Cancelling a credit card...?

Question

I'm cancelling one of my credit cards and in the agreement it says to provide written notice. What information am I supposed to give them?

Answer 1

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THINK TWICE BEFORE CANCELLING A CREDIT CARD and A WORD of CAUTION
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You can call and and confirm by sending a letter via Certified Mail Return Receipt, and ask for an acknowledgement by return mail. Make sure to ask your issuer to report to the credit bureaus that the account was "closed at customer's request", soo it doesn't look like they cut you off. Destroy the credit card.

***Make sure it is really necessary to cancel the card because your credit rating may be affected negatively, not positively as one might think.***

o Closing open accounts may actually hurt your FICO score because lenders look at the ratio between the balances on your accounts and your total available credit. If you do have debt, try to keep it to less than 30% of your available credit. When you close out open accounts, those credit lines are no longer factored into your ratio, so your debt as a percentage of available credit will increase. It may be better to reduce your credit card balances and pay your bills on time.

o Closing accounts will not undo anything. According to Fair Isaac, once you have more than 7 accounts, your FICO score begins to suffer a little. However, all is not automatically forgiven by simply closing accounts to get below the 7. Once you open the account, the damage is done, even if you cancel the card the next day.

o Closing accounts or removing old closed accounts that have no negative items is a bad idea simply because you benefit from a long credit history, and those accounts show that credit history. 15% of your credit score is determined by how long you've been borrowing. I guess if the history is not good, that's a different story.

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A WORD OF CAUTION -- PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFO
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Please DON'T send sensitive information like your SOCIAL SECURITY # and acct numbers to what is probably an unattended and unsecured FAX.

Anyone that happens to pass by has all of your personal info in one handy sheet. Many identity thieves are "insiders" and this is just asking for trouble. In fact, NEVER give your Social Security to anyone unless:

--It is your employer, for IRS purposes
--It is your bank, for IRS purposes
--You are applying for credit or dealing with credit bureau
--You are dealing with the government

Everybody asks for this and no one really needs it. It is just one more piece of personal info that can be collected and matched up with your name and other info for who knows what purposes. It is nobody's business.

Answer 2

I have canceled several and NEVER sent written notice. Normally if you call the company and tell them what you want, they will handle it for you. However, please request that the account be closed via YOUR request and that a letter stating the above be mailed to you with the balance if any on it. If it has no balance I would ask them to document that on the letter.

Answer 3

If they don't state what info is needed in the written notice, give them the account number, your name and address.

Answer 4

Send them a letter with the card chopped up in 2. Make sure that your balance has been paid in full.

Answer 5

Your name, address and account number are usually sufficient.
You do not need to return the card to them, you may simply cut it into many pieces and dispose of it.

Answer 6

dont matter. enough info so they know.

usually, you can call their 800 number and do it that way. also ask for a letter confirming the cancellation

Answer 7

Just shoot them a fax with your name, SSN..account number..date you want it cancelled and reason for cancelling. You would be better of calling them for specifics...but my experience has been this'll do it.