Today I received a privacy notice from Bank of America. (A few of you know how I hate Bank of America.) I'm sure you're familiar with those notices and all of the opt out stuff. You have to call a number and have to have your account info because it's all automated. Well, I don't *have* my account information. This used to be my NEA credit card through MBNA. Well Bank of America bought out MBNA's credit cards. So I paid off the balance, shredded the cards and haven't received a statement in years. I have no idea what the account number is. So I have to personally call a live person to opt out. Which I did. It's only good for five years. 5. In five years I'm going to have to do this again. FOREVER. I should have to put up with this bullsh¡t every five years. Don't tell me about the law. I know what the law is. I think the opt-out is utter bullsh¡t. If I don't want to opt in, then that should be it. I should have to go through this every five years for the rest of my life just so Bank of America, who I NO LONGER DO BUSINESS WITH, can make money selling my information. We all know HOW the law ended up the way it is. Corporations wrote it. Well, time to get it changed.
While I agree that the law should require OPT-IN instead of OPT-OUT, you should only have to do this so long as you have an account with them. Paying off a balance and cutting up the cards does not close the account. You should be able to contact Bank of America (it may require sending them a letter) and request that the account be closed. Assuming you have no other accounts with Bank of America, you should stop receiving the privacy notices and should no longer need to opt out.
Does closing a 0-balance card affect credit? If so, that's a nasty trap they have. Tangent: I've been getting more and more spam phone calls recently. I guess that do-not-call list needs my number again.
When BofA bought MBNA and then changed the terms of the credit card, I closed my account. I didn't care if it lowered my credit score or not. And I agree, its BS to have to opt out in the first place. They should have to have you opt in to sell any info about you to other parties.
I think that is a rumor/myth started by credit card companies. I've closed 2 in the last few years, and my score is still over 800.
It may lower your score, it also may raise your score. For that matter it may have no effect on your score. It depends on a lot of variables. Either way, you're rid of the need to opt-out every 5 years, and unless it is the only credit you've ever had, it is unlikely to have a significant effect. For that matter any effect it has is likely to fade within a couple of years. If you are planning on getting a loan (mortgage, new car, boat, etc) in the next year or so, you might want to keep the account open until after you've closed on the new loan. Otherwise, I'd close the account.
So? Flip your life around so that instead of buying something now and paying for it later, you save for it now and buy it later. Then your credit score doesn't matter, you don't waste lots of money paying interest for years after you buy something, and you might even get wealthy in the process. Sorry... I've been listening to a lot of Dave Ramsey. Debt is dumb and your FICO score only matters if you want to go further into debt, which we've already established is dumb.
Maybe Dave could explain this to POTUS and Congress. As a country, we are carrying a heavy load. :ballchain:
I don't think you've been paying attention. The account has a zero balance. I haven't used it in years. But according to what I've been reading...if I just close it my credit score could go down. You score is based on the amount of credit you HAVE versus what you've USED. I haven't USED any of the credit on this account because it has a zero balance. So it adds to the credit I HAVE. If I close it, I lose that. And your credit score *does* matter if you're a home owner. If I ever want to refinance at a lower interest rate....I can get a lower interest rate the higher my credit score is. If I ever sold my home and bought another one...I'd want the highest score I can get.
How do you think they issued mortgages before computers? It was through a process called "manual underwriting". Lots of mortgage companies still do this. WWSD #5: How can I get a mortgage without a credit score? | Antishay Ventenne
This is not true. I've heard of employers checking credit scores before hiring a new employee. I've heard of landlords checking credit scores before renting property to potential renters. I've heard of automobile insurance companies adjusting insurance premiums according to poor or good credit scores. None of these require going further into debt, and credit score matters for all of them.
