Why do you need to know how to close a credit card? The fact is that many users receive special notifications that there is a debt on their accounts that is growing every day. At first the amount of debt is very small, but then it amounts to thousands of rubles. The sooner you cancel your account, the less you will have to pay.
Today there is a special algorithm of actions that must be followed:
- Review your contract and examine the plastic carrier itself, this way you will clarify the validity period;
- visit one of the branches of the bank with which you entered into an agreement. Be sure to take your passport with you;
- directly on the spot, check with the authorized person the procedure for closing, because in commercial organizations it is sometimes different;
- now you need to find out if you have a debt to the bank: if there are debts, they need to be repaid, because you will not be able to close the account. If you have questions about the accrued amount and you do not agree with it, you need to go to court to resolve the dispute;
- According to the receipt received, pay the debt. A receipt is required on the spot. The amount deposited must match the debt. If you overpay or underpay, you will not be able to close your account. Even if the positive balance is 10-15 kopecks, you will be refused to cancel your account;
- request an extract from your personal account in order to familiarize yourself with all the transactions that were carried out;
- Write an application in duplicate to close the account and the card linked to it. The application indicates the full name, contract number and carrier number. If you were provided with additional services, they are also indicated in the application;
- terminate the insurance contract if the bank does not cancel it automatically;
- the application and a copy with signatures and seal remain with the client;
- you hand over the card to the operator and receive a certificate of its surrender.
At the same time, pay attention special attention namely debt verification. The fact is that you can find out about the presence of debt not only at a branch of a financial institution, but also via the Internet, at an ATM, through a mobile service or by calling a hotline. Even if the loan is fully repaid, debt may still form after repayment.
It is a mistake to think that if you have repaid your loan debt and the card has expired, then you can forget about the agreement. Here it is important to know how to properly close a credit card, because after a certain time it turns out that you have a significant debt to the financial institution.
In order not to overpay interest and use funds with minimal debt accruals, as well as, if possible, avoid accumulating debt, it is better to follow a few simple rules:
- Repay the debt to the financial institution within grace period, then you can forget about percentages;
- if there is a debt, pay amounts that exceed the minimum required payment. Then you will be able to pay off the creditor much faster;
- spend your money wisely. Do not waste the funds on your card on various impulsive purchases. If you go to a supermarket, spend cash, then you will spend much less money;
- use a credit card for non-cash payments: when withdrawing cash from an ATM, you additionally pay a commission.
Until the card is cancelled, it is active, which means its service is not completed. The bank has expenses that are in one way or another related to the active account: re-issue, which can be carried out without the client’s application, SMS alerts, annual maintenance, insurance and much more.
Even minimal debt should always be repaid as quickly as possible. If your account balance is positive, withdraw the balance, but not completely. Leave a certain amount in the account in case you encounter any unexpected charges.
All this is always displayed on the account. Failure to repay the debt entails various penalties.
Want to know how to quickly close a credit card? Then come to the branch of the financial institution with a package of documents:
- Passport;
- account service agreement;
- certificate of no debt;
- credit card;
- application for account closure (2 copies).
The presence of the card itself is required. Otherwise, you will additionally need to write a statement about its loss. This results in payment of a fine due to the lack of physical media. This piece of plastic is the property of the bank, so you have to pay for its loss. It is not enough to simply submit an application. It is also necessary to check its status after a few days. To do this, just call hotline.
The last stage of cancellation is to obtain a certificate confirming the closure of the account, as well as the absence of debt to the financial institution. The certificate is not issued immediately, but only 1-2 months after you submit your application. When you receive the document, make sure it has a stamp. After all, it is she who will protect you from any claims against you in the future.
In some cases, you will be asked to pay to obtain such a certificate. It's better to pay. Keep all receipts and certificates even after the whole procedure is over.
Pitfalls
- Make sure that the credit card is cut in your presence across the magnetic strip, on both sides;
- request a copy of your application with the bank’s seal, the original always remains at the institution;
- You can wait for a certificate from 3 days to 3 months. Although, if you insist on your rights, they may give it to you right away;
- a certificate of no debt must be kept for 5 years for reliability;
- To avoid any problems, it is better to cancel the account in the branch in which you opened it.
By and large, everything is not that difficult. The main thing is to be attentive to details.
Some people strive to get a credit card at any cost, others want to get rid of it. Yes, this additional wallet is very convenient: no need to worry about not having enough money before payday, no need to take out small consumer loans, no need to risk cash when booking a hotel room or car. But if you don't need a credit card, it's better to close it.
Our article is about how to properly close a credit card - forever, so as not to think about it again. But first, let’s answer the question: why is it so important to close a credit card?
Why close your credit card?
So, you have decided finally and irrevocably that you don’t need a credit card. There are many reasons for this: you don’t like borrowed funds; The bank issued a credit card within salary project, what you didn't ask for; tired of not being able to resist the temptation to spend a couple of tens of thousands on a new smartphone; found a better offer, etc..
You can, of course, not close your existing credit card, but in this case you will most likely end up with unpleasant payments. For example, you previously used a card, then you forgot about it and stopped paying, having previously paid off the debt. However, each credit card there is a service fee that the bank will not forget to charge you, or rather, write off this amount from the card limit. Depending on the conditions, the bank will write off the fee once, and the next year, if the client continues to ignore the credit card, it will close the card, or will write off the fee exactly before the card expires. As a rule, a credit card that has not been used for more than a year is no longer reissued.
If you did not receive a credit card and did not enter a PIN code for it, then you most likely do not owe the bank anything.
But if the PIN code has been entered at least once (you want to know the credit limit), then the card is considered activated and an annual fee will be charged.
The amounts we are talking about are not so significant - from 300 rubles per year for a Visa Electron class card to 2000 rubles for three years of ownership Visa cards Classic - but unpleasant. As you now understand, it’s still worth closing the card.
Closing a credit card is a fairly simple action consisting of several steps.
1. Make sure that the card balance is positive
First of all, you either call the bank's support service or personal account on the bank’s website, or even in the bank’s office find out if your account balance is positive. The main difference between a credit card and a debit card is the status of the money in the account. If on a debit card all the money is yours (except for cards with overdraft), then on a credit card all the money belongs to the bank, but it allocates a credit limit to you. For example, the credit limit on your card is 50,000 rubles. Accordingly, if you haven’t used the card at all, 50 thousand rubles will remain in your account - conditionally, this is a zero threshold. But if you used the card - say, you spent 2,000 rubles - then the balance will be 48,000, and you owe the bank 2,000 rubles.
Why are we talking about this? Yes, because some clients think that when closing a credit card they need to clear the account to zero, which is absolutely and enchantingly wrong. You should only clear your account if you have additional funds on your card. For example, the same card with 50,000 rubles, but you additionally put another 5,000 rubles on it. Total 55,000 rubles, of which 5,000 are yours. This means that you can withdraw (or better yet transfer, since the bank charges interest for cashing out from a credit card) only 5,000 rubles.
2. Contact the bank
So, you have found out that you have no debt on your card, nor own funds. Means, you can contact the bank. Here we also recommend that you consult the bank’s support service in advance. The fact is that getting a card from many banks is easier than closing it. It’s good if you have a card from Sberbank or another large financial institution. In this case, you can close it at any branch. And if we are talking about a bank that has few branches or no representative office at all in your city, then at a minimum you will have to go to the other end of the city or contact a bank that is authorized to perform such an operation.
3. We write an application to close the card
Next step - application for card closure. As a rule, the bank has a standard template in which you indicate your passport details, card account number and other parameters. We recommend asking the employee to give you a copy of the application to close the card - this may be useful. If a document is accidentally lost or it disappears in tons of business correspondence.
You hand over the completed application to the employee, he informs you that the card account (that is, the card) will be closed within 45 days. And the question arises: why so long? Calm down, this is not a whim of the bank or some kind of scam designed to take away some of your hard-earned money. The international payment systems Visa and MasterCard, one of which your card belongs to, have their own rules. One of them is to ensure the possibility of receiving/writing off deferred transactions. For example, money should be transferred to your card, but you forgot about it. Or, conversely, a deferred payment should be debited from your card. As a rule, 45 days is enough for the card to be considered “clean”.
4. We are waiting...
The last step is verification. After 45 days the card must be closed. If you have an online bank, then this step will definitely be reflected in it: the card will first be marked as blocked, and then completely disappear from the list of your products. But in any case, we recommend contacting the bank and asking for a document to close the card account. This 100% guarantees you against various troubles associated with allegedly incurred debts as a result of some failures or erroneous actions of bank employees.
Having decided to stop using a Sberbank credit card, the client must close the card correctly. Many people put it off or throw it away. However, the bank continues to service even an inactive credit card. Having no intention of using it in the future "plastic", cardholdermust responsibly approach the issue of its closure.
How to close a Sberbank credit card online
– this is the access key to her account. It remains active regardless of the product's expiration date. By refusing to subsequently use the “plastic”, its owner must terminate the service agreement and close the card account.
Algorithm of the borrower's actions when closing a credit card:
- Complete.
- Applying to the creditor to close the card account and handing over/destroying the “plastic”.
- Receiving documentary evidence – a certificate confirming the closure of the account and the absence of obligations to the creditor.
An application for refusal of a product is submitted by the applicant only during a personal visit to the lender’s office. It is not possible to complete the credit card closing procedure online. Using the “ ” service, the card owner only has access to the function of blocking it.
How to close a Sberbank Momentum credit card
The holder of a credit card, including one, should contact the office where the product was issued to close the card. If this is not possible, the client has the right to submit an application to any nearest branch. At the same time, the closing procedure itself changes slightly.
The consumer submits an application to close an existing account and at the same time fills out an application to transfer funds from it. To do this, another account will be opened for him in the new branch, which must also be closed later.
The only difference for products in the “Momentum” category is the absence of the lender’s requirement to hand over the “plastic” for its destruction.
How to close a Sberbank credit card of a deceased spouse
The mere fact of the death of the owner of a credit card does not entail its closure. The creditor continues to service the account in in full. All obligations of the deceased will pass to the heir only after his entry into rights. Until this moment, any operations with the card account are illegal, including the procedure for closing it. In this case, the only thing the deceased’s spouse has the right to do is to hand over the “plastic” to the lender and notify him of the borrower’s death by providing a certificate.
After the successor has entered into the inheritance, the bank has the right to demand from him payment of both the principal debt and interest. At the same time, the creditor does not have the right to impose sanctions for late payments until the second spouse receives rights to the property of the deceased. Having received the appropriate certificate of inheritance, the widow/widower has the opportunity to close the credit card.
How to close a credit card at Sberbank early 
– 3 years. Its owner has the right to refuse to use the product early. Before submitting an application, the consumer is required to pay off all outstanding debt on the card. The owner can find out its exact size:
- by telephone on the creditor's hotline;
- online, in your personal account;
- from a bank employee in any branch.
Having made full settlement of all payments, the cardholder submits an application for its closure and termination of account servicing. At this stage, the holder of the “plastic” hands it over to the lender for destruction. An employee of the institution must carry out this procedure in the presence of the client. In this case, you should pay attention to the bank employee cutting the magnetic strip of the credit card, preferably in several places. This will eliminate the possibility of further misuse of the card.
How to close a Sberbank gold credit card
Having paid off the existing card debt, the product owner submits an application for its closure. The borrower must have a passport and... In addition, it is advisable for the product holder to worry about disabling all services accompanying “plastic”: mobile banking / insurance / SMS information, etc. To do this, you must also submit a corresponding application.
Within 30 days from the date of surrender and destruction of the valid card, the creditor will complete all activities to resolve disputed transactions on the account and close it.
Having completed the first two stages of the procedure, the client approaches the third - obtaining a certificate. Its registration is necessary when closing products of any category. The document will confirm not only the fact of cancellation of the card account, but also the absence of any obligations of the borrower to the institution.
This must be done by adhering to a clear algorithm. And since the card issuer is a bank, even after blocking the card must be returned to the bank. All clients should remember this, and especially those who think that they can now simply throw it away.
The peculiarity of credit plastic is that any connected paid service is charged monthly. So even if you repay the loan itself, later the cost of the annual credit card service will be deducted from the account, and then the cost of SMS notifications, then at this rate the balance will again become negative.
Interest will be charged on the amount of debt and here the lender no longer cares that the card holder did not use the borrowed funds. The debt will have to be repaid.
We'll tell you how to properly close a credit card so you don't get headaches later.
In any case, the balance on the card should be 0, if negative balance The bank will not close the account, and it is in the interests of the client himself not to overpay commissions later. This is why it is so important to obtain comprehensive information about the current amount of debt.
It is best to use multiple sources of information. We recommend that you call the hotline and clarify the amount of the debt, then go to the nearest ATM and pick up a check indicating the account balance.
It would be best to go straight to the bank, taking your card and passport with you. There you can get a printed statement indicating the amount of debt down to the penny, and based on the same document you can pay everything at the cash register.
This is the only way to avoid leaving behind credit card debt at closing. Please note that you must receive information about the debt and pay it off on the same day. Otherwise, the very next day the percentage will be calculated again and, as a result, the information you received will simply become irrelevant.
We advise you to apply to close your credit card at the exact branch where you received it. It doesn't really matter where you go, but the bureaucracy in our country is still strong. Therefore, in practice, it will be faster and more efficient to contact your “native” department.
Time to write a statement
The document form can be obtained directly from a bank employee and filled out on site. Next, you should be meticulous: make sure that the application is accepted, and then the card is cut with scissors before your eyes.
These tips will help you figure out how to quickly close a credit card, but be prepared for the fact that almost all banks will take time to close.
So, for example, at Tinkoff the application will be considered for 45 days, Sberbank suggests waiting 30 days and only after the specified period the contract will be terminated and the account will be closed.
If, in addition, personal funds were stored in the account, then you will be able to receive them in your hands only after this period of time. Make sure everything paid services such as SMS notifications and the like were disabled.
It is necessary to obtain a certificate of account closure
After a couple of months, you will need to visit the bank again and clarify whether the account was really closed and the bank does not have any claims against you.
According to statistics, only 20% of users spend their time on this and in vain, because this way you are guaranteed to know that you do not have any debts.
There is nothing complicated about how to close a credit card account. Most last stage- this is to obtain a certificate from a bank employee stating that the card is closed.
Its presence will protect you from possible problems in the future, because situations often happen when a year later a person finds out about a debt to the bank, while the creditor has already filed a lawsuit. Get ready for the fact that some banks have a paid service and you will have to pay about 200 rubles for a simple piece of paper with the seal and signatures of the responsible persons.
What to do if the credit card is simply not used?
Many banks today simply issue credit cards as a gift to people who actively use simple debit or social types of cards. As a rule, the issue of such cards is free and usually another year of free service is offered under the guise of a promotion. Some clients agree and sign a loan agreement.
Then a logical question arises - what to do with this card?
Throwing it in the back drawer of the desk is not the best solution because of the same paid services and maintenance, which after a while may become paid and will gradually eat money from the account.
Is it possible to close a credit card in this case and how does this happen? The algorithm of actions is exactly the same as if the card was actively used: first, visit the bank and pay off the debt (if it has accumulated), then write an application and actually destroy the card.
Please note that you will not be able to open a card for a month, then cancel it, and then contact the bank again. Such a client may be considered unreliable, so that the issuance of a credit card will either be refused, or the credit limit on it will be too small, and the other conditions will be too unfavorable.
Algorithm of actions using the example of a Sberbank card
Let's consider what actions should be taken by the owner of a credit card from Sberbank who no longer needs it:
- come to the same branch where the card was received. Have your passport and card with you;
- sign a ready-made application or fill it out from scratch;
- receive an account statement and, if necessary, pay off the debt at the cash desk;
- then try to check in your personal account that the card is blocked and the debt has not begun to accumulate;
- wait until 45 days have passed since the visit and receive a certificate from the bank branch stating that the account has been successfully closed and you no longer owe the bank anything.
The wording of the certificate is usually standard: “The full name of the borrower has repaid the debt on credit card No. АААА and, according to the loan agreement No. ВВВВ, has repaid it in full.
The card account is closed. Date and signature of the responsible person.” It is recommended not to throw this document away.