How to: Delete Your Data From Credit Card Companies

When you close a credit card account, anyone with a few simple details on hand such as your Social Security number, Date of Birth, and personal phone number, can still access your personal information such as past credit statements held by your former credit provider.

Credit card companies will hold onto your information, however securely they may claim, for at least 7 years before they will consider removing your data upon request.
You can request to have this data set to be deleted after the 7-year period, so that no account information is held by your former credit company from that point forward.

To do this, using Barclays as an example:

1) Have ready your Social Security Number, Date of Birth, and phone number associated with the account ready

2) Call Barclays at their General Inquiries Line: (866) 928-8598

3) Pick the language you want the call to be in

4) Provide your credit card number or say “I don’t know it”

5) Provide your Social Security Number and Date of Birth if you picked “I don’t know it”

6) Provide the phone number associated with the account

7) If you don’t know the phone number, you will be given the option to provide the first four letters of your last name by keypad for verification

8) From the Main Menu, ask for a “Representative” then ask for “Something else”

9) Once connected with a representative, request that all account information held by the credit card company be completely removed after the 7-year minimum holding period from when your credit card account was officially closed.

As always, submit a request if you have any questions or would rather us do this work for you.