The credit card can be canceled immediately after paying it off.

After paying off all outstanding balances on a credit card, you can directly apply to the bank to cancel the card. Credit card cancellation is divided into card cancellation and account cancellation. Account cancellation means canceling all credit cards under the credit card account, while card cancellation means canceling a single card while retaining the credit card account. After the card cancellation is successful, the card can be restored within a period of time. The account cancellation is successful and the account cannot be restored.

Therefore, to cancel a single credit card, users usually need to cancel the card, so as not to affect other credit cards under the same bank account.

In most cases, citizens who have full capacity for civil conduct (citizens over 18 years old in mainland China) and have certain direct financial resources can apply for a credit card from the card issuing bank. Sometimes, legal persons can also be applicants.

Applicants for credit cards can be divided into units and individuals. Applicants should be institutions, enterprises and business units, foreign-funded enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households with independent legal person status in China. Each unit applying for a credit card can receive a main card and multiple (5-10) supplementary cards as needed. To apply for a credit card, an individual must have a fixed occupation and a stable source of income, and provide a guarantee to the bank. The forms of guarantee include personal guarantee, unit guarantee and personal capital guarantee.

The application method is generally by filling in a credit card application form. The content of the application form generally includes the name of the applicant, basic information, economic status or source of income, guarantor and his/her basic information, etc. And submit certain copies of documents and certificates to the card issuing bank. After the customer fills in the application form truthfully according to the content, the customer must also submit the relevant credit certificate while submitting the completed application form. The application form is accompanied by a credit card use contract. The applicant authorizes the card-issuing bank or relevant departments to investigate its relevant information, and submits a statement of the authenticity of the information, the card-issuing bank's privacy protection policy, etc., and must have the applicant's signature. In the 1960s, credit cards sprouted and developed rapidly in developed European and American countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. After more than 50 years of development, credit cards have been widely accepted in more than 95% of countries around the world. In the 1980s, with the reform and opening up and the development of the market economy, credit cards began to enter China as an electronic and modern consumer financial payment tool. In the past ten years, they have developed by leaps and bounds.