What to do with unused credit cards?

Catseyez

Hi,

Currently I use two credit cards: one for all my spending which I pay off in full each month (GE Money) and one for when I go abroad (Nationwide).

I also have an Egg card that I haven't used in about two years and also a Platinum Barclaycard that hasn't been used in over a year.

Any other credit cards that I've had along the way for 0% BTs (including M&S, Post Office etc) I have had cancelled.

I've kept my Barclaycard because in the past (in the days on fee free BTs) it was useful when making 0% BTs from one MBNA card to another. But now I can't really see any use in having it other than I am a Barclays current account customer.

I haven't looked into stoozing and if I were to do this, it probably wouldn't be for at least another two years as I'm currently a full-time student with a part-time income so I can't see that I would be able to get a generous credit card limit if I were to apply for other cards. But is it worth keeping the EGG card if I do decide to stooze in the future and want to take out Egg Manager?

Or should I just cancel both cards? How would it effect my credit rating if I did so?

YorkshireBoy

Catseyez wrote: »

But is it worth keeping the EGG card if I do decide to stooze in the future...

The Egg Money card is a better product for stoozing - and currently pays 1% cashback on spending as well. Anecdotal evidence suggests existing Egg Card holders are not externally credit searched when applying for Egg Money if they've managed their accounts well.

...and want to take out Egg Manager?

You don't need an Egg credit card to gain access to EMM. An Egg savings account will suffice.

Or should I just cancel both cards? How would it effect my credit rating if I did so?

Cancelling both cards will improve your credit rating (but it'll still be fairly low due to your lack of full-time employment/income) because it removes some 'available' credit.

Catseyez

Thanks, I will look into getting an Egg Money card. If anything it pays more cashback than my GE card (with the exception of supermarket shopping and petrol).