Do lenders care about how many cards you have, or just overall borrowing?

TFD_2

I'm sure there's a lot of people out there with more cards, but I've got a bit of a collection going on now. Several of them are empty, but I've kept the accounts open to keep my debt ratio as low as possible.

Does anybody know if lenders care how many accounts you have, or just that they're well maintained, and the overall mix of debt to available credit is healthy?

Be interested to hear some thoughts...

Cheers

jonesMUFCforever

The amount of available credit may influence some lenders compared to what your wages are.
You could go on a mad spending spree and do a bunk!

TFD_2

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

The amount of available credit may influence some lenders compared to what your wages are.
You could go on a mad spending spree and do a bunk!

Cheers... that I know, and wasn't what I was asking.

My card limits are a quarter of my income, so no problem there.

The question was whether the number of cards, rather than just the amount of credit is considered an issue by many lenders.

Until half an hour ago when I canceleld my Vanquis card, I had 9 cards, with limits ranging from £500 to £4000. Although the overall amount of credit, both in total, and used, isn't that high, I didn't know whether having 9 active credit card accounts could be detrimental to future applications.

BugsyBrowne

TFD wrote: »

Cheers... that I know, and wasn't what I was asking.

My card limits are a quarter of my income, so no problem there.

The question was whether the number of cards, rather than just the amount of credit is considered an issue by many lenders.

Until half an hour ago when I canceleld my Vanquis card, I had 9 cards, with limits ranging from £500 to £4000. Although the overall amount of credit, both in total, and used, isn't that high, I didn't know whether having 9 active credit card accounts could be detrimental to future applications.

I would of thought that lenders would rather see more accounts as settled,
Rather than say 9 active credit card accounts on going,i mean to have 9 credit cards is not normal for a lender to see,maybe at the most 3 or 4 but 9 credit cards,Can't honestly see that looking favorably for you when applying....

TFD_2

star-fire wrote: »

I would of thought that lenders would rather see more accounts as settled,
Rather than say 9 active credit card accounts on going,i mean to have 9 credit cards is not normal for a lender to see,maybe at the most 3 or 4 but 9 credit cards,Can't honestly see that looking favorably for you when applying....

It's not black and white though dude.... I agree that 9 active cards looks like a lot (8 now I've closed Vanquis), but likewise if I closed a few, then rather than my current debt being 50% of the limits, it could hit 90%, and that would be worse.

As for "is not normal", I'm guessing you mean you don't think it's normal?

YorkshireBoy

TFD wrote: »

Does anybody know if lenders care how many accounts you have, or just that they're well maintained, and the overall mix of debt to available credit is healthy?

It's unlikely anyone here will "know", so you're probably only going to get views and opinions.

For what it's worth the stoozing site credit scoring article has some credit industry 'insider' opinion...

Although the number of credit accounts open may have an impact, underwriters are more likely to consider the total available credit.

http://www.stoozing.com/g_score6.php

That view goes against my own view, which is that 4 or 5 (let alone 8 or 9) accounts is too many and is bound to affect acceptance/limits given.

I think it would be better to talk up a few credit limits and then close down some cards so the available credit remains the same but on fewer cards. You could then use this 'norm' to talk up limits during an appeal if a new lender gives a low initial limit.

TFD_2

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

It's unlikely anyone here will "know", so you're probably only going to get views and opinions.

For what it's worth the stoozing site credit scoring article has some credit industry 'insider' opinion...That view goes against my own view, which is that 4 or 5 (let alone 8 or 9) accounts is too many and is bound to affect acceptance/limits given.

I think it would be better to talk up a few credit limits and then close down some cards so the available credit remains the same but on fewer cards. You could then use this 'norm' to talk up limits during an appeal if a new lender gives a low initial limit.

Maybe the question could have been worded better, but on this site if you ask for views and opinions, dozens of people that haven't got a clue feel compelled to share their opinion, which will be based on nothing.

I think my feeling is similar to yours - less cards / same overall limit has to be better - it certainly can't hurt.

BugsyBrowne

TFD wrote: »

Maybe the question could have been worded better, but on this site if you ask for views and opinions, dozens of people that haven't got a clue feel compelled to share their opinion, which will be based on nothing.

I think my feeling is similar to yours - less cards / same overall limit has to be better - it certainly can't hurt.

Yeah know what your saying mate,maybe i worded it wrong as well,i do not honestly know how they would see it having all them cards,but my view is i would think someone with say 2 or 3 cards and say 3 or 4 settled accounts would look more favorable than someone with 9 credit cards....
In my opinion an applicant with that many cards might have come across some financial difficulty in the past to have so many credit cards....

marksoton

star-fire wrote: »

Yeah know what your saying mate,maybe i worded it wrong as well,i do not honestly know how they would see it having all them cards,but my view is i would think someone with say 2 or 3 cards and say 3 or 4 settled accounts would look more favorable than someone with 9 credit cards....
In my opinion an applicant with that many cards might have come across some financial difficulty in the past to have so many credit cards....

I can't see that always being the case though. I have 7 cards, all reward/cashback.

I have that many because it means i reap maximum benefits from the given providers. I really don't think there is any set in stone "rule" regarding stuff like this.