How long before each major issuer closes an unused credit card

An unused credit card stays open until your issuer's review system decides it doesn't. The deadline varies more than people expect: the most aggressive major US issuer can close a card at 6 months, the most lenient routinely leaves cards open past 24. Where your card sits on that spectrum tells you how much margin for error you actually have.

Why timelines vary at all

Issuers don't choose closure timelines randomly. Three factors set the threshold:

• Capital cost. Banks hold regulatory capital against open credit lines (Basel III). The longer a card sits unused, the more dead capital the bank carries. Aggressive closure frees up capital faster.
• Reactivation rates. If a bank's data shows customers who go 18 months without using a card almost never come back, the bank closes at 12. If reactivation at 24 months is common, they wait longer.
• Acquisition economics. A new cardholder costs hundreds of dollars in marketing and bonus payouts. Closing dormant cards risks attrition. Issuers with strong rewards programs (Capital One, Discover) tend to be more lenient.

Each issuer's number reflects an internal trade-off between capital efficiency and customer retention. The patterns below are stable across years but can tighten during recessions.

Chase

Typical closure window: 12–18 months

Chase reviews dormant accounts at roughly the 12-month mark; closure usually lands between 13 and 18 months. Personal cards (Sapphire, Freedom Unlimited, Slate) cluster around 15 months. Business cards (Ink Cash, Ink Preferred) close faster — often at 12 months — because Chase is more aggressive with business inactivity.

Chase rarely sends advance notice on personal cards. The first you'll know is usually a letter informing you the account is closed (sent after the fact) or the closed-by-credit-grantor flag on your next credit report.

Premium cards (Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve) get more leniency because the annual fee itself is a posted charge. The fee posts on the cardmember anniversary, counts as activity, and resets the clock automatically.

American Express

Typical closure window: 12–24 months (consumer)

Amex has a wider range than Chase. Premium charge cards (Platinum, Gold, Green) stay open as long as the annual fee is paid — the fee resets the inactivity clock. No-fee products (EveryDay, Cash Magnet, Blue Cash Everyday no-fee tier) close fastest, sometimes at 12 months.

Amex business cards (Business Platinum, Business Gold) sit in the 12–18 month range. Advance notice 30 days before closure is more reliable on business than consumer cards.

Amex-specific quirk: closing an Amex card affects your "Membership Year" tier. If you have multiple Amex cards and let one go dormant, the closed account no longer counts toward your length-of-membership total when Amex evaluates offers on new products.

Capital One

Typical closure window: 18–24 months

Capital One is the most lenient major. Cards routinely sit unused 18–24 months without closure; some have been reported open at 30+ months, though formal policy targets 24.

Capital One also sends advance notice most reliably — usually a written letter 30 days before closure, identifying the card, the reason ("inactivity"), and the action that prevents it ("make a purchase by [date]"). The notice goes by physical mail; if you've moved and they have a stale address, you'll never see it.

The portfolio is almost entirely no-annual-fee (Quicksilver, Savor, Platinum, VentureOne), which is part of why they're more tolerant — no annual-fee revenue from inactive cards, but no operational cost either. The bank trades closure leniency for retention.

Discover

Typical closure window: 12–18 months

Discover sits in the middle. Closures typically land at 12–18 months. Like Capital One, Discover offers only no-annual-fee products (Discover it, Cash Back, Miles), so all closure decisions are pure operational economics.

Discover is the most transparent major when explaining closures. The letter and the app both state "due to inactivity" — no ambiguity. Discover also tends to email notice 30 days ahead; check your email's "promotions" tab, where these often filter.

Citi

Typical closure window: 6–12 months

Citi is the most aggressive major on inactivity closure. Reports of Citi closing cards at 6 months are common; 12 months is where closure rates accelerate sharply. If you have an unused Citi card, you have less margin than with any other major.

Cobranded cards (AAdvantage, Costco Anywhere Visa) follow each cobrand partner's policy more than Citi's standard — these tend to be slightly more lenient because the partner has retention reasons.

Citi sends advance notice less reliably than Capital One or Discover. Treat any Citi card you don't use as on the closure track.

Bank of America

Typical closure window: 6–12 months

BoA matches Citi for aggression. The 6-month mark is where the inactivity flag goes up; closure typically follows in 9–12 months. Premium products (Premium Rewards, Travel Rewards Elite) get the annual-fee-as-transaction leniency; no-fee BoA cards close as fast as any in the industry.

BoA uses "Inactive" as a separate status from "Closed" in the app. An Inactive card has been flagged but isn't yet gone — these may sit in limbo for months and can sometimes be revived by a single purchase. Once flagged "Closed," reactivation requires a phone call and is granted at BoA's discretion.

What triggers the inactivity clock

Every issuer measures the same thing: time since the last posted transaction. Not the last login. Not a statement view. Not a pending or declined transaction. A posted transaction is a charge that's cleared the network and shown up on your statement.

The clock resets to zero each time something posts, regardless of size. A $1 charge equals a $1,000 charge for inactivity-timer purposes — which is the mechanic that makes the mini-charge strategy work.

Build a buffer based on your worst issuer

If you have cards across issuers, your defensive cadence has to match the most aggressive one. A Citi card sitting unused means a safe cadence of every 4–6 months (leaving buffer ahead of the 6-month threshold). If your only unused cards are Capital One, you can stretch to once a year.

Three approaches work regardless of issuer:

• Recurring subscription per card. Streaming, cloud, or news at ~$5/month. The card stays active forever; you don't think about it.
• Quarterly manual rotation. One purchase on each unused card every 3 months. Free but requires discipline.
• Automated activity tooling. A service that runs a tiny authorized charge on each card monthly. Set up once; runs forever.

Bottom line

Citi and BoA at 6–12 months. Chase, Amex, and Discover at 12–18. Capital One at 18–24. Those are the rough boundaries, and your actual margin can be shorter — issuers don't owe you the full window and can tighten any time. Treat the conservative end of each range as the deadline you're managing against, not the maximum you can stretch to.