- 1). Stop using your credit card. You can pay off the balance before or after you cancel out the card. Consumer Credit Card Guide recommends waiting until at least one billing cycle after the credit card has been paid off before you cancel the card.
- 2). Call the customer service number found on the back of your credit card. Write down the date and time of the call as well as the name of the representative you are talking to. Request that the representative cancel the credit card.
- 3). Decline any of the credit card representative's attempts to get you to keep the credit card open. Stay on the phone until the representative gives you a cancellation number. Write this number down.
- 4). Request that the credit card representative send you written confirmation that the account has indeed been closed.
- 5). Cut your credit card in several tiny pieces so that no one else can use it. Dispose of the pieces in different trash bags so that the information cannot be put back together.
- 6). Wait 30 days and request a copy of your credit report. Check to make sure that the credit card you canceled is marked as closed. If it was not, you will have the information from the date and time you called the company. You will also have the representative's name and the cancellation number. Contact the credit card company again to determine when the account will be closed.
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