Is closing your credit card good or bad for YOU?

Here's clearing this credit card misconception floating around in India.

Diya Mundhra was in a peculiar situation. She had two credit cards. Most of the times she used only one. So she wanted to surrender the card, which she hardly ever used. But a colleague of hers advised her not to, as it may affect her credit rating.

Diya is financial disciplinarian. She constantly monitored her credit score and did everything to keep her score healthy.

So she did close the card and it kept idling in her wallet for over two years when it dawned on her that it really doesn't affect the credit score.

The author is a credit expert with 10 years of experience in personal finance and consumer banking industry and another 7 years in credit bureau sector. Rajiv was instrumental in setting up India's first credit bureau, Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL). He has also worked with Citibank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and Experian in various capacities.

These are the kind of misconceptions doing rounds in the country when it comes to credit cards and your credit score. People are constantly floating around wrong information.

Hence, we at creditvidya.com make it a point do away with misconceptions about financial well being.

Closure of a credit card account does not really affect your credit score unless you choose a settlement mode.

Credit card settlement mode means you have delayed your credit card payments which has piled up into larger outstanding along with interest and penalty. And then you negotiate with the credit card company and go in for a settlement.

In this case, your credit score does get affected immediately.

While your score may improve over a period of time, the credit agencies however will mention in your credit report about the occurrence of such an instant, which will not go down well with the lenders.

It is however safe to close your credit card account after clearing all your dues. That way your credit score remains unaffected. All you have to do is collect credit card closure letter from your bank and keep it safe for future reference.