stevento

Like most on this forum, I open lots of credit cards every year.
And obviously I close most of them within 12 months.
Because most of my spending is for legitimate business expenses, there needs to be a fair amount of recordkeeping in case of an audit.
So I keep the cards in case I need to call the bank issuer and request old statements.

The ziplock bag is getting full, and it's getting more and more confusing.

The obvious solution is to put the information into Quickbooks where the records are kept and get rid of the card...but I kind of feel more comfortable having a physical card.

Does anyone else keep the closed cards or am I crazy?

fwoomp

Yes, I keep them for the same reasons. I figure I will get rid of them as the audit risk passes for each. It also sounds like I don't have as many as you do.

I do also wonder if I'm silly for keeping them.

Mr. Breakfast

Yes, it's silly to keep them. Keep the statements, get rid if the card. If it really bugs you, take a picture of the card and then cut it up.

isle-hawg

Well crazy or not you are not alone. Since I started this hobby in 2002 I have kept all my closed cards too in addition to keeping a spreadsheet of open and closed cards.

sdsearch

It was useful to me to look at a card from the last decade and judge whether it was close to 7 years old (it was an Amex personal card, and is thus subject to the "lifetime" rule which appears to really be 7ish years). I would have no clue if I hadn't been in the habit of keeping all my old cards.

And though not that far back, there are a number of people who are kicking themselves over in the CIti AA Plat card thread in the Citi forum about not keeping track of whether a card was World or World Elite the time they cancelled it, cut it up, and threw it out, because after they did that, suddenly knowing whether it had been World or World Elite at the time of cancellation became vary important (as it's the "loophole" key to churning these cards much faster than 18 months).

And, btw, that's on the back of this particular card, so if you're going to just keep a photo of the card, make sure you get photos of both sides of the card!

darthbimmer

I see no value in keeping expired or closed cards. I do retain the statements for a few years for financial record keeping. For personal cards I keep them 2-3 years, for business I keep them at least 7 years in case they factor in to an audit.

Electroman

I keep them, but really just for a curiosity. I'm not exactly a collector, but I keep them anyway. I only have the last few years of them, though.

TOMFORD

I do not keep my cards or the statements. Sometimes I get surprise AF refund checks from banks, and it usually makes my day when that happens. Free money.

takeshi74

I don't. There are certainly others that do but that has nothing to do with whether you're crazy or not.

Do whatever it is that works for you regardless of what others do or do not.

biggestbopper

I have all my old cards (maybe two hundred or so) in a couple of old boxes that Vista Print shipped business cards in. Don't really know what to do with 'em, but have always been inspired by the various stories of prom dresses, etc. made out of old credit cards. http://blog.creditcardcompare.com.au...edit-cards.php

Imagine wearing a jacket made from old airline credit cards to a FlyerTalk meetup! @:-)

Or, might frame 'em and put the display on the wall to point to when explaining how getting credit cards helps you get more and more credit cards (and miles).

steve4

I get rid of them, but I write down the name, account number, expiration, code, and customer service number on a notepad just in case I want to reopen a card shortly after cancellation.

mia

I have kept most of my cards because I enjoy seeing the evolution of the art work and technology. I am sufficiently old to have some cards issued before magnetic stripes were added, and a co-branded American Express card issued by a bank before MasterCard and VISA illegally colluded to prevent banks from issuing cards on networks other than their own.

rev

I keep mine. I never had a particular reason besides liking to glance in the drawer and see my progress, but it did come in use when I needed some very old Chase statements mailed to me from a closed account and had those cards handy. I also keep an excel sheet of all of my CC activity as well, but not with the sensitive information that cards themselves contain.

giddyforpoints

With all that plastic, you can make a pretty cool sculpture

There was an older gentleman that hung alot of his canceled cards on his belt and suspenders...was pretty hilarious!

SanDiego1K

I keep the last closed card of a particular product. I put a sticker on it that gives the date that I closed it. I find this very helpful as some issuers require a particular span of time between having their product.