Closing credit cards

[Lakewood90712]

I have a business credit card that was issued to my Dad's family trust ( using my credit and personal guarantee ). The rental units we used it for are long gone, the trust is settled, so technically the the trust is no longer. Not used in about 2 years , so I assume they may close it soon.

Any thoughts on asking the issuer to change the business name, to a small business I may be re-starting , keeping the same account number , and credit history? The account is about 5 years old.

It's my personal credit that was used to open it.

 

[Fedup]

I took the hit and closed a bunch of credit cards, I was nervous of fraud. It did go down temporarily, but now it's at an all time high.


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[Al in Ohio]

I highly recommend you close out all cc that you aren't finding that you use or need. Just call the number on the back and ask it be closed out. It only takes 5 mins. Then shred the card. Don' t just shred the card and leave it open. Your doing it to simplify your finances and lower your risk of fraud. Folks who worry about credit score are folks with credit worries. If you have not had to worry about credit score before, I wouldn't give it a thought now. Closing multiple cards same day wouldn't be a concern from those with good credit.


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[audreyh1]

I highly recommend you close out all cc that you aren't finding that you use or need. Just call the number on the back and ask it be closed out. It only takes 5 mins. Then shred the card. Don' t just shred the card and leave it open. Your doing it to simplify your finances and lower your risk of fraud.

Why? If you aren't using the card, it's not likely to be compromised. And it won't impact your current finances. They can be handy as a back up if something happens temporarily to a regularly used card.

 

[Al in Ohio]

Why? If you aren't using the card, it's not likely to be compromised. And it won't impact your current finances. They can be handy as a back up if something happens temporarily to a regularly used card.

You leave open the opportunity for the cards to be lost or stolen. Also you might tend to forget to check on the account balance and in the meantime it can be discovered from insecure databases and then actively used before you discover the fraud has been ongoing. And all for what? You should have one backup card, not several that have gone dormant.


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[Sunset]

You leave open the opportunity for the cards to be lost or stolen. Also you might tend to forget to check on the account balance and in the meantime it can be discovered from insecure databases and then actively used before you discover the fraud has been ongoing. And all for what? You should have one backup card, not several that have gone dormant............

No, you simply have them send you notifications via email like your regular CC accounts, so you would know if anything was charged on it.
I don't have any paper statements mailed as those can be swiped out of the mailbox.

I'll cancel a CC if they are going to charge an annual fee I don't want to pay, otherwise I keep it.

My Credit score is over 800, and I don't worry about it but enjoy the benefits of low auto insurance, fantastic CC offers, great Bank offers, etc.

 

[audreyh1]

You leave open the opportunity for the cards to be lost or stolen. Also you might tend to forget to check on the account balance and in the meantime it can be discovered from insecure databases and then actively used before you discover the fraud has been ongoing. And all for what? You should have one backup card, not several that have gone dormant.


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Not really. The cards you are actively using are much more likely to be lost or stolen. Those are the ones that will show up on databases. If the inactive card is put in a secure place and rarely used it's unlikely that it will magically show up in some insecure database.

Monitoring for fraudulent charges is pretty easy if you set up email alerts and get notified of statements ready/payments due.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

I have always closed several at a time. But another way is to close one a year. The effect should be very mild doing that. I don't like credit cards so I have them set up to pay my insurance once a year. That way 95% of the time I am not messing with them.

 

[big-papa]

I did a trade. While signing onto my credit union account, a popup appeared telling me I was eligible to increase my credit limit. I clicked yes. A couple of days later, my credit limit doubled. I then took one of my credit cards whose limit was about the same as the increase I got from the credit union and cancelled it online. Total credit limit across all of my remaining cards stayed about the same.

 

[utrecht]

As I stated earlier I opened 2 credit cards that I use for a small business which were quickly close to maxed out. Between that and several hard credit checks for vehicles and the credit cards my credit dropped from a bit over 800 to 690 or so.

The business could easily pay the cards off but they are interest free for the first year. My credit utilization was at 28% due to these 2 cards. I decided to pay them off to see what happened. I just checked Credit Karma and my credit utilization dropped to 6% and my credit score jumped to 799. Its hard to believe my score would jump 100 pts just from that. My previous 28% was listed as good.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

As I stated earlier I opened 2 credit cards that I use for a small business which were quickly close to maxed out. Between that and several hard credit checks for vehicles and the credit cards my credit dropped from a bit over 800 to 690 or so.

The business could easily pay the cards off but they are interest free for the first year. My credit utilization was at 28% due to these 2 cards. I decided to pay them off to see what happened. I just checked Credit Karma and my credit utilization dropped to 6% and my credit score jumped to 799. Its hard to believe my score would jump 100 pts just from that. My previous 28% was listed as good.

When a person maxes out two cards that drops a score a lot. I just had a hard pull fall off my report that bumped me up 11 points.

 

[utrecht]

I have 10 hard pulls my report. They are for a variety of legitimate reasons but one is from Pentagon Fed Credit Union. They did a hard pull when we sold our house and paid off the mortgage. That makes no sense to me? Now its stuck there for 2 years.

 

[Lakewood90712]

I have 10 hard pulls my report. They are for a variety of legitimate reasons but one is from Pentagon Fed Credit Union. They did a hard pull when we sold our house and paid off the mortgage. That makes no sense to me? Now its stuck there for 2 years.

Some hard pulls , like several when buying / leasing a vehicle or a home loan should be considered as one. It might be worth getting the credit rating agencies to look at that, and conform to their own rules.

 

[utrecht]

Agreed. One of the credit bureaus shows 7 and one shows 10, because they didnt consolidate similar hard pulls (like 3 for the same vehicle we bought). But why would a lender do a hard pull of my credit when all I was doing was paying off my mortgage?

 

[Lakewood90712]

Agreed. One of the credit bureaus shows 7 and one shows 10, because they didnt consolidate similar hard pulls (like 3 for the same vehicle we bought). But why would a lender do a hard pull of my credit when all I was doing was paying off my mortgage?

A hard pull when paying off a loan, that is really bizarre. maybe it's s.o.p. they automatically try and pitch a re-fi to you. I thought hard pulls require your authorization. I would fight that one.

 

[utrecht]

How do you fight something like that?

 

[mpeirce]

I honestly have never checked my credit score and don't care very much what it is.

I have no intention of ever taking out a loan, though I do understand it can have some impact on insurance costs.

I do check my annual free credit report to make sure there isn't odd activity on it.

 

[Bflotomny]

Since I made my initial thread I have learned from a review of my credit report of a AE credit card issued by my employer over 10 years ago that is still on my report. I no longer have the card and the company doesn't exist today. It was sold twice or three times since I left. I spoke with AE and they confirmed that the card wasn't directly theirs by the first 5 numbers on the card. They explained that the card was issued by a company for the use by employees.
So here I sit with a card with a $20,000 limit that I can't use or get off my report.

 

[Sunset]

Since I made my initial thread I have learned from a review of my credit report of a AE credit card issued by my employer over 10 years ago that is still on my report. I no longer have the card and the company doesn't exist today. It was sold twice or three times since I left. I spoke with AE and they confirmed that the card wasn't directly theirs by the first 5 numbers on the card. They explained that the card was issued by a company for the use by employees.
So here I sit with a card with a $20,000 limit that I can't use or get off my report.

Why should there be a card number from a company that is gone, so weird.
That card must have been re-issued during the past decade so this could be an issue.
Report the card stolen/lost and you don't want a replacement.