Santa Claus comes around just once a year. In the meantime, there are Credit Cards.
When you decide to close a credit card, there are certain things that need to be taken care of. There is no one standard procedure for closing a credit card and the process generally differs from bank to bank.
Given below are the methods to close a credit card in a right way by any one of the following,
You can call the credit card customer care of the respective bank and request them to cancel the credit card that is in your name. Once the request has been raised with customer care, the bank will get back to you and discuss the details for the cancellation of the credit card.
You can also close a credit card by sending a written request to the credit card issuer. You need to mention all the details regarding the credit card you want to cancel and send it to the authorities of the credit card issuer by ordinary post or registered post. You can get the postal address on the official website or by calling the customer care executives.
You can raise a request for closing a credit card by sending an e-mail to the credit card issuer. If the facility is available, you will find a dedicated e-mail address to which requests for the cancellation of credit cards can be sent. In the e-mail, you need to provide the details of the credit card that needs to be closed, your personal details, etc.
Some banks offer customers the option of raising a credit card cancellation request online. To raise an online request, you need to visit the bank’s website, fill up the form and submit the request. Once the request has been made, a representative of the bank will call to confirm the cancellation request.
If you have not used one of your credit cards in a long time, you might have considered closing it. Many experts advise leaving unused credit cards open because closing them may harm your credit score. Your credit score comprises five components: new credit, credit utilisation, the duration of your credit history, outstanding balance, and credit mix. Your unused credit card has a direct impact on the credit history length and credit utilisation.
If you have had a credit card for about 2-3 years, closing it might be a bad idea. Closing the card, though, will not have a major effect on your credit score if you owned it for a few months. An unused credit card retains a significant credit limit locked in, enhancing the credit utilisation ratio and your credit score. Here are a few circumstances when you should consider closing an unused credit card:
As mentioned earlier, there is no standard procedure to cancel a credit card. However, when you want to cancel a credit card, the right way to go about it is to make sure that certain things are followed. Following the things listed below helps you minimize the damage that closing a credit card can have on the credit score.
| Bank | Customer Care Number |
|---|---|
| State Bank of India | 1800 180 1290 |
| Axis Bank | 1800 209 5577 |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | 1860 266 2666 |
| HSBC | 1860 500 2277 |
| HDFC | 1800 266 4332 |
| YES Bank | 1800 103 6000 |
| IndusInd Bank | 1860 500 5004 |
| American Express | 1800 419 1092 |
| Bank of Baroda | 1800 225 100 |
| IDBI Bank | 1800 200 1947 |
| RBL Bank | 1800 121 9050 |
| Bank of India | 1800 220 229/ 1800 103 1906 |
| Corporation Bank | 1800 22 6606 |
Closing a credit card can hurt your credit score. That is why it is important to follow a process while cancelling it.
Yes, it is better to close an unused credit card.
You can’t close a credit card with an outstanding balance. In case, you want to close the credit card, you will have to clear the balance that may be on the card.
Closing a credit card might affect your credit score. You can however minimize the effect by ensuring that you follow all the necessary formalities.
The best thing is to close the credit card the right way.
It depends on the bank’s terms and conditions. While some banks require the cardholder to send the cut credit card to the bank to initiate the cancellation request, other banks recommend the customers to cut the card into pieces once it is cancelled instead of discarding it as it is.
If used in a strategic manner, closing your unused credit card can actually help in improving your credit score. One reason for closing an old account and cancelling your credit card is to avoid any annual fee that you may incur.
This entirely depends on the credit that is available on your card. When you close a credit card account which has a high credit limit, it might affect your credit score in a negative way, especially if you have a high balance on your other cards and loans. In order to ensure that cancelling your credit card does not hurt your credit score, you should pay off all balances on other cards.
Yes, you can cancel your credit card by sending a written letter of request to your credit card company. You will have to note down details like the name of the credit card that needs to be cancelled and then send this to your credit card issuer. This can be done by post.
Yes, when you cancel a credit card, your supplementary credit cards and add-on credit cards which are linked to the main card will be cancelled.
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