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When you have multiple credit cards, it's easy to rely on one or two favorites while the rest sit unused. However, letting a credit card remain inactive for too long can have a downside. If you don't use your credit card, your card issuer may close your card or reduce your credit limit. Because keeping your credit cards open and active is generally beneficial for your credit, it's important to understand what happens when you don't use your credit card.
What Happens if You Don't Use Your Credit Card?
When you go without swiping for a period of time, your credit card account and spending ability could be at risk. Here are the potential consequences:
Your Card May Be Closed or Limited for Inactivity
If you go months without using a credit card, the issuer may consider the account as inactive and decide to lower your credit limit or close your account. There's no universal timeline when this happens. Each card issuer has their own policies.
Issuers aren't required to warn you before taking action. Instead, you'll often receive a notice after the changes have happened rather than before.
Your Credit Score May Be Affected
You may not mind losing access to a credit card you rarely use, but the change can still affect your credit score in several ways:
- Shorter average credit age: Losing a long-standing credit account can reduce the average age of your credit accounts, which reflects the amount of experience you have using credit.
- Higher credit utilization: Your credit utilization ratio measures how much of your available credit you're using. If you lose available credit because your account is closed or your credit limit is lowered, your credit utilization rate may increase, potentially lowering your credit score.
- Change in credit mix: Your credit score benefits when you show you can responsibly manage different types of accounts, such as credit cards and loans. If an inactive card is your only revolving account, having it closed could impact your credit mix.
- Loss of a credit score: In rare cases, if your only reported account becomes inactive, you could become unscoreable, or credit invisible. That means you no longer have a credit score until new activity is reported to the credit bureaus.
A decrease in your credit score can make it harder to get approved for new credit or may result in higher interest rates, lower approval amounts or additional requirements like security deposit.
Missed Rewards and Benefits
An unused rewards credit card means you miss out on rewards and value perks. Depending on the card, you could miss the opportunity for:
- Cash back, points or miles on your purchases
- Purchase protection and extended warranties
- Travel insurance or rental car coverage
- Better fraud protection
Unrecognized Fraud
If you're not using your credit card, you forget to check your account. That can allow unauthorized charges and billing errors to go unnoticed. If you have a balance, missed payments can lead to late fees, penalty APRs, credit score damage and eventually collections.
Learn more: What Affects Your Credit Score?
Will I Be Charged for Not Using My Credit Card?
Fortunately, credit card issuers aren't allowed to charge inactivity fees simply because you aren't using the card. However, standard fees may still apply including:
- Annual fees
- Interest on outstanding balances
- Late fees on missed payments
Tip: If your card has an annual fee and you're not receiving enough value from its rewards or perks, consider whether it's worth keeping the account open.
Should I Close My Credit Card if I Don't Use It?
It's usually best to keep your credit card open to benefit your credit. The account's age and available credit can continue to boost your credit score even if you're not using the credit card often. You may also want to keep a card open if it has unique perks, even if you only use them occasionally.
Closing a credit card can make sense in some situations:
- The annual fee outweighs the benefits. It may not be worth keeping the account open if you're not getting enough value to justify paying an annual fee.
- You want to remove the temptation to overspend. Closing an unused credit card can remove the opportunity to accumulate debt.
- The account is newer. Closing a card with a shorter history won't affect your credit age as much as closing an older account.
- You want to simplify your finances. Pruning your open accounts can help you better manage your credit cards and other accounts.
How to Keep Your Credit Card Account Active
Keeping your credit card active isn't difficult, but it does take some conscious effort on your part. Here are some strategies to help keep your account in good standing:
- Autopay a small recurring bill, like a streaming subscription or phone bill.
- Set up automatic payments to pay your card in full each month.
- Review your rewards and perks so you're more motivated to use it intentionally.
- Request a product change if your current credit card no longer fits your needs.
Tip: Even with autopay enabled, check your credit card statement regularly to catch errors or unauthorized transactions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Often Should You Use Your Credit Card?
Using your credit card at least once every three months is often enough to keep it open and active. A small purchase or recurring bill is typically enough to keep your account open. Just don't forget to pay your bill.
How Long Do Credit Cards Stay Open Without Being Used?
There's no universal timeframe. The amount of time a credit card can stay open without being used varies by credit card issuer. Your credit card issuer may not warn you before closing an unused credit card, so using your credit card periodically is the best way to keep it open.
Does It Hurt Your Credit to Close a Credit Card You Don't Use?
It can hurt your credit to close a credit card you don't use, even if the balance is paid off. This is especially true if:
- It's your oldest credit card
- It has the highest credit limit
- It's the only credit card with available credit
- It's your only credit card or your only open credit account
Can You Reopen a Closed Credit Card?
Sometimes you can reopen a closed credit card, but it depends on the card issuer and the reason your card was closed. If a credit card is closed for inactivity, you can contact the card issuer and ask whether you can reactivate your account.
The Bottom Line
You don't have to use every card every month to keep them open and active. However, letting a credit card go unused for too long can lead to a credit limit reduction or account closure that may affect your credit. Making sure each of your cards is used at least occasionally is usually enough to preserve your account and your credit.
Check your Experian credit report for free to see how your credit cards compare. For instance, knowing your oldest credit card and the one with the highest credit limit helps you understand which accounts to protect.