Too many credit cards?

MallyGirl

I would have thought that one downside of having lots of credit cards is that you are preventing yourself from getting lovely 'new customer' 0% deals in the future because you already hold cards with so many issuers.

[Deleted User]

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Only retain the facilities that you actually need.

In general red flags appear when an individual exceeds 4 lines of credit in total.

Thats a new one one me..

The first part of your post I completely agree with but the second part...

Anyway, to the OP, you should probably think about having a bit of a financial spring-clean. Not only to reduce your current exposure but to get new products that will benefit from - cash back, points etc etc...

£45k is absolutely unnecessary and I would strongly advise that you get rid of most of the cards. I don't claim to be an expert on credit assessments and mortgages but bear in mind that any underwriter will have to consider your available balance. There is, after all, absolutely nothing (apart from common sense and self-control - rare commodities) to stop you going out tomorrow and maxing out these cards.

If you're using the cards properly (paying in full each month) then why would you ever need this much?

Thrugelmir

Lazyloki wrote: »

The first part of your post I completely agree with but the second part...

Probably because we are looking at this from diametrically opposed views. As a borrower I suspect you are saying what difference does it make. From a lenders perspective merely adds another statistical fact with which to categorise/screen the borrower. Algorithms can chew through data in seconds making risk profiling far more precise a science.