Would keeping a 'good relationship' alive but inactive benefit me?

patwa_2

Hello.

After applying for a bunch of credit cards yesterday and being accepted for nearly all of them, I was thinking of closing down my Natwest Student Mastercard and current account. I thought that leaving cards active that I wasn't actually going to use would be detrimental to getting new credit, especially as it has a pretty low limit, whereas my main card has a very high one.

I phoned up their customer services to cancel, but was told that as I hadn't missed a payment in the 18 months I've had the card, it would not be a good idea to close as then new lenders would not be able to see my good credit behaviour.

Is this true? Should I just leave the card active but not use it, or can I close it and it won't affect my credit score?

Thanks.

H.

techno_geek

Can you give a brief run-down of your CCs and their limits?

Based on what you've writtten, I'd say keep them all open just to have the credit available. However, in giving you a £1000 limit, for example, the CC company would expect you to use it otherwise they might reduce it -- nearly happened to me with Barclaycard.

Closing your NatWest card won't stop other lenders from seeing your excellent history - it will remain on your credit file for 6 years from being marked settled/closed.