length of credit history

lix75

Hi.. hopefully someone can shed some light on this. This is my full credit history in the UK, moved here in May 2011.. dates when I obtained credit are shown. All balances are £0 and I always pay in full each month, no missed payments, I'm on electoral roll. There is a financial link to my ex (he's on the mortgage still).

• Barclays current account overdraft limit £2000 May 2011 (initial limit was £500 but I increased it in Aug 2012, as I needed some emergency funds)
• Barclaycard limit £1500 January 2012 19.9% APR
• Halifax mortgage started May 2012
• MBNA Platinum limit £5800 September 2012 16.9% APR
• Halifax Clarity limit £2600 February 2013 17.9% APR

Now, I don't like my current score and would like to improve it to get better offers (for instance I applied for the Clarity card and was offered 17.9 instead of the posted 12.9%). I am planning on making some purchases in the future and purchases APR will matter.

Do you think closing some CCs would help at all (or hurt?) I would like to close the Barclaycard but that is my oldest CC in the UK, does closing the account reduce the length of history?

I'm thinking of keeping the MBNA one as it's good a decently high limit and would like to use it in case of emergencies. But, I don't like the purchases APR...

The Halifax one also would like to keep -- I applied for it for traveling purposes, I travel quite a lot and Barclays charges 2.99% on non-sterling transactions. But again I don't like the purchases APR, was hoping for lower..

The overdraft limit I would also like to keep just in case.

Also, on the financial link to my ex there is nothing I can do at the moment (looking at transfer of equity but it'll be a while..). How does this link affect me for instance if he misses payments, has a low score, does that affect me?

What would you do in my case, any suggestions? Thanks!

grumbler

Do you realise that APR is irrelevant if you pay the balance in full? And for a big purchase it's much better to get a card with introductory 0% rather than a usual CC: Spending 0% Cards. For a regular shopping cashback cards are better regardless of the APR.

Improving your score is just a matter of time.
Re closing some cards, this depends on your income.

lix75

Yes I know APR is irrelevant if I pay balances in full (well actually except for the Halifax Clarity card, I pay interest on that right away if used for cash withdrawals abroad... ). However, I was planning on making some purchases this year and will have to keep a balance for a while, so then my best bet is introductory 0%?

Does closing that Barclaycard help?

izools

As I always advise in situations like this, the best thing for you to do is

Nothing.

You don't have any old accounts, and have opened a lot of accounts over a short period of time.

This isn't what lenders want to see. They want to see accounts opened for as long as possible, with 36+ Months of credit history, and no accounts opened or applied for recently.

Keep everything as it is, keep paying off in full, don't apply for any new accounts, and once your oldest account is over three years old you'll find yourself able to get pretty much whatever you apply for, at the rates you expec

lix75

grumbler wrote: »

Re closing some cards, this depends on your income.

Can you please elaborate on this?

lix75

izools wrote: »

As I always advise in situations like this, the best thing for you to do is

Nothing.

You don't have any old accounts, and have opened a lot of accounts over a short period of time.

This isn't what lenders want to see. They want to see accounts opened for as long as possible, with 36+ Months of credit history, and no accounts opened or applied for recently.

Keep everything as it is, keep paying off in full, don't apply for any new accounts, and once your oldest account is over three years old you'll find yourself able to get pretty much whatever you apply for, at the rates you expec

Okay so length does matter... it's a bit of a tricky situation because of my planned purchases and high APRs. Barclaycard was my initial credit builder card, MBNA was 0% introductory purchases but that's gone now, Halifax is to avoid travel fees which are quite high... so I should stop and sit back for a while, perhaps postpone my purchases

grumbler

lix75 wrote: »

...perhaps postpone my purchases

...and save for them meanwhile instead of relying on CCs.

And have a look at the cards that offer low APR for life on BTs if you can't buy what you want without long term borrowing.

lix75

Oh and the other thing I forgot to mention, I'm planning to remove ex from mortgage and deeds but I don't think I'll be able to until early next year (when also my 2-yr fixed rate mortgage will expire... so I want to have the best possible credit score by then).

lix75

grumbler wrote: »

...and save for them meanwhile instead of relying on CCs.

yeah I know..

I was planning on doing a master degree though (while working FT lol).. so it's school fees, more like an investment in my future :-)

gglaze

Of the 3 cards you've mentioned, the one I would consider closing is the MBNA, as they are possibly the worst of the 3 in terms of customer service, and offer the least benefit of the three. MBNA is generally very good for the introductory promo offer, not much else. Also, you have a Barclays bank account so keeping the credit card makes sense. Hopefully if you stick with it, your Barclays limit will eventually get increased to more than what your MBNA limit is now.

Anyway, 3 cards is not too much - so I would keep all 3, and not open any more for the time being.

One thing you can start doing now is to make sure you have some regular usage on each of the three cards, so they don't fall into looking like they are just "inactive". For example, make a few small purchases on each of the three cards, each month, and then go ahead and pay it all off in full. This just makes it look like you are actively using credit, and also fully capable of managing it and paying it all off. It will also make those cards more likely to eventually increase your limit and/or offer you more promotions.

lix75

Thanks, probably Barclays would increase my limit on the Barclaycard but I never asked them, perhaps I should have done that instead of opening MBNA. Yes I use the cards every month - normally for plane or train tickets and my monthly pass - and pay in full.