Regardless of your reasons for canceling a credit card, you must take the right steps at the right time. Neglecting to do so could complicate your situation, leading to financial stress in the near future.
Above all else, you need to pay off any remaining balance. Once you do this, you can then move forward at your own pace.
From there, here are several other steps to take:
• Notify your credit card company by phone.
• Follow up your phone call by sending a letter to your credit card company.
• Request a copy of your credit report to ensure that your card was canceled and everything is as it should be.
What Will the Credit Card Company Say?
Remember this: you have the right to cancel your credit card as long as it has a zero balance. You don’t have to leave your account open.
However, it’s common for credit card companies to “turn on the sales machine” once you tell them you want to close your account. They don’t want you to do so, as this means less money for them.
It is not uncommon for a credit card company to offer a variety of benefits in exchange for keeping your account open, such as a lower interest rate, an upgrade to a platinum account, or a chunk of reward points.
As tempting as it may be to take advantage of the offer, think about what you are doing. After all, you wanted to cancel the credit card for a reason. What’s changed?
If the time comes to cancel a credit card account, you can follow these steps in order to put the process in the past sooner rather than later.