How to Cancel a Credit Card With No Information
Credit cards cost consumers in more ways than one. Not only can there be high interest rates, late fees, and over-limit fees, many credit card issuers charge annual fees. Annual fees are charged whether the credit card is used or not. Canceling a credit card requires contact with the credit card issuer. Cutting the card in two is not canceling the card. But what happens when you have misplaced the card and do not have the information on the credit card issuer? Your credit report is the answer, as the report contains all contact information for your credit accounts.
Instructions
Things You'll Need
1. Obtain a copy of your credit report. Federal law entitles you to one free copy per credit agency per year. Visit http://annualcreditreport.com for your free copy. Review the credit report and find the credit account in question. Find the pages of the credit report with a list of creditor contact information. Write down the name, phone number and address of the creditor in question.
2. Call the phone number of the creditor. Explain you have a credit card but you do not have the account number or any account information. The representative will ask for your name, Social Security number and date of birth to locate the account. Once located, advise the representative you wish to cancel the credit card.
3. Send a letter to the credit card company also requesting the account be canceled. In your letter, include the account information provided by the representative, your name, Social Security number, date of birth and mailing address. Ask for confirmation of account closure to be mailed to you.
4. Allow 45 days for the account to be closed. Call the customer service number to confirm account closure and pull another copy of your credit report to verify the account now shows a status of closed.
Tips & Warnings
You should carefully consider closing your account. Two aspects of your credit score are credit history age and utilization ratio. By closing an older credit card you lose the age and available credit which could cause a drop in your credit score.
