Closing Credit Card Accounts – Taking The Proper Steps To Protect Your Credit Rating
Closing Credit Card Accounts - Taking The Proper Steps To Protect Your Credit Rating
If you have one or more credit card accounts you would like to close,
make certain to take the correct steps in order to protect your credit
rating. You will need to pay off the balance on any credit card
accounts you wish to close. Notify the credit card company by
phone to confirm that you have a zero balance. If you alert the credit
card company that you wish to cancel while you still have an
outstanding balance, your interest rate could rise dramatically.
After you are certain you have a zero balance, let the credit card
company know that you are closing your account. Most credit card
companies will try to convince you not to close your account by
offering you lower interest rates and/or rewards in an attempt to keep
you as a customer. You may or may not want to keep the credit
card depending on the offers you receive.
After notifying the credit card company by phone, you will need to
follow up with a letter stating that you are officially closing your
account. Send the letter by certified mail so that you will be
able to prove the company received the letter. You will need to
wait 30 days, after which you should check your credit report to make
sure your account has been closed. Occasionally a credit bureau
will list closed accounts as being closed by the creditor and not by
the customer. If your credit report states that the issuer closed
your account, it could reflect badly upon your credit score.
Unless your credit report states that your account was closed upon your
request, you will need to notify both the issuer of the credit card and
the credit bureaus in writing to correct this mistake.
