sktnyc

Hi,

I got a Barclays Choice Hotels credit card close to two years ago. I was not using this card, but since it's a no-fee card, I didn't want to cancel it. Last week I received a letter saying Barclays is closing this credit card because of inactivity (don't remember the exact wording).

My question, do all credit card companies do this? Do you swipe your credit cards few times every 6 months or a year, instead of letting it sit in a drawer?

Thanks.

jerry305

Many cards say they will close inactive accounts, yes. Worth a call to say thanks for reminding me about the card, is it too late to go buy something with it.

onthego15

Yes, it is a good idea to use a card at least once every six months. Credit card companies differ on when they will cancel, but it's best to use each card a little to be sure.

Often1

You are costing Barclay's money and risk. And, you are not generating any revenue for the bank. So they fired you.

Most banks will do this sooner or later. Some might notify you first.

sktnyc

?? They closed one credit card. I have 3 other cc from Barclays.

skibum7732

fairly common...we use every cc at least once every 3-4 months. However, with ~40 cc's between us at any given time it kinda sucks

NachosLibres

Don't take it so literal. Like mentioned before - they were mitigating their risk. You weren't using the card which wasn't making them any money and since having the account open does cost them money it made more sense for them to close it.

honu

Mr honu had that happen a few months ago. He actually could use it now. Is there a decent bonus (the highest one I could find is 32k right now) and do people know if it's easy to be approved for a second time?

LETTERBOY

Do you use the other 3?

wowpaw

Happened to me a while back with Citi. Learned my lesson and usually go and buy something random/cheap with the cards that just sit at home

sktnyc

One - use it frequently, its in my wallet. Other two - have used it few times.

xooz

Just happened to me and I just let them cancel the card. Any idea what that does to your credit rating? I assume that my amount of outstanding credit dropped which should be good, but the % of total available credit used would go up, which is bad.

jjmiller69

+1
I try to use each one at least every 6 months. Some are more important to me so I use them more, others aren't so I just use 2X's a year.

LAX_Esq

Same thing just happened to me with Barclays. Are they within their legal rights to do this, and do I have any recourse? I'm thinking of raising hell with them because it is detrimental to my credit rating. The lack of any warning/notice before the closure, combined with the lack of any specific policy ("your account will be closed if you do not use the card in X months"), seems quite troubling. I'm sure they would rely on some general language in their T&C, but that doesn't mean it's legit.

It's a negative in several ways, based on what I know. In addition, it will adversely impact the "average length of accounts" portion of your credit score since you'll have an account that is closed not 1-2 years after opening it.

sdsearch

But how is that different from you closing a card you no longer need? (In fact, many people with excellent credit scores are churning cards and closing cards all the time.)

You have to put in perspective. How many long-held cards do you have? If you have a few cards you've had for a decade or so, then one card that was closed after a year or two of inactivity is pretty insignficant. If that was your oldest card, though, it's very significant. Thus I don't think it's valid to make one blanket statement about what the effect will be.

But I agree with those others above who basically say that if you want to keep a card, be sure to use it at least once every 6 months or so. If you don't want a card, just close it. Try not to let a bank have control over closing your card by doing neither of those.

Btw, I myself had 2 cards closed by Barclays for inactivity, though it was years ago (2009 or so?), but they were both cards I didn't care much about (such as a Midwest AIrlines card as that airline was about to go poof anyway).

I take great care, however, in making sure I have periodic activity on those few cards I've had for two decades or longer (a Discover card and an AT&T Universal Card from Citi), even though what they earn is not of particular interest to me. I also have an Amtrak Guest Rewards card from Chase that I've had quite a decade yet, but it's the only thing keeping my Amtrak points from expiring, so I also want to make sure that one never gets closed for inactivity, even if I don't feel motivated to collect more of those points that much.

... Those of you who lost a Choice card, all you've lost is Gold status at Choice, which presumably didn't matter if you were never staying there anyway, and at any rate doesn't matter a whole let even if you are staying there a lot. The card itself doesn't collect points, so you've lost no points.