Credit cards with nil balances

leandygandy

Due to an inheritance received I have been able to settle all my credit cards.

I presently have four cards, all with nil balances.

Naturally I will close three of them.

I don't intend on using the fourth, but will keep it for emergencies.

My question is, the card I want to keep has a limit of £2000. Would it make any difference to my credit record if I had the limit put down to £500?

choc_mouse

£2000 to £500 is not a huge difference really. If anything, it could lower your credit score as you won't appear like a credit worthy individual. In case you did use your credit card, you'd max it out quite quickly and hence could appear too-risky because you are using a high percentage of your available credit.

That said, forget about credit ratings. Just keep the limits at what you're comfortable with. If you don't need to borrow, then setting a low limit is probably a good thing, especially after settling all outstanding balances - well done!

thriftymomma

I would be tempted to keep two of the cards, just for flexibility.

cifpower

It is always good to have 2 cards (I prefer one Visa and one MAstercard in case one of their systems goes down) as a back up just in case.