How long without use before card gets cancelled?

Mahsroh

I'm sure if this forum had a FAQ section this would be in it, so apologies for that. Likewise, II'm half expecting the answer to be "how long is a piece a string", but from peoples experience on here, I assume a bank or card provider will close the account if you go so long with a ZERO balance..... when would they typically make this call?

I have 3 cards - two with a ZERO balance and one with £600 which is currently interest free. Once the interest free period on that ends i'll pay the balance (currently doing minimum monthly payment but have cash in bank to pay balance in full). Once that's paid off i'll happily get rid of the card as I have no use for it.

The other two (one with HSBC and one with Halifax) i'd like to keep open for a rainy day / emergencies (obviously hoping I never have to use them). I'm getting into the habit of making the occasional purchase then paying it off at the end of the month just to keep the cards "active"... Do I have to do this realistically? I have no concept of whether they'd close the account after 2 months, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years??

Any advice would be appreciated!

DigForVictory

I had a few cards (ahem) all with nothing on, & I sat down to clear them off my credit future. Easily done with a zero balance & no use over 6 months.
Your in-case-of-emergency cards should have a modest sum run through them at least every 6 mo to ensure the account stays live, but in all honesty I'd just check which had the higher credit & keep that, whilst focusing harder on clobbering the £600 debt...
Best of luck!

Mahsroh

DigForVictory wrote: »

whilst focusing harder on clobbering the £600 debt...
Best of luck!

Thanks - the Halifax card has the highest limit by some distance.

I'm not focusing on paying the £600 off sooner though. It's 0% so i'm intentionally paying the minimum each month then when the 0% period comes to an end in November i'll pay whats left (about £400 in a lump sum) from savings that are currently generating interest.

Incidentally, i've already disposed of said card as I don't need it once balance is paid off.

Candyapple

Each provider is different and most will want to keep your business so will probably never cancel your card unless you call them up and specifically tell them to close/cancel the card. Sometimes a card provider may not send you a new card once the old one expires if you aren't using it regularly - but note, it won't be cancelled, you would still have to call them up to cancel the account.

As you've already stated, the easiest way to keep an account alive is to use it, even if say you make 1 purchase every 6 months.

jonesMUFCforever

Some will write to you saying unless you use the card by a certain date it will be cancelled.
Others will simply not issue a replacement card when it runs out.

If you really want to keep the cards just use them once every 3 months or so - then pay it off when you get the statement.

GingerBob_3

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Some will write to you saying unless you use the card by a certain date it will be cancelled.
Others will simply not issue a replacement card when it runs out.

If you really want to keep the cards just use them once every 3 months or so - then pay it off when you get the statement.

Maybe three months, but I think for some providers you can go longer. I have five "low use" cards and I make sure I use them once a year for a small purchase. To date, that's been alright.