This is a boring topic, even for me, and I’m the one who has to sort it out. So if only a few people read and respond, I’ll still be happy.
DH and I are about to close our Visa card that we’ve had for over 20 years with Citibank. Citi has royally screwed some things up, I’m furious with them, and I want to close the account.
Luckily both DH and I have separate AmEx cards so we are able to continue charging things while we sort this out.
I’ve done some research and want to get a travel rewards card from CapitalOne. Should I:
First close the old Visa with Citibank, wait a few days, and then apply for the new card? or,
First apply for the new card, wait until I'm approved, and then close the old card?
The one thing I’m concerned about is that Visa Citibank thinks that my last payment didn’t clear, due to an error by my bank. I have had three conference calls with Bank Lady and High-Up Visa lady; Bank Lady has indicated the error was completely the Bank’s, not mine; Visa Lady has said Not to worry; they’ll resubmit the check; but after a week and numerous phone calls from me, Visa still hasn’t re-submitted my check. I’m concerned that if I apply for a new card right now, this is going to make it look like a problem on my credit report and I’ll be turned down for a card.
Perhaps Option 3 should be,
3. Close the Visa from Citibank, continue to use the two AmEx cards and, in a year, open another Visa card through CapitalOne.
Closing an account will hit your credit so apply for the new card first. However before you do that check your FICO score. You are entitled to a free report from each of the credit reporting agencies once a year. I would look at some other cards for travel rewards if you didn’t like citibank. I wouldnt go from citibank to capital one.
If you have access to a credit union, I would suggest getting your travel credit card (Visa Signature) through a credit union. Excellent customer service from my credit union over past 25+ years.
I am not sure if they have improved but switched AWAY from Capital One all those years ago
What card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees and doesn’t have an annual fee? Interest doesn’t matter because I don’t ever keep a balance. I have been getting cards for a year and cancelling when the fee becomes due.
In my case, they changed the rules frequently about when and how you could use the points - blackout dates; also, they had a very strange system of calculating interest and fees on old and new balances. If you ever carried over a balance, you could never get the fees paid off in the next month. Once the bill with total charges was sent, the fees kept accumulating. Even when I calculated anticipated fees and paid an over amount, they calculated something above and beyond. Fees continued ad nauseum.
I love my credit union; except for IRAs and the major investment account, I have everything in the credit union - mortgages, money market account, checking, regular saving, credit card, CDs.
Because citibank and capital one are not consumer friendly. One late payment by accident interest like 29%. There are much better cards like chase and wellsfargo and amex.
“DH and I are about to close our Visa card that we’ve had for over 20 years with Citibank. Citi has royally screwed some things up, I’m furious with them, and I want to close the account.”
Maybe I’ll just keep my AmEx – I get 2% cash back, which isn’t too shabby – and not open a new one. I just checked my credit score and it’s spectacular, if I do say so myself. =D>
It usually takes 30 plus days for anything you do to appear on your credit report, with the exception of an application for credit. Apply for the new card before closing the old one. The mix up with your current card will probably not be on the record yet.
Almost all credit card companies use the same method for calculating interest. If you don’t pay the card in full within the 25 day grace period, the bank will use a 60 day average balance method, so you will pay interest for at least 2 months, maybe longer. If you have a missed or late payment, yes,you will have charges. Where a good relationship or friendly customer service department helps is in waiving those charges. I missed paying $2.31 on my credit union visa once, and that of course was no big deal as the interest was 11 cents, but with 60 day averaging, I would have been charge for the next month, possibly a late charge and other negative. No problem to waive it since I’ve banked there 30 years. In fact it was a teller who told me I’d missed the payment.
Personally, I’m very happy with my Cap One cash back card. I don’t do “points” cards because they’re usually not cost-effective, and as another poster noted, redeeming points is a hassle and can change. I have no blackout periods, and it’s a simple 1.5% cash back option. When I reach $25 in cash back, it’s applied automatically as a credit on my bill. No annual fee, no foreign transaction fees.
I can’t believe that someone suggested BoA as “consumer friendly” - not in my experience!
Consider not closing the old credit card and just stop using it.
Closing your old credit card will lower your credit rating as you will have less available credit, so you will be using a greater percentage of your available credit when you do charge items.
The average length of time for your credit cards is a factor so closing an old account will also have a negative effect.
I wouldn’t want to have just an AMEX as there are places I go now that do not accept AMEX.
I LOVE our CapitolOne Cash Back credit card that gives us 2% cash back on ALL purchases and is a Visa, so accepted by nearly all merchants. Because I’ve charaged so much and often (it is our primary card), they upgraded it at no charge to be a signature visa that has free extended warranty, rental car insurance and more. We do pay $59/year for the card but since we get the 2% back, it more than pays for that annual fee, PLUS the hundreds of dollars in cash we get and redeem. I actually have a second CapitolOne Cash Back card for my nonprofit. Every year they want to charge us $59, I give them a sob story about how it’s for our nonprofit that doesn’t make money and so far they’ve waived the $59 fee each year.
I find that there are a lot of places that do not accept AmEx, so I like having a Visa available. I also have Barclays MasterCard that has NO annual fee and gives back 5% on groceries, gas and Amazon purchases on up to $250/month for each of those categories, I believe.
I would apply for a new card (or two now). I’m not sure I’d close the Citi account once the problem is resolved. It is more painful for them if you DON’T close it but just keep it in your safety deposit box and don’t use it. That way you won’t have a drop in your credit score for closing a long-held credit card.
It is my understanding that to keep a credit card active you need to charge something once a year. It can be a $5 charge, just as long as the account doesn’t go dormant.