Discover Financial Services Inc. and Capital One Financial Corp. are closing accounts of customers who haven’t used their cards for lengthy periods as part of efforts to reduce risk of defaults.
Discover, the fourth-largest credit-card network, has closed 3 million “inactive” accounts and plans to cut up to 2 million more, Chief Executive Officer David Nelms said in an interview yesterday. “Most of the accounts haven’t been used for years,” he said. “We think it’s a responsible move.”
Capital One, the McLean, Virginia-based credit-card lender and bank, has “very aggressively” closed inactive accounts, Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank said last week at an investor conference. The company declined to say how many accounts are affected, spokeswoman Pam Giordano said.
