Close Credit Card or Not?

jazzy639

Hey

Just using credit cards for protection so not too fussed about interest free periods/balance transfers, etc.

I applied for the Santander Zero card as the business bank account is with Santander, plus ISA, etc. However, they gave me a pitiful rate when I got a limit of many times higher with the Debenhams store card (which is a Santander card). It's as if they didnt bother to check any other accounts I have with them.

Basically they messed me about over the phone for over a month trying to hear back from the underwriters who put the limit up now (but still many times lower than this other from Debenhams).

Halifax are offering me a guaranteed card with no credit checks and wonder if I should take this and cancel the Santander card?

Or should I take the Halifax card and keep the Santander and spread my spending so that in the future they will see a good customer (should I need a loan, say)?

Or not bother to apply for the guaranteed Halifax card as this may hurt my credit rating?

Just a little confused, thanks!

[Deleted User]

atm santander are a joke,its just taken me 3 months to sort out a loan i paid off in FULL with them

Degenerate

jazzy639 wrote: »

I applied for the Santander Zero card as the business bank account is with Santander, plus ISA, etc. However, they gave me a pitiful rate when I got a limit of many times higher with the Debenhams store card (which is a Santander card). It's as if they didnt bother to check any other accounts I have with them.

You're conflating rate and limit here, I'm going to assume from the rest of your post that you meant limit.

Has it not occurred to you that maybe Santander already extended most of the credit they were prepared to offer you on the Debenhams account, and this is why they gave you a piddling limit on the Zero card? A lender will look at their overall exposure to you before offering you more.

It may be possible to transfer some of the credit limit between accounts (it certainly is with other multi-card provider MBNA). I would seriously look at whether the Debenhams card is worth keeping. If it has features that you want, then you could ask Santander to share the credit limit out between the two cards. If not, then I'd ask them to transfer all of the credit limit across to the Zero card, (worth having for use abroad) and close the Debenhams account.

[Deleted User]

jazzy639 wrote: »

Hey

However, they gave me a pitiful rate when I got a limit of many times higher with the Debenhams store card (which is a Santander card). It's as if they didnt bother to check any other accounts I have with them.

Clearly they DID bother to check your other accounts. Otherwise you'd have got a higher limit.

Fairzo

Get rid of anything associated with Satander. You know it makes sense.

jazzy639

Thanks Degenerate, meant Limit.

I believe Santander made a mistake as the limit they set was below what they advertise as the minimum limit given - like it was a typo.

Its taken almost two months to sort this out, and even then its not exactly great. Possible yes that the available credit is shared between all their cards but I'll have no luck talking to them about it from experience.

If I cancel the credit card under the "Your Right to Cancel", how does this affect my credit rating?