Skip to main content

Closing Credit Card

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Buy Gold Mutual Funds

Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300

 

 

Credit Card Closing

 

Enough can’t be said on the diligent care one must take when handling a credit card! Sometimes, you may feel that a particular card is not of much use to you, or you may realise that you are holding several credit cards and many of them are not getting used. So you may wish to cancel your credit card. However, you may sometimes realize that despite taking the initiative to cancel the card, you continue to receive statements from the bank declaring that you have unpaid dues in your account. What is the reason behind this? It is possibly because the exact procedure has not been followed in cancelling the card.

Let’s take the case of Satish who had applied for a credit card from ABC Bank about a year ago. 12 months after getting the card, Satish realised that he did not receive much benefits from the card, and it was simply an additional headache to manage. So he decided to cancel the card and adopted the following process while closing his credit card -

Step 1: Satish contacted the customer service desk of the bank by dialling the number given behind the card. He then found out what is the actual amount outstanding in the card.

Step 2: He made an online payment for this amount and cleared all dues in the card account. As the amount was small, he made the payment in one go. Sometimes, the amount outstanding is quite large for an individual to pay it at once. In such a case, make regular payments, either on a weekly or monthly basis and clear the dues. Note that if a monthly payment is made, you will still accrue interest on the balance, and the final payment should include all fees and charges. Satish kept a record of his payment as proof.

Which credit card personality are you?

Step 3: On making a full payment of the outstanding balance, Satish contacted the customer service desk again and placed a request for cancellation of the card. He made a note of the date and time of the call, as well as the name of the representative who took down the request. Satish also got a request confirmation number, which will be the reference in all future correspondence on the request.

Step 4: Satish then wrote to the credit card company and sought verification that the account has been closed. He mentioned the details of his call with the customer service representative. He sent the letter through Registered Post, so that there is a legal record of the same.

Step 5: After a few weeks, Satish received confirmation from the bank that the credit card has been cancelled and closed. He then proceeded to cut the credit card into small pieces across the magnetic strip. This completes the cancellation process.

Things to keep in mind while cancelling the credit card:

  • The first most important thing to remember is that the bank will not cancel your card unless you have paid all dues. This not only includes the expenses you incurred on your card, but also includes all interest, fees and charges on the card. Sometimes, you may cancel your card after the billing date, and as a result, there may be a residue amount which is not reflected in your last statement.
  • Most customers feel that some card charges are unfair and proceed to cancel the card without paying these. However, the bank will not cancel the card unless you pay these dues. Further, you will have to continue paying interest and late payment charges on these dues till you settle everything.
  • Simply cutting the card at your end and mailing it to the bank will not cancel the card. Insist on getting a written acknowledgement from the bank that the card has been cancelled

·         Does closing a credit card affect your credit score?

·         Closing a credit card can reduce your credit score. This is because you are reducing your overall credit limit by closing a card. As a result, your credit utilization will go up on an overall basis. Assume you have three cards with a total credit limit of Rs.1.5 lakhs and you spend Rs.75,000 in a month. So your credit utilisation is 50%. Now supposing you want to close one of the cards which has a credit limit of Rs.50,000 as you are not using this card – Then your overall credit utilisation will be 75% (75,000/100,000). This can suggest that you are credit hungry in nature.

·         Does this mean that you should not close unused cards? No. It is better to close unused cards to prevent misuse or fraud. However, if you wish to close more than 1 card, you should do so gradually and not all at once. Further, the older the credit history, the better it is for your credit score. A long track record will help lenders judge your track record and hence determine future behaviour and default chances. Hence you must always look at keeping older credit cards alive, and close the newer ones if the need arises. This is because the history of closed unused cards goes off the report after some years. Remember, if you already have a weak score, then work on improving your score first before proceeding to cancel the cards.

·         What are the effects if the credit card is not closed properly?

·         If you do not follow the proper steps in closing the card, there may be a case when there is an outstanding balance on your card. For instance, if you do not get an acknowledgement from the bank, the bank may charge renewal fees which will get showed as unpaid dues, even though you may have cut the card. This will get carried on month after month, attracting penalties. This will automatically affect your credit score, affecting your future prospects of availing a loan. So remember to actively follow up with the lender and get your credit card closed.

 

 

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at

PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

 

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Invest Any Mutual Fund Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Any Fund Application Forms

---------------------------------------------

 

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds             Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Franklin India Bluechip
      4. ICICI Prudential Top 100 Fund

B. Large and Midcap Funds         Invest Online

      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
      4. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
      5. Franklin India Prima

C. Mid and SmallCap Funds          Invest Online

      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
      5. Birla Sun Life Dividend Yield Plus
      6. SBI Emerging Businesses Fund
      7. HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund
      8. ICICI Prudential Discovery Fund

D. Small and MicroCap Funds   Invest Online

      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund

2.       Franklin India Smaller Companies

E. Sector Funds          Invest Online

      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
      3. ICICI Prudential Banking and Financial Services Fund

F. Tax Saver Mutual Funds      Invest Online

1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan

2. HDFC Taxsaver

      1. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      2. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

G. Gold Mutual Funds        Invest Online

      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund
      4. Birla Sun Life Gold

H. International funds         Invest Online

1. Birla Sun Life International Equity Plan A

2. DSP BlackRock US Flexible Equity

3. FT India Feeder Franklin US Opportunities

4. ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity

5. Motilal Oswal MOSt Shares NASDAQ-100 ETF

Popular posts from this blog

Surrender ULPPs

  ICICI Pru LifeTime and ICICI Pru Lifestage are Unit Linked Pension Plans. Such insurance linked retirement plans are neither good investments nor do they offer sufficient insurance cover. As you can see, these have turned out to be bad deals. In the Lifetime plan, the fund value is not even equal to the total premiums that you have paid and in the Lifestage plan your return is just about 6% which is quite low. The mortality charges are as per your age which is why they have increased. Moreover, once these plans matures, you will have to compulsorily opt for annuity (regular income) and the annuity rates are generally modest. Assuming these plans mature in the next one year, it will be wise to surrender the plan now and curb your future commitments.   Before you choose to buy a term plan, you have to consider a few points. You need to insure yourself, only during the time you are working and your family is financially dependent on you. At the age of 59, not all insurance companies w...
Read more

ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt dividend

Invest ICICI Prudential Constant Maturity Gilt Fund Online ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund   has announced dividend under the following schemes: Scheme Dividend ( R /unit) ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt-DQ 0.26543239 ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt Direct-DQ 0.27171609 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I-D 0.10617296 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I Direct-D 0.10703967 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I Ret-D 0.10617296             The record date has been fixed as June 13, 2016.   ----------------------------------------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2016 Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in india for 2016 1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund 2. Axis Tax Saver Fund 3. Franklin India TaxShield 4. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund 5. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund 6. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 7. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 8. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) ...
Read more

NPS Investment Choice for Safe Investors

Invest NPS Online       Whether they invested through SIPs or put in a lump sum amount, risk-averse individ uals have earned the highest returns. These are investors who stayed away from stocks and divided their NPS corpus between G class gilt funds and C class corporate debt funds. On average, gilt funds have given 9.75% annualised returns while corporate debt funds have churned out more than 11% in the past five years. As a result, the average return for ultra-safe investors in the past five years is in double digits. Even in the short term, ultrasafe investors have been the biggest gainers among NPS investors. Will the good times continue? The gilt funds of NPS are holding long-term bonds with an average maturity of over 19 years and a modified duration of about 9 years.These funds have done well because interest rate cuts have pushed down bond yields. But experts say this trend will not stay forever. NPS is a long-term investment and the bonds are predominantly held to matu...
Read more

Buy Health Insurance Plan even if you are covered with my Employer

Buy Health Insurance Plan Online Yes, getting a private insurance cover now, which extends beyond your retirement age, is recommended There are a few reasons why buying a health insurance plan may make sense even though you get medical insurance from your employer. Here are the points you need to think about. Firstly, your employer's insurance coverage will only protect you as long as you are employed with the company. The policy will terminate when you quit the job or when you retire. Post retirement is perhaps the phase when one needs it the most but you won't have it then. Moreover, buying a new insurance policy after the age of 50 means that there will be no coverage for pre-existing diseases.   Lastly, health insurance policy you get from your employer may or may not cover your dependants. ------------------------------ ----------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds Top 10 Tax Saver M...
Read more

SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP ONLINE

Invest SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP ONLINE   SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP fund didn't fare well in its initial years but, in recent years, has steadily improved its performance under the capable hands of its current fund manager. Although investing predominantly in mid-cap stocks, the average market capitalisation of its portfolio is lower than other category peers.   Although the stock selection approach is mostly bottom-up , the fund manager doesn't shy away from taking bold sector bets , as is reflected in its large exposure to the healthcare sector. She is equally adept at handling performance across market cycles--the fund has captured more of the upside during market upticks and contained the downside during downturns in a better manner than its peers.   Given its superior risk-reward equation, the fund is a worthy pick in its category.     ----------------------------------------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing EL...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now