Closing Unused Credit Card Accounts

sfax

lisyloo wrote: »

You are obviously free to ask away, but I think you're asking for the moon on a stick and anyone else's information will be useless.
Lenders can change their mind from one day to the next and many people find it quite hard to get a reason for a decline.
Quite often they will say you don't fit their target profile, that doesn't mean your bad, in fact you might be too good for them, but it's impossible to get them to share this kind of commerical information which could change tomorrow even if you did get it.

I agree with this and to add something else: If you really want up to date feedback tailored exactly to you and to a specific lender, simply make an application

moneymuffin

Thank you for all you replies

Additional Information is:

Annual Salary £14000

balance/credit limit:


Tesco Credit Card £1177/£1700 opened June 2011

Argos Card 1 £0.00/£750.00 opened December 2009

Capital One £0.00/£2000 opened May 2009

Argos Card 2 £150/£500.00 opened August 2011

MBNA Credit Card 1 £800/£1000 opened July 2012

MBNA Credit Card 2 £1421/£1500.00 opened January 2013

Debenhams Credit Card £0.00/£1000.00 opened December 2008

Asda Credit Card £0.00/£2750.00 opened May 2010

Marks and Spencer £50.00/£2500.00 opened February 2009

Halifax Credit Card £1380.00/£2300.00 opened March 2012

Barclaycard £500.00/£600.00 opened May 2010

HSBC Credit Card £0.00/£1000.00 opened April 2011


So basically I would like to close all the accounts with a £0.00 balance plus the M&S card once I have paid the balance.

At the moment I have total debt of £5478.00, total available credit of £17600.00 so using just over 31%

If I close accounts total debt would be £5428, total available credit would be £7600.00 so using 71.5%

Wow can't believe how much available credit I have! That is scary, would prefer to reduce it significantly if possible but don't want to mess up my credit score in the process.

Am really torn, want to close accounts but I think using 71.5% of available credit looks really bad.

Also should note that I have no late payments or defaults on any of the accounts.

sfax

I think which accounts to close is the least of your worries. Stop opening them at a rate of 3 every year first!

Aim to keep highest limits and those with longest history but better still, aim to pay off those with the highest APR first. That's a lot of debt on cards in relation to your income

cos_2

When I read your last post, OP, I had to go back to read why you started the thread! Wow - loads of cards

My question would be, what are you trying to achieve? You ask, "Is it better ..." and so forth, but is it better for what purpose?

If you're concerned that CC co's will increase your rate then just leave things as they are.

moneymuffin

Yeah I was shocked at how many cards I have too! The number has basically built up from transferring balances round for 0% deals and not closing paid off accounts

I want to make sure that I can still get balance transfer deals when my current 0% deals run out (they're all on 0% at mo) so don't want to detrimentally effect my credit score by closing accounts.

I suppose I don't like seeing so many cards on my file when I don't use a lot of them but am worried that I might regret spring cleaning my credit report if it means I can't get good credit deals in future.

Also would like to point out that I am not looking at taking out additional debt in the future, it is all about being able to get the best 0% deals so that more of my money goes towards paying of actual debt and not interest.

Also if anyone can comment about which cards might be worth keeping open anyway because the companies offer good existing customer balance transfer deals that might be helpful too rather than having to apply for new credit in the future.

JakeGreen

moneymuffin wrote: »

If I close accounts total debt would be £5428, total available credit would be £7600.00 so using 71.5%

I'll keep it simple and tell you what I would do...

Keep all the cards open until you're down to £2280 debt, then start closing the cards you don't want to use any more.

If any of the cards offer rewards, then keep those! The Tesco card is a keeper.

Barclaycard have great balance transfer deals, so you want to keep up a good impression with them, use their card for purchases and keep the utilisation (of the Barclaycard) below 30%.

moneymuffin

That's great advice,thank you. Will also give me added incentive to pay off the debts quicker so I can start closing accounts. Had a feeling that Tesco and Barclaycard might be keepers, good to have it confirmed though.

The_Boss

JakeGreen wrote: »

I'll keep it simple and tell you what I would do...

Keep all the cards open until you're down to £2280 debt, then start closing the cards you don't want to use any more.

If any of the cards offer rewards, then keep those! The Tesco card is a keeper.

Barclaycard have great balance transfer deals, so you want to keep up a good impression with them, use their card for purchases and keep the utilisation (of the Barclaycard) below 30%.

Agree with Jake.

When the MBNAs are cleared, close the oldest. Generally, try to keep a mix of the older and newer ones - say five in total initially. Your accounts have been opened for similar periods of time so I'd keep the M&S, Debenhams, Tesco, Barclaycard and the 'other' MBNA

nicesurf

Paying minimun page would always get touble at the end. I always use my cc instead of paying cash and pay it to my bank as much as I use.

The_Boss

nicesurf wrote: »

Paying minimun page would always get touble at the end. I always use my cc instead of paying cash and pay it to my bank as much as I use.

Eh.......?