I Have A Credit Card I Never Use, So I Investigated What To Do With It

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Courtesy Jen Glantz

• I opened a credit card last year and never used it. I don't want to close it and hurt my credit score.
• If I don't use it at all, it might be automatically closed, so I need to use it from time to time.
• The easiest way to accomplish that is to use it for various recurring monthly costs.

At the start of 2024, I decided I needed another credit card besides my travel rewards credit card. I was staying put more and didn't need to use my points for plane tickets, hotels, or rental cars.

I decided to open up a cash back credit card, the Chase Freedom Unlimited card. But as the months went by, I forgot to use my new credit card. Since opening it around a year ago, I haven't even used it for one transaction.

That's why I decided to explore my options for this unused and unwanted credit card.

I don't want to close it and hurt my credit score

The most obvious thing to do with an unused credit card is cancel it. That would help me simplify my finances so I don't have to worry about having another credit card sitting around. Doing this would also help minimize my risk and fraud exposure, especially since I don't ever check my online portal for the credit card.

However, canceling the credit card could affect my credit score. While it's hard to know how much my score would drop, closing the card would affect my total available credit and my credit utilization ratio. Closed credit cards pop up on credit reports for up to 10 years.

The threat of my credit score dropping after years of working hard to build it up made me not want to cancel this unused credit card.

I could use the credit card just once a month

I asked Chase what would happen to my credit card if I continued to not use it, and I was told the company would eventually close the card for inactivity.

Knowing that pushed me to explore another option, which was to just use the card once or twice a month. Swiping the card for a few transactions would keep my account active and would solve my issue of not wanting a credit card cancellation to impact my credit score.

Since I don't want to cancel my travel rewards credit card and I don't want to manage two separate credit card accounts, I can simply pick one day a month to use the card and pay it off that same day.

For example, I'll use the credit card on the first Saturday of every month when I'm out with my family. On Monday, when the transactions are posted, I'll pay off the balance and then put the card away until the next month.

As someone who likes to keep their finances simple and stress-free, this seemed like a decent option.

The easiest option is to automate it

Another option is to use the card for certain recurring expenses.

I use my other credit card to pay for recurring charges like my health insurance premium, cable and internet fees, streaming service subscriptions, and more. These fees are pretty much the same every month.

I can move them to this new card and set up auto payment to make the process easier. That way, I can streamline my finances and use this credit card as a home for recurring expenses.

After considering my options, this route made the most sense. I decided to use my Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card for monthly recurring expenses. That way, I'll also be able to tap into the card's cash back perks, which is why I originally opened the card in the first place.