What happens to my points when I cancel a credit card?

I often warn people that they shouldn’t get too attached to their credit cards, because cancellations are part and parcel of the miles game.

Maybe the bank refused to waive the annual fee. Maybe you signed up for the welcome bonus, and don’t use the card anymore. Maybe the card got nerfed. Whatever the reason, when that day comes the big question you’ll need to address is “what happens to my points when I cancel a credit card?”

It depends. With some banks, you’ll need to cash out all the points you earned on that card, or else forfeit them. With others, it’s business-as-usual, assuming you have other cards with the bank. 

In this post, we’ll look at the different scenarios. 

How pooling affects cancellation

In general, whether you need to cash out your points before cancelling a card depends on whether or not the bank pools points across cards.

Here’s a quick summary of which banks pool credit card points, and which don’t.

Bank	Pools Points?
	✓ Yes
	✕ No
	✕ No
	✓ Yes
	✓ Yes
	✓ Yes
	✓ Yes (OCBC$ and 90°N Miles pool with each other)
	✓ Yes (VI with VI, non VI with non VI)
	✓ Yes

• If your bank does not pool points, you must convert all the remaining points on the card, or else forfeit them
• If your bank pools points, you do not need to take further action unless it’s your last points-earning card with the bank
  • However, this does not apply to DBS, HSBC and StanChart, where you must convert the remaining points before cancelling

If the bank does not pool points

Let’s start with the more straightforward scenario.

If you have a Bank of China or Citibank card, where points do not pool, you must redeem all the points on the card you intend to cancel. Any points left over will be forfeited. 

For example, suppose I have a Citi Prestige Card with 100,000 ThankYou points and a Citi Rewards Card with 50,000 ThankYou points. If I cancel the Citi Prestige Card, I will need to transfer out the 100,000 points associated with the card first.

If the bank pools points

Now the more complicated scenario. 

If you have an American Express, Maybank, OCBC or UOB card, there is no need to convert your points before cancelling a card, provided it’s not your last points-earning card with the bank.

For example, if I have a UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard with 100,000 UNI$ and a UOB Preferred Platinum Visa with 50,000 UNI$, and I wish to cancel the PRVI Miles, I don’t need to convert any UNI$ prior to doing so. My remaining balance after cancelling will still be 150,000 UNI$.

However, if I have a UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard with 100,000 UNI$ and a UOB One Card, and I wish to cancel the PRVI Miles, I must convert all the UNI$ because I won’t have any UNI$-earning card remaining after cancelling it. 

If you have a DBS, HSBC or StanChart card, you must convert the remaining points associated with the card you’re cancelling, or else forfeit them. These cards pool points for the purposes of redemption, but otherwise keep them in separate silos, and cancelling a given card will also delete its silo.

I know there are several data points from HSBC cardholders who cancelled their card, and still see their remaining points as part of their combined balance. I would urge caution here, because HSBC’s official policy is that points on a cancelled card are forfeited. Even if you see the points now, there’s no guarantee they won’t be “adjusted” out of your account at some point down the road (HSBC’s IT systems are notoriously bad anyway).

What to do with orphan balances?

If you need to transfer out your points before cancelling a card, you may very well run into an issue with orphan points. This refers to the points that can’t be converted into miles because they fall short of the minimum conversion block. 

Orphan points aren’t a complete lost cause though; you can use Kris+ to transfer out smaller blocks of Citi, DBS and UOB points to KrisFlyer miles, albeit at a 15% haircut compared to using the bank portal.

Bank	Conversion
	4,000 Citi Miles = 3,400 miles 10,000 ThankYou Points= 3,400 miles
	100 DBS Points = 170 miles
	1,000 UNI$ = 1,700 miles

If your points are with other banks, then all you can really do is look at what other redemption options are on offer. Shopping vouchers, cash rebates and merchandise are poor value for points, but poor value is better than no value at all!

It’s also worth doing the math to see whether you’re just shy of the next conversion block, and whether some incremental spending on the card you’re planning to cancel can help put you over the finish line. 

For more strategies on combatting orphan points, refer to the article below. 

What are orphan miles, and how do you avoid them?

What if I have a cobrand card?

If you have a cobrand card, like the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card or KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, miles are automatically batched and transferred to your KrisFlyer account at the end of each statement period. 

So all you need to do is ensure you don’t charge anything to the card in the month before you plan to cancel, to remove the possibility of miles being “lost in transit”, so to speak. 

Special caution applies to the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, however. Remember that this card earns 3 mpd on dining, food delivery, online shopping and travel, and transport spend, but of this figure, only 1.2 mpd is credited upfront. The remaining 1.8 mpd is credited within two months after the end of the membership year.

	Earn Rate	Remarks
Base Miles	1.2 mpd	Credited when transaction posts
Accelerated Miles	1.8 mpd	Credited within two months after end of membership year
Total	3 mpd

If you cancel your card before this amount is credited, any pending miles will be forfeited!

Conclusion

Cancelling your credit card is rather straightforward if your points balance remains untouched, but where points don’t pool, or where points pool but you’re with DBS, HSBC or StanChart, you will need to cash them out first. 

This may mean paying an additional conversion fee, and possibly dealing with orphan points, depending on the bank. But that’s still better than losing all your hard-earned points, so think of it as your “breaking-up fee”.