which card should I cancel?

Usa2012

Hi,

after previous poor credit years ago, I got a vanquis and capital once card begining of this year. I used them and paid in full mostly to rebuild positive credit history and then was accepted for an asda cashback card which I use solely for shopping + petrol to get the free cash back. Always paid off in full.
I then applied for and was accepted for a barclaycard platinum begining of september, with a great limit and decent apr with 0% BT for 27 months and 0% purchases for 6 months.

I only really want to keep the asda one and the barclaycard one, as the limits and apr's are crap on the vanquis and capital one cards anyway, but I am worried about cancelling them both in case it has a negative impact as these are my oldest credit cards. The only other credit accounts I have are Next, and a 2 mobile accounts approx 3 + 2 years old.

The combined limits on these cards are approx 65% of my annual salary too which I don't think looks good.

Can anyone advise which to cancel if any?

planteria

i don't think there is any reason why you shouldn't cancel both Vanquis and CapOne. if i were to cancel just one though, i would cancel Vanquis, on the basis that CapOne may be more useful in the future.

planteria

if i were you i would push all spending that you can onto the Asda card and use the Barclaycard for a BT. you could spend on both, but you dont want to use the Barclaycard for both spending and a BT...need to choose which, if you haven't already.

i might be shot down here, but in a way i like the idea of doing as big a BT as you can with Barclays, stashing the money somewhere profitable, and ensuring you pay the minimums and the final payment in full, with no mishaps. you are then building up a good record of 'borrow & repay'.

planteria

i would avoid any store cards too, if it were me:)

Jcts

planteria wrote: »

i would avoid any store cards too, if it were me:)

Why's that?

Usa2012

thank you :-)

I use the asda one for spending and the barclaycard was solely for BT and to use as emergency funds abroad etc as it has no fees, just a set cash withdrawal fee.
I will cancel the vanquis then for now as I don't need 4 cards and it was only to enable me to get a prime card anyhow :-)

planteria

Jcts wrote: »

Why's that?

i would always favour credit cards, and for building credit history and improving credit file, meatier limits and spending via credit cards is more useful. do you differ?

planteria

Usa2012 wrote: »

....the barclaycard was solely for BT and to use as emergency funds abroad etc as it has no fees, just a set cash withdrawal fee.

ok...so out of interest, how much of the "great" limit have you borrowed via a BT? and someone can confirm/otherwise, but i think if you withdraw cash it might affect your BT deal. as a general rule, when you borrow via a good BT deal, don't touch the card while the deal runs.

Usa2012

planteria wrote: »

ok...so out of interest, how much of the "great" limit have you borrowed via a BT? and someone can confirm/otherwise, but i think if you withdraw cash it might affect your BT deal. as a general rule, when you borrow via a good BT deal, don't touch the card while the deal runs.

I was given over 5k ( my highest limit on my others was 1k)., and I have used just £1800 in BT .
The BT is 0% for 27 months and appears as seperate billing on the statement ( I only know as I accidentally left my debit card at home and used it for a £10 purchase, which I paid in full once home).

I don't plan to use it abroad, but it's just there as an emergency backup if needed and has a decent limit. I always save and take plenty of money beforehand. Feel like I've had a great deal though considering previous poor history.

planteria

the purchase has definately not affected your BT deal??

planteria

at that rate, if the BT deal is definately still intact, and bearing in mind that you want to build your rating, i would borrow more from them....as you can save that and make more in interest that the fee will be