Even if it might appear easy, closing a credit card requires careful execution to prevent any possible problems. Here’s a thorough tutorial on how to cancel a credit card, regardless of whether you’re looking to reduce the number of cards in your wallet or have found a better one that meets your needs:
- Check the Amount You Still Owe: Make sure you’ve settled all balances before cancelling your credit card. Paying up all outstanding balances is essential to prevent interest and late payment penalties from building up.
- Redeem Any Rewards: Before cancelling your credit card account, be sure to use any rewards points or cashback that you may have accrued. Verify the amount of your rewards and use them by the card issuer’s specified redemption choices.
- Speak with Customer Support: Speak with the credit card issuer’s customer care division. Usually, their contact details are located on your monthly statements or on the reverse of your credit card. Tell them you’re planning to cancel the credit card.
- Verify Account Details: To confirm your identification, the customer support agent will probably ask you a few security questions. Have your account number, personal information, and any other information ready in case they need it to move forward with the closure.
- Request Confirmation: Get written confirmation from the representative that you are terminating your account. The account closure date and, if any, the leftover balance should be included in this confirmation. This document has to be stored in a file.
- Cut Up Your Card: Cut up your credit card into little bits and destroy it once you have confirmation of the closure. By doing this, you can be sure that you won’t use the card by accident in the future.
- Keep an Eye on Your Credit Report: In the next months, pay special attention to your credit report to make sure the closed account is appropriately reflected. Make sure there are no mistakes or inconsistencies and that the account status has been set to “closed by consumer” or “closed by request”.
- Secure Statement Disposal: To guard against fraud and identity theft, shred any old credit card statements or other documents that contain sensitive information.
- Update Automatic Payments: To prevent service interruptions or late payment fees, make sure to update any automatic payments associated with the terminated credit card with your new card or bank account information.
You can successfully close your credit card account and reduce any possible problems or adverse effects on your credit score by following these procedures. Keep track of all correspondence you have with your credit card provider for your records, and try to maintain organization throughout the process.