or any other kind of financial degree. I’m just an average Joe that due to life circumstances got in over my head with credit card debt. Now I can’t seem to get out of it at all. The Credit Card companies won’t work with me in any reasonable way (lower interest rate), all they know how to do is harass me and my family 24-7 for money i don’t have when they want it. I am trying to avoid banckruptcy because I believe in paying my bills. It is hard though, to catch up on credit cards that have interest rates from 28% all the way to 43% (Discover).
I did everything right and….
I have maintained my credit score for 4 years at around 765-780
I was never late on a payment
I often paid over the minimum
I opened a business and instead of taking out a small biz loan I used credit cards…. mistake
Paid off some cards and left the balance at 0
Chase closed that card due to inactivity. (8 months)
When that showed up on my credit report my line of credit said “uh oh” and lowered my line of credit to $7,000 and maxed that line out
When my credit score dipped from that, a 23,000 card I had lowered their limit to my $9,000 balance and I am now completely maxed out!
I can’t run my business and I took a remaining $3,000 left on one card and put it in the bank. Since my credit score is now in the 600’s and I have over $1,000 due each month on my remaining credit cards I will save over $1,000 per month by not paying my credit card debt. Since none of it is secured by collateral and they have ruined my hard earned good credit….. let them sue me along with the other 1.8 million people they closed accounts on in just this last week. How does that help the financial institutions I want to know!!!? And according to one of my clients he would hate to see rich people have to spread the wealth around…. How about just a little bail out for us who have to go out of business?
Any advice?
Hah, american express did the same thing to me. Used my card after a few months of inactivity and then the next day they cut my limit down to $500. Then I paid off the recent charge and closed the account forget them
I work in the financial (not credit card) industry and we are hearing a lot of bad stories about American Express cutting credit lines and otherwise hassling their oldest and best customers. This is sort of strange because previously, they had been regarded as the best CC outfit in the business. We’re also hearing lots of anecdotes about credit lines in general being pulled or cut by most issuers as many analysts are forecasting increasing default rates for all lending companies as the unemployment/ foreclosure statistics continue to rise.
Just paid off a high balance credit card with BoA. Once the account was $0, they closed it. Go Figure…
Had a credit card with B of A that I used for all my monthly purchases, then paid the full balance. They closed it without notice.
Werid, I just keep having my fixed rate APR’s go up DRAMATICALLY and be switched from fixed to variable. So I’m opting out of all of them, which means the card closes. I still would love to know, if anyone here knows, how that will effect my credit score.
BOA closed my 11 year old credit card without notice. I had the card for 7 years (when it was an MBNA card) before I the first time I used it. I called BOA to request that they reopen the card because of its age. They did.
Today, I called Chase trying to get a balance transfer of 10K before I have to pay back my $20K on another card with them (why take any money out of HSBC Direct for even a day? 🙂 ). The first associate I talked to rejected my balance transfer request and said due to the review on my account, she would be closing 3 inactive accounts and decreasing my credit limit on the card I have the $20K out on. I tried arguing but the associate held firm.
I called back later and spoke with someone else who reinstated my accounts and pushed through the balance transfer. Thankfully this associate understood when I told her about my revolving credit lines totaling 100K, which includes 35K with a competitor, and my excellent credit score.
Anyway, the moral of this story is to 1) use your cards and 2) don’t initiate anything that would require an immediate account review because once they see your “risky” account, they will attempt to reduce their risk ASAP which means slashing credit limits and cards outstanding!
This is a great site – good blogs. The information is crucial in today’s environment, and sharing stories like the ones above let’s people know they are not alone when it comes to how creditors are treating their card holders. Bottom line, as we’ve read above in Jame’s comment, the key is to be persistent. If the first representative gives attitude, hang up and call back. I see my clients successfully renegotiate terms with their creditors all the time!
I’m really interested by all this and run a purchasing card program for an organisation where I’d like to rationalise / cut back the number of staff holding cards. Can anyone copy and paste me the text that Chase (or Citi etc) use when writing to cardholders informing them that their cards are due to be cancelled for low usage? I’d really appreciate it and save me writing a letter template from scratch.
You say that it may help my credit score to cancel the low-limit, newer cards. Doesn’t this hurt our score by lowering our debt utilization (by lowering the overall amount of possible credit)? If I close my $1000 limit card, it’ll up my overall debt utilization percentage, right?
Just a little confused! Thanks!
Chase just sent me a letter on cancelling a 10+yr old cc I had that I had not used in about 5 yrs…. No warning. Date of letter was July 2, got it 9th or 10th. I imagine I had until 7/1 to try to beat them at claiming it was inactive…. Letter said, “It appears this card no longer fit my financial needs”. They said it will be reported to the credit bureau in 60 days. Will be curious to see how that effects my score.
Also, at work they are cancelling Amex cards that have not been used in the past year. Not sure if this is company initiated or Amex…
i got a huge problem with this. i am living overseas and cant use my cards. i might actually use it if it wasnt for the dam 3% charge. i dont even have my cards with me. i dont go back to the states very often either, 3 of my cards have already been canceled, and more to come. alot of them had been opened for years, many with high limits. i just had one canceled with a $3600 limit because i hadnt used it in 8 months. some credit card companies are saying they will close accounts after 2-3 months. sounds ridiculous to me. i used to go years without ever using them, because i was away a lot.
It may very well effect your score. Having a card closed will lower the total available credit a person has, and also will reduce the total time all of your credit accounts have been open. All the cards times are added up and averaged together and that equals the time you have been a credit card consumer. Over 10 years is where you want to be and where the banks don’t want you to be. The closure will show that the issuer not you the consumer cancelled the card, this however makes no difference in direct scoring, so it does not matter who closes it. So, basically it will show up on your report as a closed account that is positive and under the pays as agrees category. However your overall averaged time as a credit card customer will obviously go down and so will the total available credit limit, both of which will cause your future updated credit report to drop slightly! Finally there is nothing you can do to reverse this, and Chase will be closing accounts that used to be Providian, and Wamu. Many of which were both very high interest accounts as well as risk. This I know because it happened to me without warning. HSBC is slashing limits rather than closing accounts, as well as Citi… One thing you can do is “piggy back” someone like a parent who has long and good history. If said person adds you as an authorized user to their longest, largest credit card its history will be averaged into yours! Not only stopping the time and limit you are losing from your closure but making BOTH much better depending on the hosts history! ALL responsible parents should add young adult children to their existing accounts rather than letting them open their own sky high college labeled and stinky credit cards they will inevitable be offered. It is the only way to start your credit career on a good positive note, all others must get ripped off a lot early on to build a positive history!
I have a problem that I hope someone can help me with. I have in total, 10 credit cards, but I’m pretty sure that I have a good credit score because I make my payments in full and on time every time. 10 credit cards… yea I know. But in my defense, 8 of these credit cards are department store cards (Nordstrom, Macys, etc) and I only opened them to get the sign-up discounts. I probably only use the Nordstrom and Macys credit cards now and then, but only because I feel like I shouldn’t leave them inactive. But as for the rest of the cards… I don’t really use them because it’s not like I shop at those specific stores all the time and even when I do, I forget and use my debit card instead. The two major credit cards that I use is my Wells Fargo one and my Chase South West card, which I use the most because of the points. So now I am in a pickle. I really just want to stick with one credit card, but I have the other 9 looming over me. I don’t want the credit card companies to close my accounts because my cards go inactive because I know that will hurt my FICO score. But I don’t want to cancel my cards because I know THAT will hurt my score as well. It’s like… there’s no win-win situation. What the heck should I do?!?!?
I just found out HSBC just closed my account. I had paid the balance in full April so my score would go up. I’ve been using cash a lot and come to find out they closed the account due to no activity. Unbelievable! You cannot win for losing with these guys. How sad it has become that they have this much control over our purchasing power. Scary!! I am anxious to see how they report it on the credit report. Do I have any recourse with these guys?
it is completely bs that the credit card companies say that inactivity leads to fraud. in fact, inactivity protects us from fraud because if we never activate the credit card, it cant be used. this was what i used to do, but by forcing us to use our cards once a year, we have to activate the card, leaving it vulnerable to people getting a hold of it the rest of the year. in fact, the more we use our cards, the more likely people are to get our numbers. ive always had credit card companies call me up saying that there is fraud on my account, when in fact each time, it is me that is using it. however, on those rare occasions that my credit card info was actually stolen, the credit card companies did nothing to prevent or stop them. ive had my credit card info stolen a few times. one time, a guy bought $5000 worth of stuff at home depot. another time, someone charged a few thousand in australia. one time, a thief used my card to buy hundreds of dollars in jewlery. theyve never spent a little on the cards. the worst experience i had was when i rented a car from apple rent a car in los angeles, and the owner actually charged me $1000 claiming that i had burnt his seat. he even sent in photos of a burnt seat when i had done nothing to it. the credit card company was not so keen to call that fraud. it is just ridiculous when my credit card company calls me up and says there might be fraud on my card when i have bought something for $8. the staff just dont use their common sense and are completely useless. of course when you have a serious question about your account, they never seem to have the answer.
I just had 2 Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) cards closed due to inactivity. One of them was the first card I opened once I turned 18, I am now 21. The other took out a good chunk of my available credit.
This is a bummer because I always keep on top of my score, have never paid late once, and always pay in full each month. I use my CitiCard for everything because of the lower rate than the 2 old cards and because of the ThankYou network point system is infinitesimally better than the one Wachovia offered.
Now I guess I’m in the market to open a new card to replenish my available credit. (Or increase my Citi limit when they offer it to me again) At the moment I’m down to my one card. I’ve been considering a no-fee AMEX for purchases at Costco etc.
Any ideas guys on how to go about this the best way?
Thanks!
adding your kids to your credit card account isnt such a good idea. if the kid ends up with debt, that will affect the parents credit. credit cards will link credit scores to authorised users. that will then open a dispute between the child and parent. that relationship is more important than some stupid credit card. as someone said before, credit cards will never be the same. one of these days we will look back and say, “when i was 19, with no job, i got offered a credit card with $5000”. something completely unheard of today.
Is there anything we can do if an account is closed?