How to Cancel a Credit Card. Cancelling a credit card is not as easy as you think it is. You cannot just wake up one particular day and decide to cancel your credit card. This is because cancelling your credit card is not as easy as cutting it in half. There are certain things that you need to put in place before you can properly cancel your credit card. These are the things we are going to be considering today when figuring out how to cancel your credit card.
How to Cancel a Credit Card
In this article, we have explained all the different steps you need to follow so that you can easily cancel your CC. I have also listed some of the things that you need to do before you even think of cancelling your credit card. It is only after you have finished doing those things that you realize you cannot think of the process of how to cancel a credit card.
Should you Cancel a Credit Card?
Before you cancel your CC, one of the questions that you need to ask yourself is: should you cancel it or keep it? If you are to go ahead and cancel a credit card, then it should be a credit card that has a high annual fee. Anyone using a debit card with a low or no annual fee should definitely keep that credit card because cancelling a credit card will definitely hurt your credit score.
There are other locations where it might be a good choice for you to cancel a credit card One of those is if you have more than one CC, you can cancel the oldest one with the highest annual fee. You can also cancel a credit card if you are always tempted to borrow more than you can pay back. This is also true if you have more than one credit card.
How to Cancel a Credit Card
Cancelling a credit card is easy, but there are certain things that you need to put in order before doing that. These constitute the steps that are involved in cancelling a credit card, which is listed below:
Pay off the remaining balance.
The first step in cancelling a credit card is to pay off any remaining balances you have on the card to make sure it has a zero balance. Without paying off the balance you have on a credit card, it is impossible to cancel it. If you cannot pay off the balance before cancelling it, you can simply consider a balance transfer to a new balance credit card with low interest.
Cancel recurring payments.
You should not cancel a credit card unless you have cancelled all reoccurring payments that are made with the card. So you have to make sure that all the recurring payments that you have set up with that card are updated to use another card instead of the one you are about to cancel. Therefore, make sure all payments that are set up to use the outcome are changed or cancelled.
Redeem my reward left
If you have been using that card for some time and you have some reward that you have saved up and have not used yet, now is the perfect time to do so. All the ones that are still remaining on the credit card that you want to cancel should all be redeemed. Cancelling a credit card where there is a reward left is not a wise decision because you will be the one to miss out on these rewards.
Call your card issuer.
After paying off all your balances, cancelling all reoccurring payments, and redeeming all the rewards that are left on the card, it is now time to contact your card issuer or bank. What you need to do is to pick up your phone and dial the number that is written on the back of your credit card to speak with a customer care representative.
Before telling them to cancel your card, ask them to double-check your account if there is any extra balance that has been left unpaid. Once they have confirmed that you have a zero balance, you cannot make known your intention of wanting to cancel your credit card. They may likely try to discourage you from cancelling it, but it is your decision, so you have to stand your ground.
Send them a cancellation letter.
A cancellation letter is to confirm to them that you are the one that made the decision to cancel your CC. Even after calling their customer care and you have spoken to a customer agent and have agreed to cancel your card, it is still necessary to send a cancellation letter. So you can simply send them a cancellation letter stating that you want to cancel your CC and your reasons for doing that.
Keep checking your credit report
After your request to cancel your CC has been accepted, it can take up to a month before your credit card is cancelled. To know that your credit card is cancelled, all you need to do is to keep checking your credit report. Once it reflects that your credit card has been cancelled, then it has been cancelled.
Destroy the credit card.
Now that your CC has been successfully cancelled and it has been reflected on your credit history, it is now time to destroy the card to prevent CC fraud with it. You can take a pair of scissors and then slice them into pieces and throw it away. If your card is made of metal, you can simply request an envelope to mail it back to the bank for destruction.
FAQs
Is it possible to cancel a credit card?
Yes, it is very much possible to cancel a CC. But before you can cancel it, there are certain things you need to put in order. You need to pay off all outstanding debt, redeem all rewards, cancel all recurring payments, and then contact your bank to cancel your CC.
Can you cancel a credit card without paying it off?
It is not advisable to cancel a CC without paying off all the outstanding balances. Even after you cancel the card, the card issuer will still continue to charge you for interest on that card, which you must pay. So you definitely need to clear off all the balances on a card before you can think of cancelling it.
Can I cancel my credit card at any time?
You can definitely cancel your CC anytime you like. However, you need to pay off all the balances before cancelling them. On the other hand, your card issuer can also decide to cancel your CC at any time they like.
