New CC , Cancel , or don't activitate ?

[fordy]

................I'm puzzlied about my new(UNwanted) CC from my credit union ! I have 2 M.Cards , one from my bank and one from a credit union , both have fairly low balances which I will reduce significantly , this year . My credit union sent me a new CC which I did not ask for , or Need ! Now , I have read that cancelling a CC will reduce our credit rating , so IF I don't activitate this new CC will it also reduce my credit rating because IF yes I might as well call and cancel it ? , thanks , fordy

[blooba]

For one CALL THE CREDIT UNION NOW!!! Someone may have stole your identity and were hoping to intercept this before it got to you.

No this credit card account hasn't been opened yet so it won't show as being closed so no effect on credit score.

[TheMartianChick]

Is it possible that the card is a replacement card for the account that you already have with the credit union?

[Danaus29]

I got a credit card and an overdraft line of credit, neither of which were requested, when I opened a checking account. Closed them all within the month. Didn't affect my score much, only a couple points.

Call the card issuer. Find out why you got the card.

FWIW, you are much better off to cancel a card you don't want or need than to have it laying around. Last year a woman got ripped off because of an unclosed and unused cc. She forgot to change her address with the company and they sent her some checks. The people at the address cashed several checks and had a new card sent out. IIRC there were several thousand dollars of her credit used before it was discovered.

i agree, they dont just send cards someone had to ask for it. and you are going to want to know who.

[TheMartianChick]

Originally Posted by Danaus29

I got a credit card and an overdraft line of credit, neither of which were requested, when I opened a checking account. Closed them all within the month. Didn't affect my score much, only a couple points.

Call the card issuer. Find out why you got the card.

FWIW, you are much better off to cancel a card you don't want or need than to have it laying around. Last year a woman got ripped off because of an unclosed and unused cc. She forgot to change her address with the company and they sent her some checks. The people at the address cashed several checks and had a new card sent out. IIRC there were several thousand dollars of her credit used before it was discovered.

In the instance that you have cited, the woman shouldn't have been liable for the fraudulent use of her account. That is one of the protections that you get when your credit card account is used fraudulently.

[Cabin Fever]

We get two cards from our credit union too. One is a charge card and the other is a debit card. They look almost the same.

[Fae]

We get 2 debit cards with our credit union account. You can use them as debit or credit but we only use debit. They send one for each member. I learned the hard way not to use a credit card and have never gotten one I did not apply for but used to get a lot of offers in the mail.

[marvella]

is you expiration up on your existing card? maybe it's just time for a new one. they automatically send them a month or so before the other one expires.

[Pat]

I got a un requested Visa card from my Credit Union last fall... didn't do anything with it. Then found out (the hard way lol) that they quit supporting MasterCard.

Maybe your Credit Union is also not issuing (nor supporting) MasterCard.

The best advise I've seen on this thread is to call your Credit Union.

Pat

[Danaus29]

TheMartianChick, in the end she wasn't held liable for the charges and the perps were arrested and jailed. It's the interim time from when you first find out about it until you actually get the whole mess cleared up that is the problem. One woman I know has been battling true identity theft for several years. The woman that has her info keeps using it but has never been jailed.