Should I Keep Alive My Credit Cards?
What happens with your credit health if you stop using your credit cards? I left them with a 0 balance and put away. I also don't want them to be closed for being idle as I'd need them very soon and I actually like my cards.
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I detest credit cards. But if you are going to keep some, as long as you are paying off the balance at the end of the month, there is not much problem. I have to use them for business, but always pay at the end of the month. Credit card companies will think of you as a dead-beat though, since they make no money off of you that way.
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I am talking about different thing. what will happen if I completely stop using them let's say for couple of months and balances are already paid off
As far as I know, simply not using them will result in nothing except perhaps some service fees, depending upon the credit card. It should not effect your credit in any way. Use of credit and whether you pay your bills on time is what will effect your credit rating, not lack of use. I believe most creditors will notify you if they remain inactive long enough that they are considering canceling the card. They like having your business, especially if your credit is good, and will not be anxious to close your account.
Okay, what will happen? Essentially nothing. You can have open, unused credit card accounts. Some credit card companies may close your account after an amount of time if you have no balance and you haven't used it in a long time, others won't. (I had a Household Bank cc which they closed on me, and I heard that Discover Card will close or freeze an account with inactivity but I don't know if that is true). I have a Citicards cc which I have for emergency use only and use it very infrequently with no problem any time I use it.
One thing that will probably change is, Citicards used to send me blank checks for cash advances. When I stopped using the card, they stopped spending the money to send me blank checks. When I did use the card after a few years to rent a car on a recent vacation, they started up sending me blank checks again. So, by not using the account, you can probably save on getting junk mail from the cc company that reduces the risk of your account number or blank checks being stolen and used by someone else.
One way to make sure your account remains in good standing regardless if the bank will close the account is to use it once a year--maybe to pay for New Year's Eve's dinner--and then pay it off immediately.
One thing that will probably change is, Citicards used to send me blank checks for cash advances. When I stopped using the card, they stopped spending the money to send me blank checks. When I did use the card after a few years to rent a car on a recent vacation, they started up sending me blank checks again. So, by not using the account, you can probably save on getting junk mail from the cc company that reduces the risk of your account number or blank checks being stolen and used by someone else.
One way to make sure your account remains in good standing regardless if the bank will close the account is to use it once a year--maybe to pay for New Year's Eve's dinner--and then pay it off immediately.
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thank you, that was a really good answer. so what happens with your credit score? how do they treat not making a payments because you don't need to? do they treat it as "paid" or how?
I think people get too wound up in their credit score. They want the best possible score, and I don't know why it matters that much. Will having no balance on a credit card lower your credit rating? Yes, probably a little from what I've read here and elsewhere. However, that's what I have, and I had no problems getting a mortgage for a house, or loans for a car. It's more important to make sure that you pay all of your bills on time--even for things like electricity, gas, cable, etc., because paying those late will earn you higher interest on your credit card and will affect your credit rating.
I don't want to get rid off them, I just want to conserve them for future needs
Do you have a safe deposit box? Use that, but remember to make sure that they don't close the account on you.
Having open, unused credit lines can actually help your credit rating, since a contributing factor of your score is how much of your existing credit facility you have in use. Seems odd, but it's true. So you don't necessarily want to close them. Just charge enough to keep a bill coming and pay them off each month. I have read that this can contribute to as much as a 40 point increase to your score.....
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but what if I want to stop charging them at all?
Nothing will happen to your credit rating if you stop using your credit cards for a few months (as you replied below). It would take many months, maybe a few years, to really have an impact on your credit rating due to staleness.
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answered 7 months ago
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