Last updated: 13 October 2026
A credit card you picked years ago may not fit the way you spend now. Your bank has to close it when you ask. Checking a few things first can save you money and protect your credit score.
When It Makes Sense To Cancel Your Card
The clearest case is a card that no longer gives you what you chose it for. If you got it for the petrol cashback and now drive an electric car, it isn’t giving you much any more. Closing it also leaves you with one statement fewer to check each month, so a missed payment or a charge you didn’t make is easier to spot.
If you earn RM36,000 a year or less, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) only lets you hold cards from two banks or card issuers. Each of them can give you a limit of up to twice your monthly income. To get a card from a third issuer, you’d first have to close every card you hold with one of the two. Retirees don’t have this limit.
When It’s Better To Keep Your Card
Before a bank approves a loan or a new card, it checks your Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS) report from BNM. Your CCRIS report only shows accounts that are open or still owe money. So if this card is your only credit, paying it off and closing it leaves the report empty. The bank then has no record of how you repay. Keep the card if you plan to apply for credit soon.
CCRIS doesn’t give you a credit score. Your score comes from CTOS, Experian and Credit Bureau Malaysia, the three credit reporting agencies allowed to use your CCRIS records with your permission. Each works out its own score. CTOS counts how long you’ve had credit and how much of your limit you use. That makes your oldest card the one to hold on to, especially if you’ve always paid it on time. Close it and your credit history looks shorter.
Closing a card also cuts your total credit limit, which matters if you still owe money on your other cards. Say Card A has a RM10,000 limit and you owe nothing on it, while Card B has a RM5,000 limit and you owe RM3,000. You’re using RM3,000 of RM15,000, or 20%. Close Card A and you’re using RM3,000 of RM5,000, or 60%, and that can lower your score.
A Quick Check Before You Decide
Check your card against these four points.
| What To Check | Points Towards Cancelling | Points Towards Keeping |
| Its benefits | You no longer use them | You still use them |
| Your other credit | You have other cards or loans | It’s your only card and you have no loans |
| How old it is | It’s one of your newer cards | It’s your oldest card, with a good repayment record |
| Your other balances | Your other cards are paid off | You owe money on your other cards |
If your card has points on both sides, ask your bank to waive the annual fee, or move you to a different card. Without the fee, the card costs you only the RM25 service tax each year, and banks can’t waive that. If you hold several cards, our guide on how many credit cards to keep can help you pick.
What To Do Before You Cancel
- Cancel before your card’s anniversary month. That’s the month the service tax appeared on last year’s statement. Cancel before then and you won’t pay the service tax again, but cancel after and you won’t get any of it back. If your bank bills the annual fee in that month as well, cancelling first avoids both. Supplementary cards are taxed too.
- Space out your cancellations if you’re closing more than one card. Closing several at once leaves fewer active accounts on your record, and that can lower your score.
- Use up your reward points, cashback or air miles. Banks can cancel any you haven’t used when the account closes.
- Have the money ready to pay off the card, including any Easy Payment Plan or balance transfer instalment still running. Everything you owe can fall due at once when you cancel. Ask the bank whether it wants payment first or bills you after closing.
- Move automatic payments, such as streaming subscriptions or insurance premiums, to another card.
- Tell anyone with a supplementary card on your account, because theirs closes with yours.
How To Cancel Your Card
Your bank has to let you close your card at any time, with no fee and without making it hard. If yours refuses, complain to the bank in writing first. If that doesn’t work, you can escalate your complaint to BNMLINK.
Your card agreement says how your bank takes the request, and not all banks do it the same way. Maybank wants a letter and the card returned cut in half, while RHB will also take a phone call or a branch visit. If you call, use the hotline on the back of your card and ask for a reference number. At a branch, bring your MyKad and the card.
What Happens After You Cancel
Ask the bank to confirm the closure in writing, and keep the letter or email. If you cancelled by phone, note the reference number and the date of the call too. Contact the bank again if nothing has arrived by your next statement.
If there’s money left on the card, such as an overpayment or a refund from a shop, the bank has to return it within 30 calendar days.
Banks update CCRIS by the 10th of the following month. A card you close and pay off in May should be off your report by 10 June. You can check your report at no cost on eCCRIS, and our CCRIS guide shows you how to register.
When You’re Ready To Apply For A New Card
If you’re replacing the card, our credit card comparison shows each card’s minimum income, annual fee and cashback side by side. If you’d rather not pay a yearly fee, start with our no annual fee credit cards. And if you want a better score before you apply, see our guide on how to improve your credit score.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I get my annual fee back if I cancel partway through the year?
Only if your bank’s terms say so. Banks don’t have to refund it, and some, such as Maybank, don’t.
Should I cancel my card if my card details are stolen?
No. Call the hotline on the back of the card to report it and ask for a replacement. You’ll get a new card number on the same account. While you wait, freeze the card in your bank’s app or through the hotline. Banks have to let you do this. Our guide on what to do if your card is used for fraud covers the next steps.
