Cancelling Credit Once Clear

FiNakoma

Hi All,

I've calculated that I'll be debt free by 26th May 2014 as long as nothing unexpected comes up before then.

In terms of credit cards I have the following

Barclay's Credit Card - £6K Limit
Tesco Credit Card - £4.5K Limit
HSBC Credit Card - £500 Limit
HSBC Overdraft - £1400 Limit

Once they are all paid off would you cancel them and get a new card with say 0% spending to keep your credit score up? Also would you cancel the overdraft or keep it just in case?

[Deleted User]

I'd keep at least a couple and use them regularly.

No harm in keeping the overdraft but I would try to stay out of it.

dotdash79

I would reduce the OD to £500, get rid of the HSBC credit card. Then go to close the Barclay card, but they will offer you a retention deal. See what they offer you.

But if you pay off the card every month then you won't ever pay intrest.

planteria

i would keep the overdraft.
keep/get a card to spend on that gives you Cashback/Points.
close the other cards unless they offer you an appealing reason to keep them.

planteria

and yes, as you bank with HSBC i would tell them to clear off with their £500 limit:D

poggles

FiNakoma wrote: »

Hi All,

I've calculated that I'll be debt free by 26th May 2014 as long as nothing unexpected comes up before then.

In terms of credit cards I have the following

Barclay's Credit Card - £6K Limit
Tesco Credit Card - £4.5K Limit
HSBC Credit Card - £500 Limit
HSBC Overdraft - £1400 Limit

Once they are all paid off would you cancel them and get a new card with say 0% spending to keep your credit score up? Also would you cancel the overdraft or keep it just in case?

Why would you want to cancel any of your credit facilities?

Keep the OD even if you do plan never to use it again. It's better than paying unauthorised OD charges if, despite your best efforts, you do ever need to spend money that is not currently cleared in your current account.

Always nice to have at least 2 different credit cards from 2 different providers (e.g. if one provider suffers a computer glitch)

So if you are desperate to get rid of a credit card, I would ditch the HSBC one as what use is £500 credit limit?
And if you do, expect to be badgered into taking out another one every time you go into an HSBC branch.
But if you really don't want 3 cards, holding onto one for the sake of it is only a security risk.

Many credit card providers are falling overthemselves offering existing (good) customers 0% deals presently. If you don't accept, they'll probably write to you again very soon repeating the offer.

planteria

poggles wrote: »

Many credit card providers are falling overthemselves offering existing (good) customers 0% deals presently.

not as willingly as they did, surely?

MallyGirl

poggles wrote: »

Why would you want to cancel any of your credit facilities?

Because if a juicy 0% deal comes up your access to existing credit, even if not being used, will influence the limit set on a new card

poggles

planteria wrote: »

not as willingly as they did, surely?

It seems to be increasingly frequent over say the last 6-12 months. I've had recent offers/reminders from both Barclaycard & Tesco.

I can't comment on HSBC as I don't have one of their cards.

poggles

MallyGirl wrote: »

Because if a juicy 0% deal comes up your access to existing credit, even if not being used, will influence the limit set on a new card

Please take my post as whole, rather than pick out one sentence and then use it out of context

With just £500 credit limit from HSBC, it could be the OP will have difficulty getting credit from another provider anyway, especially a juicy 0% one if it ever comes along.