So my wife gets a notice from citi this week saying they're going to increase her rate to 29.9% Funny because every other week they are sending bt checks for that account...last weeks was 1.9% until 1/2011. Anyhow, she can opt out, close the card and pay under current terms-I think she has a promo rate of around 3% for another few months and then it goes to the normal rate of 15.9%. She has until the end of November to decide-after that its supposed to go to 29.9%. She has pretty good credit (I guess these days not really considered great though) around 720 or so...and never late on that particular card...so its of course ridiculous in my mind that they are even doing this. Haven't tried calling yet-but I believe it would be a dead end anyhow.
So my question is...if she closes the card, will that show as credit that is used, but that is not even available? In other words, lets say if everything was maxed that she had and she then closes that card, would it then show as using, for example, 110%. Not really sure how this works once you close it but I have a feeling it will make the utilization look even worse than it will be...depending on how you look at it. Any help or advice is appreciated!

Why close it? Unless you carry a balance the apr should be irrelevant

domain311 said:Right...sorry, I guess I left that part out-there is a balance of about 13k+ on it.
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Obviously, the balance transfer should be used to keep the interest down to allow her to pay it off faster. Don't use the balance transfer as an excuse to spend more elsewhere while that debt lingers.

There is no point in closing the card unless it has an annual fee, or she has no other way to avoid a rate increase other than the opt-out provision. Doing so gains her no advantage, and will negatively impact her credit.