dormant credit cards

meiknowitsred

I have many dormant credit cards accounts that I have used in the past for balance transfers. What should I do with them now? Does it make any diffrence to my credit rating whether I cancel them or just leave them dormant?

BenL

Hi

The usual advice is "yes" but here is the link to the full article.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cancel-unused-cards

dc

meiknowitsred wrote: »

I have many dormant credit cards accounts that I have used in the past for balance transfers. What should I do with them now? Does it make any diffrence to my credit rating whether I cancel them or just leave them dormant?

In the past they would remain dormant and were easy to re-activate when required. Nowadays the companies tend to cancel unused cards when they expire, so you may not have as many as you think.
I have never had any problems keeping cards dormant, swapping uses around or with credit rating, having had as many as 16, with total credit well in excess of 5x salary. I believe your past history counts more than amount of credit available with most card companies, perhaps with the exception of Capital One.
e.g. currently have 3 Barclaycards, and have just reduced Abbey holding from 3 to 1.

New applicants tend to have better deals than those offered to existing customers, so plan ahead to get what you need/want, but always leave a fallback condition with your fave trusted cards.