Unused Vanquis Card - lower the limit or just close it?

Maestro.

Hi all, a bit of advice wouldn't go amiss...

A fair while ago now I started building a fresh credit history with a Vanquis card. When I got accepted for a more mainstream card, nearly a year ago, I all but stopped using it. I now have, in relation to my salary, roughly 1/3 of that in "available credit", although I'm only using a smallish amount of that on a 0% balance transfer.

I'm under the impression that as my "available" credit is approaching half my salary, I might find it hard to get credit in future, which I intend to do once my balance transfer is paid off, perhaps by taking advantage of cashback deals like Amazon or Yourpoints.

I read quite a bit of conflicting information on here regarding closing old accounts - some say it should be done, others say keep them open for "signs of stability". Others also say lowering credit limits is not good for credit score either. I'm at a loss as to what I should actually do to bring my available credit down. My Vanquis card is the one I have held longest, so I'm not sure whether I should ask them to reduce it to, say, £500, or just tell them to close the account.

Can anyone recommend or point me towards articles on the most effective ways to prune unused credit while doing the best for credit files?

Kaspian

If your credit rating has improved that vastly, the Vanquis card has done its job. Vanquis exists as a "credit builder" so if your credit is now so good that you can use mainstream cards, Vanquis can no longer help. I would cancel it, freeing up that available credit for future use.

Maestro.

thanks for the reply. I am aware the vanquis card has served its purpose - I don't use it anymore - I just wondered if anyone knew from here this point forward what the most wise move would be, with regards to closing it or not.

[Deleted User]

It's serving no purpose, get rid of the card in order to free up the available credit. Not sure what your situation is but I'm sure lenders will like to see some old settled accounts that were operated well.

Closing the account will slightly increase your credit utilisation (i.e. the percentage of available credit you are actually using) but so long as it's not pushing you near your limits, you will be fine. It will also slightly reduce the average age of your accounts - again shouldn't be a deal breaker.

Do you just have the one other card with your 0% deal on it? If so, maybe think about applying for another card to do all of your spending on and pay in full each month.

For what it's worth, I don't believe there is such a thing as 'the best move' when it comes to operating credit products. So long are you are using facilities responsibly then I don't think it really matters too much. Some people can be a bit precious about their credit 'score' - insisting on no more than one application every six months, staying under a certain utilisation percentage, etc etc etc. Life's too short.

Maestro.

Thanks for the advice. It looks like closing it is the best way then.

I already have another card aside from the 0% card (bank of scotland) that I can use for day to day spending, at least until I get a cashback type card. (I'm hoping for Natwest/RBS yourpoints, but as it's a "world" card and I'm quite young, not holding my breath...)

chanz4

asda card is easy to get if your equifax is clean, 1% on shopping, 0.5% else where