What to do With Old Credit Card if Moving to a Better Card

If you’ve decided to move your balance from one credit card to a new credit card with better terms, you should think about what to do with your old card. Cutting it up with scissors isn’t going to cancel the account or ensure you can wipe your hands clean of responsibility from the old account. Here are some tips for handling an old credit card when you get a new one:

• If you haven’t moved an entire balance from the old card to the new card, call the credit card company to obtain the accurate pay off balance. Make the final payment, then determine if you want to leave the account open as available credit or close it completely.
• If you’ve decided to close the account, listen to the offers presented to you by the representatives when you call to cancel the account. They will most likely attempt to keep your business with better offers and deals. If they don’t offer anything better than the new card, or the offer just isn’t that great – continue to cancel the account and ask for a written confirmation that the account has been canceled.
• I f you decide to keep your old account open but unused – don’t forget to pay attention to the statements that come in the mail. Even though you won’t have a payment due, keep an eye on it to make sure that no one has compromised the account and made unauthorized transactions.