Cancel Your Unused Credit Cards

lisyloo

They would need to get a copy of their credit file from Experian and Equifax.
This costs £2 per agency and you can write in to get it.
You can get it on-line instantly but the price is about £9.

The "credit accounts" section will show any accounts going back six years.
Any that are closed will have an "outstanding balance" of "settled" AND a "last updated date" which is more than a month in the past (as the file is updated monthly).

Anything left over is still open.
This section does of course include store cards, mortgages, loans etc. as well as just credit cards.

johnllew

They would need to get a copy of their credit file from Experian and Equifax.
This costs £2 per agency and you can write in to get it.
You can get it on-line instantly but the price is about £9.

You can get a report free from Experian by taking out their 30 day free trial - don't forget to cancel though.

https://www.creditexpert.co.uk/

System

I recently tried to transfer a balance from a Virgin credit card, to an Abbey credit card. I received a phone call from MBNA informing me that as both companies are issuing their cards through MBNA, they couldn't do a normal balance transfer. What they did for me was to transfer the amount outstanding on my Virgin card as a cash transfer to my current account at HSBC at 0%, and charged to my new Abbey card. Once the money goes into my account I can write a cheque payable to Virgin for that amount therefore paying off the balance. Most helpfull of them I thought!

johnllew

I recently tried to transfer a balance from a Virgin credit card, to an Abbey credit card. I received a phone call from MBNA informing me that as both companies are issuing their cards through MBNA, they couldn't do a normal balance transfer. What they did for me was to transfer the amount outstanding on my Virgin card as a cash transfer to my current account at HSBC at 0%, and charged to my new Abbey card.  Once the money goes into my account I can write a cheque payable to Virgin for that amount therefore paying off the balance. Most helpfull of them I thought!

You may be able to do better than that. MBNA will let you do balance transfers throughout the 6 or 9 month promotion period; they are also quite happy to amalgamate credit limits from various MBNA cards.

So why not try this - after you have paid off the Virgin card, ring up the Abbey card and ask if you can transfer all bar £100 of the Virgin limit over and do a further balance transfer again direct to your current account. Once you get the money, invest it in the new Egg internet account @ 4.75% for 6 months and then repay MBNA (or transfer to another card).

I've done something similar with MBNA a few times. It's worth a pop!

System

Hi I only have 3 cards on the go is it worth cancelling them because what we want to do is buy a car on a card then transfer that to a BT for 0% for 9 months then again for another 9 months is this a good idea any help in this would be helpful has anyone done this what are the pitfuls

System

Hi Martin Great site by the way, anyway I started to cancel some of my cards (or tried to) and was quite miffed at the way I was treated, first I was asked why I wanted to cancel then I was put through to an advised who tried to cajole me into keeping it on then, when I said I had only taken it out for the 0% interest free period I was told my records would be noted for future reference to this and it was implied that other card companies would be informed of this in order to stop me benefittin from these deals, can you advise if I should cancel in any specific way? Thanks Ian

MSE_Martin

I think the customer services were probably telling you a porky pie. However you don't have to give them a reason.

Why 'because im not using the card any more and i've been told it improves my credit score if i get rid of any unused ones' seems as a good as justification of any.

If they argue the point - refer them to the site and me. And say 'if you buy his book out in a month, it will explain in detail why'

Trix

I had a credit card from Lloyds that lay unused for two years. When I phoned to cancel it I was asked at least 10 times if I was sure I wanted to cancel it, why was I cancelling it (....er... coz it's been unused in TWO YEARS) and then finally I was asked twice if I had any other credit cards. I told them it had nothing to do with them and if they wanted to continue this conversation I would give them my phone number and they could use their phone bill to do it.
It was cancelled ;D

So why were they so desperate to keep someone who hadn't used their card?

johnllew

So why were they so desperate to keep someone who hadn't used their card?

Because it costs them to get new customers and they hoped you might use the card? The reason they asked you if you had any other cards might have been to offer you an advantageous balance transfer deal? I always talk to them to see what they've got to offer. I've been a Trustcard customer for many years and have accepted several 0% deals from them recently. Made a few hundred quid out of them.

Smiley_Mum

I wondered, is it possible to hold both a Halifax One card and a Bank of Scotland One card given that they have now merged? I have been a Bank of Scotland customer for nearly 17 years.

I recently applied for the Halifax One card and was given a limit of £1,500 with all the perks of the card, 0% for 9 months, 0.5% cashback etc.

Then when I read this thread, I was going to cancel my Bank of Scotland Visa card, held since 1996 with a £6k limit on it but 19.9% APR.

The guy I spoke with said what I could do was upgrade my Bank of Scotland Visa card to a Bank of Scotland One card and take the limit with it too of £6k, and have the perks and he gave me a number to call to upgrade.

When I called the number the guy I spoke to said I needed to close down my Halifax One card in order to be entitled to the Bank of Scotland One card. I have read on here somewhere of people holding 2 Egg cards so is it possible to hold both a Bank of Scotland One Card and a Halifax One card and have the perks or do I need to close off the Halifax One card?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, any info/links appreciated.