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What cards would be better for my credit rating?

ShelfStacker_3
ShelfStacker_3 Posts: 2,180 Forumite
in Credit cards
Hi,

I have three cards:

- Capital One Classic, £100 limit, £95 balance, 6 months old
- Vanquis Visa, £250 limit, £120 balance, 3 months old
- Aqua Mastercard, £250 limit, £245 balance, 2 months old

On the 26th of this month, thanks to John Lewis' bonus scheme (woohoo!) I'll be in a position to pay all of these off in one shot and get rid of them. However, I am also considering closing some of them, as apparently too much available credit will lower your credit rating. Would anyone know which ones would be the best to drop/keep to improve my rating, or would £600's worth of available credit not do much? I was considering keeping the Cap1 and the Aqua, on the basis that the Cap1 has been open the longest and therefore has more of a good history...

None of the cards have any missed payments and they've mostly all been paid off in full. No black marks on my credit history whatsoever... :)

Comments

  • Bokkens
    Bokkens Posts: 505 Forumite
    Pay them all off if you can afford to do so .
    Personally I would close all three of them and look at Martin's credit card articles for a more useful card that will suit your circumstances,certainly a card with a lower APR, 0% if you can get it.
    Sainsburys card is offering 0% on Purchases at Sainsburys for a whole year and 3mths if you buy goods from somewhere else.
    Once you have cleared your debt you will be in a unique postion to use the credit card companies to your advantage rather than them giving your higher interest charges each month.Thats if you want another card.
    Don't forget to see what your bank is offering.
    Don't be loyal to any one company or bank as they will use that loyalty to build up your debts again.
    Good luck.
    Previously known as Bokken,registered at MSE in Nov 04,computer glich deleted my access but it is fun building up my stars from scratch,again.:D
  • ShelfStacker_3
    ShelfStacker_3 Posts: 2,180 Forumite
    I just saw what my bank (who I've been with for less than 2 months) is offering me... 0% for a year, £1000 limit.

    I'm closing all three of the !!!!!!! things, I think... ;)
  • Bokkens
    Bokkens Posts: 505 Forumite
    ShelfStacker wrote: »
    I just saw what my bank (who I've been with for less than 2 months) is offering me... 0% for a year, £1000 limit.

    I'm closing all three of the !!!!!!! things, I think... ;)

    Keep calm think about it and use their money to your advantage.
    Previously known as Bokken,registered at MSE in Nov 04,computer glich deleted my access but it is fun building up my stars from scratch,again.:D
  • maytaurus
    maytaurus Posts: 2,115 Forumite
    WOW ... well done :beer:
    Who do you bank with?
    The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane[FONT=&quot] —[FONT=&quot] Marcus Aurelius[/FONT][/FONT]
  • ShelfStacker_3
    ShelfStacker_3 Posts: 2,180 Forumite
    maytaurus wrote: »
    WOW ... well done :beer:
    Who do you bank with?

    HSBC. They're either trusting, naive, insane or some ridiculous combination of all of the above. Either way, I don't care; over the last two months they've done more to earn my loyalty than Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds TSB and Alliance and Leicester did over the course of two years.

    It'll be nice to be able to use a credit card for its best possible purpose now, anyway; to make a one off purchase and spread the cost :D
  • checkers_2
    checkers_2 Posts: 25 Forumite
    ive been impressed with my HSBC banking (online/onsite) so far. the only problem is they are kind of crowded during weekends.
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