It happens. You got a NatWest credit card a while ago, you believed it was a great deal, but now you’ve changed your mind and want to cancel it.
Most banks don’t give you the chance to cancel your card online because they’d rather have a chat with you first to see if they can offer you a better deal, and NatWest is no exception. But instead of calling, you can send a letter or pop into a branch.
The first thing to do is clear the balance on your credit card, so that you don’t owe NatWest any money. If you can’t, you may want to transfer it to a balance transfer credit card that gives you time to pay it off without charging any further interest.
If you have one of NatWest’s rewards credit cards, you may also want to redeem all the points you have earned and treat yourself one last time before leaving.
In order to be able to close the account, you’ll need your credit card and bill for account information. You’ll be asked why you want to cancel it, but you can simply say that you don’t want it anymore.
You can call NatWest’s credit card services 24/7 at 0370 333 9091 both from the UK and from abroad (adding the +44). It’s a good idea to write down the name and ID number of the representative you speak to, just in case.
You can contact the NatWest credit card team via secure messaging within your NatWest app or online through Cora, available 24/7. Type ‘Close my credit card’ into Cora and follow the instructions from there.
If you really don’t want to talk to anyone, you can request the closure of your card by writing a letter and addressing it to Cards Customer Services, PO BOX 5747, Southend On Sea, SS1 9AJ. Sign the letter and also keep a copy for yourself.
You can also cancel your credit card by popping into a NatWest branch, but you’ll need some form of ID.
It might, although if your credit score is generally good, the change won’t be especially significant.
Whether it has an effect will depend on your credit utilisation ratio. This ratio captures how much of your available credit you are actually using. Using a lot of the credit available to you will have a negative impact on your credit score. With one credit card less, the amount of credit you have available will decrease, so your utilisation ratio may increase in turn, thus (slightly) impacting your credit score.
Cancelling your card via phone is usually okay, but in the past there have been cases of people who got stuck with an open account even though they believed it had been closed. To avoid paying unnecessary fees, it’s a good idea to follow up with a cancellation letter, which should include the following:
You can make a copy of your letter and then send it to the following address:
Cards Customer Services
PO BOX 5747
Southend On Sea
SS1 9AJ
If your credit card charges an annual fee and you close it halfway through the year, you should be able to get part of it back. NatWest’s terms and conditions say it will refund “a proportionate part of the annual fee”, which means it will give you the fee back for the months during which you won’t be using the card.
If you think your card has been stolen, you should call NatWest immediately on 0370 600 0459, or on +44 1268 500 813 if you’re abroad. If you simply need a replacement instead, you can request it from the mobile app or through online banking and it’ll be sent to you within five working days.
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