Quick tip: Check your credit card accounts 30 days after closing them

There are many reasons why you might close a credit card. Once you do, that card may be “out of sight” to you.

However, a recent issue taught me that you should check your credit cards 30 days after closing them, as this will help you avoid problems later.

See why you should check your recently closed accounts.

What happens to closed accounts?

Once you close a credit card, you will lose access to the card’s benefits and cannot make purchases on it. Depending on the issuer, you may also lose access to managing your card online if you don’t currently have any other accounts open with that bank.

However, you should continue to receive your bank statements until the account is paid off and the balance is reduced to $0. Furthermore, if you close your credit card within the bank’s timeframe (usually 30 days) from the time the annual fee is deposited into your account, you will receive a refund of the annual fee.

I closed mine Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card are from american bank in December 2021. I checked my account a few days later and made sure the annual fee was removed from my account, as the phone representative promised when I closed my account. Satisfied, I stopped following the account.

In September 2022, Alaska Airlines business card offers the best signup bonus ever. I decided to apply for this card again but was surprised to be denied. The reason was even more surprising: Bank of America said I had a delinquent account that was in arrears for lack of payment.

The annual fee was returned to my closed account due to an automation error and my contact information was somehow removed from the account. For nine months, I had no idea that there was a balance in the account, meaning it charged late payments and accrued interest each month along the way.

Additionally, the account was sent to Bank of America collection, which is reporting the past due to business credit reporting agencies, thus affecting my account. business credit score. (If this is a personal credit card, negative information will be reported on my profile. personal credit report.)

Bank of America was able to find out where the error was and wipe my account, but checking my credit card after closing the account provided a solution much sooner. Thirty days should be enough time to complete all final reports, which is when any billing errors will appear. Spotting this problem earlier and fixing it before it becomes a bigger problem means I can get my credit card application automatically approved — instead of having to deal with the problem and then there request reconsideration after the initial rejection.