I got a letter from a credit card company today, one that I'd forgotten I even had. Since I haven't used my card in 2 years, they decided I didn't need it and cancelled me. My first thought was "Oh no, that one had a really high balance. What if I get into trouble and need to use it to get by until I get another permanent job?". Then I realized that would have had to be really desperate before (a) I even realized the card was there to use, and (b) I went into credit card debt on another card. The three I have are bad enough.
Reading Missy's blog about how closing a credit card account might affect her credit score, I was wondering the same thing. I checked ours a month or so ago when there was some free deal to check, but don't you normally have to pay to check it? And, each time you check it, does it record it as an inquiry?
They cancelled me! Credit score question
December 13th, 2008 at 05:20 am
December 13th, 2008 at 05:32 am 1229146321
December 13th, 2008 at 06:03 am 1229148204
I didn't know that closing an account could negatively affect credit scores, but since we just got approved for a refinance, I don't think it had much of an impact, if any.
December 13th, 2008 at 08:06 am 1229155605
December 13th, 2008 at 02:06 pm 1229177164
December 13th, 2008 at 02:58 pm 1229180313
Credit scores you must pay for. They usually cost about $15 if you order them alone, as opposed to getting the score with an ongoing monitoring service.
Yes, if they closed the card out due to prolonged inactivity, it could adversely affect your credit score since the credit bureaus look at what percentage of your overall available credit you use. Once you close out one credit card, that lowers your overall available credit.
This is why experts recommend that you don't close out credit cards you don't use; use them once every few months just to keep their status "active."
December 13th, 2008 at 07:10 pm 1229195431
The card was one that I'd thought about closing before, since I never used it anymore, but just hadn't gotten around to it. They made my decision for me.
December 13th, 2008 at 10:15 pm 1229206553
Anyway, my credit score has dropped significantly. Like around 70 pts. Oh well, hopefully I won't need it.
December 14th, 2008 at 01:42 am 1229218947