inactive credit card

sanova76

Hi,


I'm just wondering, what will happen if I don't use my credit card for long period of times (months). Is the bank going to close it?

I recently lost my job and part of budgeting/saving money until I get a job again is not using my credit card. The balance is 0 and I haven't use it for the last 5 months.


Thanks.

San

[Deleted User]

At some point they are likely too.

Although you're trying to save money, there must still be some things you need to buy. Use your card and clear it in full each month.

It can also ease your cash flow and give you few more pennies of interest.

J_B

We got a Goldfish card when it was a Which Best Buy (cashback in vouchers) several years ago.

It was taken over by Barclays quite a while ago and they sent us a Barclaycard in 2012 that was never used. They sent replacement cards in 2016 ...

sanova76

J_B wrote: »

We got a Goldfish card when it was a Which Best Buy (cashback in vouchers) several years ago.

It was taken over by Barclays quite a while ago and they sent us a Barclaycard in 2012 that was never used. They sent replacement cards in 2016 ...

Thanks for the replies.

Are you saying even though you never use the card, Barclays don't close your account?

J_B

J_B wrote: »

We got a Goldfish card when it was a Which Best Buy (cashback in vouchers) several years ago.

It was taken over by Barclays quite a while ago and they sent us a Barclaycard in 2012 that was never used. They sent replacement cards in 2016 ...

sanova76 wrote: »

Are you saying even though you never use the card, Barclays don't close your account?

Well, the last correspondence .... looks in the drawer .... was my annual summary for Ap 15 to Ap16, but they don't seem to have sent me one for 16/17 (unless they did and I binned it??)
But I've not heard from them to say that they are closing the account either.

Nebulous2

I've had a few dormant cards, because I'm not very good at closing them. I've always had to eventually close them, rather having them closed by the company. My Santander credit card hasn't been used since August 2015 and they still send me occasional offers for 0% deals.

On the other hand I wouldn't depend on that happening if I needed to keep the card. I've read stories of people only using their Halifax Clarity card abroad and having problems getting transactions approved. I put a small transaction through it at least once every couple of months to keep it live.

Superscrooge

My own experience is that I have to contact credit card providers to close accounts. Even when I have not used a CC for more than 12 months it has not been closed by the bank.

The only time I can remember one of my accounts being closed by the CC provider was when I hadn't used it for several years. I was due to receive a replacement card and they wrote saying that as I hadn't used the CC for more than a year they wouldn't post a replacement card unless I confirmed that I still required the account.

jonesMUFCforever

From memory most cards that I have had in the past which have gone dormant write to you to say if card XYZ is not used by a certain date then they will close it.
Up to you then to make the decision.

pantaiema

sanova76 wrote: »

Hi,


I'm just wondering, what will happen if I don't use my credit card for long period of times (months). Is the bank going to close it?

I recently lost my job and part of budgeting/saving money until I get a job again is not using my credit card. The balance is 0 and I haven't use it for the last 5 months.


Thanks.

San

You could always use your card for small transactions less than £5. For instance, dairy product, food on Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, etc. You could also use it to buy small item you need from eBay.

Fingerbobs

I've never had a card closed by the issuer, and I've had a few long-term unused cards over the years.


If they were going to close your account, I would expect written notification in advance, with an option to keep the account open (e.g. by making a transaction). I wouldn't expect the account to be closed without warning.

Missus_Hyde

Nebulous2 wrote: »

On the other hand I wouldn't depend on that happening if I needed to keep the card. I've read stories of people only using their Halifax Clarity card abroad and having problems getting transactions approved. I put a small transaction through it at least once every couple of months to keep it live.

I would agree with the above; I do exactly the same with the cards we keep primarily for using abroad, as I don’t want to risk them not working if the card issuer considers them to be dormant.

The cashback cards tend to get used every month anyway and I periodically bung something on the other odds and sods to keep them ticking over, in case we should need to use them for any reason. Barclaycard don’t seem to be bothered whether the card is used or not, but I like to use it once a year to make sure the DD still works.