The Simplest Method to Cancel Your Canadian Credit Cards

Nothing hits quite like getting instant approval on a new credit card with a juicy welcome bonus. However, once you complete the minimum spend requirement and have earned your welcome bonus, it’s time to consider the next steps. Is this a card you want to keep long-term? Or is it one that you want to cancel and potentially receive the welcome bonus again?

The first thing that comes to mind when most people think of canceling a credit card account is having to call in and deal with a customer service rep. Believe it or not, you are able to cancel your card with most Canadian credit card issuers without picking up the phone. It’s certainly nice not having to wait on hold or speak with a rep.

Below, we will cover the simplest method to cancel your credit card with each of the major credit card companies in Canada.

Why Would I Cancel My Credit Card?

The most common reason an indvidual would want to cancel a credit card is to receive the welcome bonus again. While some issuers will allow you to hold multiples of the same card at once, most will require you to cancel the credit card, wait a period of time, and then re-apply for the same card in order to receive the welcome bonus again.

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Another reason is that you may want to lower your available credit in order to increase approval chances for other credit cards. Canadian banks may not be willing to approve a new credit card if your current available credit is too high when compared to your income, which plays into how they determine your risk as a borrower. If you want to learn more about credit utilization ratios or the impact that closing a card can have on your credit history and score, learn how credit cards work.

The biggest thing to remember is that you shouldn’t ever close your oldest credit card account. If you have had a card under your name since you were 18 years old, but never use it, just throw it in a drawer and forget about it. The average age of accounts does play into your credit score and should be considered before canceling a credit product.

What to Do Before You Cancel a Credit Card

Before you cancel your card you need to ensure that you have used or transferred the points on the account (where applicable) prior to canceling to ensure that you do not lose them. You do not want to leave any unused rewards in your account.

Additionally, before canceling it is a good idea to pay off the outstanding credit card balance to avoid any issues with missed or late payments (which will greatly impact your payment history and in turn, your credit history). Make sure your account is in good standing before closing the card.

Furthermore, you should always explore if there are any options to product switch to another credit product that is offered by that credit card company. This can be a great method to take advantage of a new welcome bonus without the credit hit.

This may be a better solution than canceling the card outright with the credit card issuer, but it does depend on what offers are out there and what credit card company your card is with.

Also, it is important to note that depending on the issuer they may give you a statement credit of a full or prorated refund of the annual fee. This should not always be expected, but seems to happen more often than not with certain credit card issuers.

How to Cancel an American Express Credit Card

In previous years, you were able to cancel Amex credit card accounts via secure message and then via live chat when they first transitioned to that service. However, this is no longer possible. If you use the live chat feature and request that your credit card be canceled, they will provide you with a number to call so they can attempt to retain you as a customer.

Whether you call the number provided by live chat or the number on the back of your card, you will be routed to customer retention in order to cancel the credit card. You may be routed to a different department depending on if the credit card is personal or business.

American Express has been known to offer some pretty strong retention bonuses depending on your previous spend on the card so it isn’t the worst thing in the world to have to call in and speak to a rep.

How to Cancel an RBC Credit Card

You are able to cancel credit card accounts with the Royal Bank of Canada via two methods: online secure message or a phone call. I recommend using online secure messaging to cancel for ease, convenience, and quite frankly, avoiding the need to talk to a human.

In order to send an online secure message to cancel your credit card, log into RBC online banking and click the “Messages/Alert” button. From there, click on “Send a Secure Message”. In the dropdown menu, you will be sending the message to “RBC Royal Bank” with the option of “Credit Cards”.

Typically, when I send a secure message to RBC (or any other issuer where the option is available) to cancel a credit card it looks something like this:

“Hello,

I would like to cancel my WestJet World Elite Mastercard (ending in x6969) as I am consolidating my finances. Please proceed with the cancellation and provide confirmation once completed.

Regards,

Josh”

Within a day or two, you will receive a message back from RBC. Essentially this message is simply the customer service rep asking you to confirm that you do indeed want to cancel the credit card and close the account, in addition to reminding you to cut up your credit card and cancel any automatic bill payments on the card. You can simply respond with “Yes, please proceed with canceling my credit card” and a few days later you will receive another secure message from them stating that the card has been canceled.

RBC also sends a letter to your address on file to provide written confirmation that the credit card has been canceled, which is appreciated. You may also receive your final credit card statement via mail for the closed credit card.

On the other hand, if you wish to speak to a customer service rep to cancel your credit card, call 1-800-769-2512 and they will be able to walk you through the cancellation process. There is not much benefit to calling RBC to cancel as there are not many, if any, data points of them offering strong retention bonuses.

How to Cancel a TD Credit Card

TD Canada Trust credit cards can be canceled via two methods: secure message or phone. 

In order to cancel online through a secure message, you will need to log in, click on “Communications” on the left-hand side, and then “Send a secure message”.

Once you are on the secure message page, you will need to find your credit card in the drop-down menu and compose a secure message to initiate the cancellation of the card. A typical stock message could look like this:

“Hello,

I would like to cancel my TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card (ending in x0420) as I am consolidating my finances. Please proceed with the cancellation and provide confirmation once completed.

Regards,

Josh”

From there, they will respond and ask you to confirm that you do wish to cancel the credit card. Once confirmed, they will cancel the credit card for you and follow-up with a letter in the mail to confirm the cancellation.

On the other hand, if you wish to cancel via phone you can simply call 1-800-983-8472 and speak with a customer service rep. Based on what I have heard, TD does not tend to offer retention bonuses on their credit card products.

How to Cancel a CIBC Credit Card

To cancel a CIBC credit card, you will need to call CIBC directly as these cards can only be canceled over the phone. CIBC’s customer service reps can be reached at 1-800-465-4653. Once you call in, the customer service rep will be able to quickly cancel your credit card with no pushback.

If you go into the Contact Us section on the CIBC website, there are a few options to ask a question or chat with a virtual assistant, however, both are utterly terrible for any useful purpose. Both of these features cannot be used to cancel your credit card.

CIBC typically does not offer retention bonuses so the canceling process is relatively quick and painless when you do call in to cancel.

How to Cancel a BMO Credit Card

BMO credit cards can be canceled via two methods: online through messaging and through a phone call.

In order to cancel via an online message, log into your BMO online banking account and click “My Messages” and then “Send a Message”. The process is similar to other issuers where you can send a message citing that you wish to cancel a specific credit card. They will then respond, asking you to confirm that you do wish to cancel. Once you confirm, they will cancel the credit card for you.

You will know that the credit card has been canceled once you are no longer able to log into your online account. BMO does not send letters to confirm the card cancellation so make sure that you do attempt to log in to ensure the cancellation was successful.

If you wish to cancel over the phone, you can reach a BMO customer service rep at 1-800-263-2263. I have found that BMO reps are incredibly efficient when you call in to cancel and don’t tend to prod for reasons or offer any retention bonuses.

How to Cancel a Scotiabank Credit Card

The only way to cancel a Scotiabank credit card is via phone; you will need to call their customer service representatives at 1-866-267-4935. Scotiabank does not typically offer retention bonuses on their credit cards when canceling.

How to Cancel an MBNA Credit Card

Cardholders are able to cancel their MBNA credit card via live chat or over the phone.

If you wish to cancel via live chat, log into your MBNA credit card account. Once logged in (and viewing your credit card snapshot), you will see a tab on the right-hand side that says “Chat now”. Click on this, and you will launch into a live chat session which will automatically connect you with a rep who can assist you with canceling your credit card. MBNA live chat is open daily, from 7 am to 9 pm EST.

If you want to cancel via phone, you will need to call their customer service reps at 1-888-876-6262. MBNA does not offer any retention bonuses on their credit cards when canceling and often the rep will simply cancel the card without any pushback.

You may find success switching your MBNA credit card instead of closing it to increase your chances of being approved with your next application. You can actually do switches and consolidations via live chat as well.

Conclusion

Canceling a credit card is part of the miles and points lifecycle and is one of those necessary processes we deal with in this hobby. Wherever possible, I always recommend contacting financial institutions and canceling online via secure message or chat if it is supported since it avoids the need for personal contact. Perhaps more importantly, it allows you to cancel on behalf of your significant other or other family members (or ‘players’ as we like to call them!).