credit ratings and credit cards

leni

Does the ammount of credit cards you have to your name effect your credit rating even if the card balances are 0%?

Mrs(no)money

I think it does, yes, the more cards you have, the better your rating seems to be, provided of course that the payments are up to date etc. You may have noticed that once you apply for a card and accepted, no end of offers seem to arrive - word soon gets round! Since cutting up all my cards last year(except one, for absolute emergency only!) , I havent been offered many new ones :T And, once you repay in full (even on a balance transfer) they up your credit limit. I may be wrong of course, but thats how it seems to me.

crawley_girl

A lot of things will affect your credit ratings such as:
*how much your total owed credit is
*whether you have paid debts back on time
*whether you are on the electoral register
*whether you have ever had credit
*which credit report the lender uses (eg Equifax, Experian etc)
*how often you for apply for credit

Saying all of that, I had 3 credit cards and 2 store cards and was being turned down left right and centre. I then paid off and closed the store cards and 2 of the credit cards and was accepted for an Egg card with a high limit and with a 0% APR for 6 months. I struggle to understand the logic sometimes, but reducing my available credit seemed to do well for me in this instance

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

littlejaffa

i have 8 credit cards, all with zero balance because i've been bouncing round the interest free period offers for a few years, it's never stopped me getting credit so unless there's something else on your file i wouldn't think the number of cards matters - total avalable credit about £65k on these cards alone.

Ali-OK

Your rating is also dependant upon the total amount of credit (available and already borrowed) you have, so irrespective of how many cards, loans, overdrafts, etc, you have, add up the total amount of the credit limits.

This is the risk factor - your rating will drop if you have alot available to you as they believe you may have problems with the payments.

(Taken from Experian's credit report explanations of credit scores - but remember the score is only a guide and when you apply for a card/loan/mortgage other factors are taken into consideration, ie. your application form with salary details, etc).