By closing a credit card account with zero balance, you're removing all of that card's available balance from the ratio, in turn, increasing your utilization percentage. The higher your balance-to-limit ratio, the more it can hurt your credit.
The standard advice is to keep unused accounts with zero balances open. The reason is that closing the accounts reduces your available credit, which makes it appear that your utilization rate, or balance-to-limit ratio, has suddenly increased.
A zero balance on a credit card reflects positively on your credit report and means you have a zero balance-to-limit ratio, also known as the utilization rate. ... If you don't use the card and have a strong credit history and credit scores, closing the account likely won't have a significant impact on your credit scores.
You can't completely close a card until the balance is paid. If you don't want any more charges accrued to the card until the balance is paid, you can contact the issuer and ask that the card be frozen until the balance is cleared and the card closed.
“There is no set time period,” writes an American Express spokeswoman. “We look at a variety of elements before ultimately closing an account.” Bank of America does not disclose an inactive card policy. Policies vary by card, in some cases ranging from six months to 13 months of inactivity.
A credit card can be canceled without harming your credit score; just remember that paying down credit card balances first (not just the one you're canceling) is key. Closing a charge card won't affect your credit history (history is a factor in your overall credit score).
Most issuers give you a grace period of ~30 days or so after the fee posts, during which you can get the fee refunded if you decide to cancel the card. Even if someone is 100% sure they're going to close their card, they should wait until a week or so after the annual fee posts to do it.
An unused card with a high annual fee that you can't afford is also generally safe to close, as is a newly opened account that you don't use. Cancelling it will have less of a negative impact on your credit score than closing an older account.
Check credit score impact
Be prepared for your credit score to take a hit when you close your account. (Photo by scyther5/Getty Images.) Closing a credit card won't immediately affect your length of credit history (worth 15% of your FICO Score) by lowering your average age of credit.
According to FICO, about 98% of “FICO High Achievers” have zero missed payments. And for the small 2% who do, the missed payment happened, on average, approximately four years ago. So while missing a credit card payment can be easy to do, staying on top of your payments is the only way you will one day reach 850.
While a 0% utilization is certainly better than having a high CUR, it's not as good as something in the single digits. Depending on the scoring model used, some experts recommend aiming to keep your credit utilization rate at 10% (or below) as a healthy goal to get the best credit score.
If you end up going through with it, you'll still need to pay off any remaining balance, and the card issuer can continue to charge you interest.
You closed your credit card. Closing a credit card account, especially your oldest one, hurts your credit score because it lowers the overall credit limit available to you (remember you want a high limit) and it brings down the overall average age of your accounts.
Banks can and do close inactive accounts. So make sure you keep your accounts active to avoid potential damage to your credit score. ... Unfortunately, you may get a letter in the mail saying the company is shutting down your credit card due to inactivity if you don't use a particular card for an extended period of time.
Although ranges vary depending on the credit scoring model, generally credit scores from 580 to 669 are considered fair; 670 to 739 are considered good; 740 to 799 are considered very good; and 800 and up are considered excellent.
Many people are surprised to learn that a closed credit card account remains on your credit report for up to 10 years if the account was in good standing when you canceled it, but only seven years if it wasn't – if, say, it was closed for missed payments.
It's generally not necessary to cancel a credit card before the annual fee comes due, which is typically at the anniversary of account opening. If a card has an annual fee, you'll pay it at the beginning of your cardmember year and have all of the relevant benefits for the rest of that year.
For starters, when you close a credit card account, you lose the available credit limit on that account. This makes your credit utilization ratio, or the percentage of your available credit you're using, jump up—and that's a sign of risk to lenders because it shows you're using a higher amount of your available credit.
The general rule is that it can be reopened within 30 days of when you closed it. Even if that timeframe has passed, it's still worth a try. Call the customer service number and explain that you want to reinstate the account you had before.
If the account has not been closed for a year or more the account can be reopened. I just had one reopened last week.
No, interest doesn't stop when you cancel a card with a remaining balance. You can do a balance transfer to a card that will offer 0% interest.
Unfortunately if you've cancelled your card, this won't necessarily stop the CPA being taken from your account and you can still be charged. The only way to cancel a recurring payment is to contact the company or your account provider and state that you wish to stop it.
A FICO® Score of 801 is well above the average credit score of 711. It's nearly as good as credit scores can get, but you still may be able to improve it a bit. More importantly, your score is on the low end of the Exceptional range and fairly close to the Very Good credit score range (740-799).