Should I Have My Credit Cards Reissued?

November 16, 2006 7:43 PM

If I cut up old credit cards, but left the accounts open, should I have new cards sent to me? With different numbers?

I have two older credit cards I signed up for, regretted, cut up upon receiving them, and promptly forgot about. I monitor the usage of both cards now (zero usage), and they're older, so I don't want to cancel them (affecting credit score).

Should I have both cards reissued to me with different numbers (since I don't have the original cards), and hide them away, or let it go, since I monitor their usage to make sure no one else is using them?

Neither one charges any fee. One is six years old, and I just rediscovered it due to BofA merging with MBNA. But it still has zero balance.

So, neither card will cost me anything to keep open, which is good.

Also, I know I disposed of the cut up cards properly. I'm paranoid about that. So, I'm not really worried about someone finding an old card and using it.

I'm just wondering if I should have a *physical* card for each of the accounts, and if so, should I ask for them to be reissued with new numbers?

posted by duckierose to work & money (8 answers total)

I don't see any harm or benefit of having the physical card. It sounds like you're not going to use it, so just don't call the activation number and store it somewhere. I would get one in case of emergencies.

You said you had one for 6 years. Shouldn't it have expired by now, and your credit card company sent a new one already?
posted by lpctstr; at 7:56 PM on November 16, 2006

They had an old address. I just recently updated my address, once they merged with BofA, so maybe they'll be sending me a new card soon? Not sure on that.

And, the 6 year old one only has a 500$ limit. The other one has a $1,000 limit.

I have an active card with a $7,000 limit and no balance, so I doubt (hope) I'll need the other two for emergencies. Plus, I'm pretty good financially.

Right now the only benefit for either card is having them on my credit report, I believe.
posted by duckierose at 8:05 PM on November 16, 2006

Maybe your 'should I' is caused by wondering if new ones have been sent to your old address before you changed it?

Your follow-up response crapped on my initial thought, which was of a person looking for a reason other than Spend Spend Spend urges to justify getting their mits on those cards again.
posted by Kino at 9:23 PM on November 16, 2006

While you know it's better for your credit report - just to let others know, the more un-used credit you have, that reflects better on your credit report - it means that are able to resist temptation though that does not mean you should apply for everything in sight :-)

Also keep in mind that if you never use the cards, if you suddenly decide to make a big purchase one month, you might run into a verification problem at the store so that's one thing to consider that you use it often enough without going overboard and pay it off monthly.

As for your cards, as long as you keep them in a safe place, you never know when there might be an emergency - they're pretty easy to hide and you can pretty much cancel them in 2 minutes so you shouldn't get too worried ... especially since if you're not using it out "in public." I think Citibank and Amex have changing card numbers - I have not investigated the details but you can look into them also.
posted by jbelkin at 9:47 PM on November 16, 2006

Request additional credit for both of the cards, even though you don't use them. That way, you'll have more unused credit and a better credit score.
posted by Etaoin Shrdlu at 10:44 PM on November 16, 2006

Have you ever made any purchases with these cards? Did you simply order them, receive them, and cut them up? If so, I'm not sure that they are actually helping your credit score except on the "unused credit" part. As far as I know, (think I got this from Suze Orman) you need to make purchases and continue to pay the balance off, creating a history of usage and payments, before the card helps you out much. Also, when I got my credit card I didn't use it for forever. It was several years before I really used it at all. During this time, my credit score didn't go up at all. After I had a larger purchase history for a couple years (less time than I'd had the card overall! Maybe one year of making purchases consistently) my score went up. I know this because it helped me get a car.
posted by theantikitty at 5:59 AM on November 17, 2006

Most cards are reissued on their expiry date. Given that they had an incorrect address for you until very recently, my concern would be that there are already reissued cards out there somewhere. Your best bet might be to talk to the company and ask if it would make sense to cancel any outstanding cards and reissue you new ones. What you then did with the new ones would be up to you.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:31 AM on November 17, 2006

theantikitty -- I haven't made purchases with either card. The oldest one shows up on my credit report, going back to when I signed up for it, with the positive "ok" in each month's box. So, I'm assuming that affects my credit, but, I don't actually know, since I never saw my report before I had the card.

You all have been very helpful. It would make sense to call up the companies to check on my status, when the last cards were issued, etc.

Thank you.
posted by duckierose at 12:02 PM on November 17, 2006