Your Credit Card Account Has Been Closed

 

INTRODUCTION

The other day I got an email from one of the credit card related websites I subscribe to notifying me of a credit card cancellation. I was shocked and in disbelief. What account was this referring to and why, I wondered? It referred to an account with CBNA which meant nothing to me. In fact, I am not even sure how I uncovered what account it was. The next step was figuring out why it had been cancelled due to my unblemished credit report.

Uncovering the Mystery

The email I received had two links which allowed me to figure out what was going on. The first link was the highlighted words, ‘contact your creditor or file a dispute’. The second link was a button, verify the details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First Clue

The first link in the email led me to this post, Why Is My Account Reported As Closed?

Scanning the post, I noticed only one possible reason for an account being closed, inactivity. The next thing was to find out which account.

The Second Clue

The second link, the verify the details button revealed the issue. It showed me the accounts I had that had been closed. Only one applied, the CBNA Account closed on March 23, 2018. This still did not make sense to me. Therefore I decided I needed to speak with the bank that closed my account. Consequently, that was my next move.

The Phone Call to CBNA

It was confirmed that due to my inactivity my account had been closed. I had not received any of the warnings the bank swore they had sent. As a result, I became rather annoyed. But because it was written in the original contract of terms I had with them, they were not obligated to do anything besides close the account, They refused to reopen it or contact Transunion so that my credit score would be be affected negatively.

The Lesson

From this credit card cancellation experience, I learned three crucial things, about the process, the reasons behind it and how to avoid it in the future:
• Banks have to pay to notify the credit reporting agencies of your status on open accounts whether you are using them or not.
• If you are not using your account, the credit line the bank has extended to you is wasted. The bank would rather give it to someone else who will use it.
• When I make up My Credit Card Maintenance System Spreadsheet, I need to include this detail of the usage terms contract.
 

CONCLUSION

Had I known this detail about my account, I would have simply made a small charge to keep my account open. This is especially relevant because I did not know it. An account was closed on me. But in the end, I learned a very valuable lesson. Read the terms of my credit card contracts and know how often I need to use a credit card to keep the account open.