[nomaxim]

I have heard of CC company's closing accounts that aren't in use before, ie. no balance for a period of time. Merchants pay a fee every time a CC is processed, not much $0.25 or so. The CC companies make money off of the merchant fees every time you use a card, so if you don't use the card at all they make no money. Sad, but that appears to be the reason.

I have two Capitol One cards and three other MC or VISA cards. I rotate and use a card every month for something. Even something minor like lunch once a week should work towards keeping the account open or as Vass pointed out a candy bar. Use the card for a month like this, say maybe a $30-40 balance, and then pay it off the next month. Most CC's don't charge you any interest if you pay the balance in full within 25-30 days. Then use another card the same way. The trick is to keep track of your balances and be sure to pay them off on time. Not that the CC company minds, they get a late payment fee if you miss a payment and or interest if you carry any balance over.

A somewhat related matter are some debit cards. My bank (US Bank) charges me $0.25 every time I use my debit card as a debit card, enter a pin number. If I use that same card as a credit card (VISA) there is no charge, why?. Because the merchant pays the fee in that situation.