Is it better to close a credit card account with no balance or simply leave it open and not use it and how does one go about closing an account?

The answer depends on how many other credit cards you have. If you only have one then hang on to it. In fact, use it to buy a tank of gas or groceries once a month and then pay it off. This will have a very positive effect on your credit score. Some people mistakingly believe that just having a credit card is bad for their credit. Not so. Its better to have one or two cards, use them occasionally and pay them off.

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The above answer doesn't really answer the question. The answer is that, for most people, it is better to leave it open with zero balance. Your credit score is partially based on how much of your available credit you are currently using. Canceling a card causes these numbers to change for the worse. For example, let's say you have one card with a $5,000 maximum and another card with a $10,000 maximum. If you were carrying $3,000 on the first card, you would be using 20% of your total credit (3000 / (10000+5000)). If you canceled the second card, you would then be using 3000 out of 5000, or 60% of your available credit.

One thing to be careful of is leaving cards open that charge an annual fee, such as Rewards programs. If you haven't made any purchases on the card, it's easy to forget about paying it. Having a late payment on your credit report is much worse than just closing the account.

The moral is, cut up your credit cards if you want, but canceling the card can actually hurt your credit score.

You can close an account by calling the toll free number for Customer Service on the back of the card.