How to Close a Credit Card Account

There are many good reasons to close a credit card account, such as if you are worried about excessive spending in the future. And while this could have a negative impact on your credit score, you may still decide to move forward.

If you find that closing an account is the best option, there are some basic steps you should take:

1. Contact the appropriate party. You can find the customer service number on the back of your credit card. Furthermore, you don’t have to look any further than a monthly statement for the mailing address.

2. Use your reward points. You’re not required to do this, but you might as well take full advantage of the points you have collected. There’s a good chance you’ll lose some or all of your points if you close your account, so don’t hesitate to redeem these before you do anything else.

3. Pay off the balance in full. Remember this: you can’t completely close a credit card until the balance is zero. Your two options are as follows:

•    Pay off the balance in full.
•    Transfer the balance to another credit card, such as one with a lower introductory interest rate.

4. Send a letter. You already called your credit card company, but you should also send a cancellation letter. When doing so, request written confirmation upon receipt. You can keep this in your records, just in case you run into issues in the future.

5. Give it some time. It can take several months for your credit report to show that the account is closed. If for any reason you aren’t seeing this after three months, double back with your credit card company to verify that the account has been closed.

Regardless of your reason for doing so, it’s relatively simple to cancel a credit card account. By following these steps you can handle this process in no time at all.