Cancel, or not to cancel?

thebritishbloke

I took out a Vanquis (Aquis) card on my 18th birthday, and got the beautifulness that is a £250 credit limit and 59.9% APR.

Fast forward almost two years, they've upped my limit to £1,250. I've also got a £500 student credit card with HSBC. I've now also got a £15k hire purchase agreement, so I know that I should be able to get a better card.

I applied for a BarclayCard Freedom Rewards and got accepted with a £3,500 credit limit, woohoo! Now the age old question, what should I do with my Vanquis card? I want to keep my HSBC card so I build a better internal score with them for when the day comes that I want to get a mortgage etc.

I've heard that leaving the card open and not spending anything on it, could be good or bad. Putting a small charge on it each month (i.e. Netflix subscription) could be good or bad. Is it worth having the extra credit line open, or will my score look better once my new BarclayCard has been open a bit longer?

I'm also curious about my student overdraft, it's got a £1,500 limit. I'm currently -£1,000 in it (put it in to my ISA). Do you think this could affect me badly in the future?

QuietOne

You have too much available credit, you could keep the Vanquis card for loyalty purposes. ie being with them for a couple of years and just use it for small purchases and pay in full every month. Someone else may be able to give you better advice but to me it looks like you have a lot of credit at your disposal.

thebritishbloke

QuietOne wrote: »

You have too much available credit, you could keep the Vanquis card for loyalty purposes. ie being with them for a couple of years and just use it for small purchases and pay in full every month. Someone else may be able to give you better advice but to me it looks like you have a lot of credit at your disposal.

That was one concern, I know that a total of £5,250 is not actually a lot in the world of credit limits. But in a years time, I could end up with another £3k limit or so across the cards, figured I'd be better off just having the card with my bank and BarclayCard.

QuietOne

Ditch the Vanquis card, I didn't see the 59.9% and maybe having the CC from your bank and work on that, I think one credit card is enough. If you have more and use them it just means another extra payment every month.

I think you can kill 2 birds with one stone with your HSBC card. Build your rating internally and overall rating by managing that card.

thebritishbloke

My HSBC card only has a £500 limit, which is the main problem to be honest (It's the max limit they give for the student card). The APR has never been an issue, as I've paid in full since day 1.

QuietOne

That's fair enough, I would ditch the Vanquis card anyway and focus on the Barclaycard, I'm guessing it's for people with a fairly good credit file?

thebritishbloke

I think it's their mainstream card that they're doing now, 18.9% APR, cashback in the form of points etc. The only other cards they do are the Initial (for people with no credit) and their Platinum cards which are just really long 0% BT deals.

QuietOne

Then I would focus on that, If you can manage a mainstream card, I think in time your credit file will improve.

onerickylambert

If it's an authorised overdraft and you stay in the limits it will have a positive effect.

As for Vanquis, ditch it, other cards will get you better limits with lower interest (not that you should ever pay interest on a credit card). Plus if you want to go mainstream with your credit Vanquis is a bit of a stain. You know how it's coming to light that people who took payday loans can't get mortgages, well who's to say things don't change and mainstream lenders start viewing Aqua and Vanquis in this way. Plus do you really wanna be seen out paying with Vanquis :rotfl: Dump it.

Mr_Goodkat

onerickylambert wrote: »

If it's an authorised overdraft and you stay in the limits it will have a positive effect.

As for Vanquis, ditch it, other cards will get you better limits with lower interest (not that you should ever pay interest on a credit card). Plus if you want to go mainstream with your credit Vanquis is a bit of a stain. You know how it's coming to light that people who took payday loans can't get mortgages, well who's to say things don't change and mainstream lenders start viewing Aqua and Vanquis in this way. Plus do you really wanna be seen out paying with Vanquis :rotfl: Dump it.

This is incorrect...


Card Issuer is not shown on the version of credit files that banks etc see only type of credit e.g Credit Card, Bank Account, Loan, Mortgage, Pay Day loan etc so there is no stain of sub prime cards.


Lenders can guess at a sub prime card if the limit is very low e.g £1000 or under.

Mr_Goodkat

thebritishbloke wrote: »

I took out a Vanquis (Aquis) card on my 18th birthday, and got the beautifulness that is a £250 credit limit and 59.9% APR.

Fast forward almost two years, they've upped my limit to £1,250. I've also got a £500 student credit card with HSBC. I've now also got a £15k hire purchase agreement, so I know that I should be able to get a better card.

I applied for a BarclayCard Freedom Rewards and got accepted with a £3,500 credit limit, woohoo! Now the age old question, what should I do with my Vanquis card? I want to keep my HSBC card so I build a better internal score with them for when the day comes that I want to get a mortgage etc.

I've heard that leaving the card open and not spending anything on it, could be good or bad. Putting a small charge on it each month (i.e. Netflix subscription) could be good or bad. Is it worth having the extra credit line open, or will my score look better once my new BarclayCard has been open a bit longer?

I'm also curious about my student overdraft, it's got a £1,500 limit. I'm currently -£1,000 in it (put it in to my ISA). Do you think this could affect me badly in the future?

I would ditch the Vanquish card now as it has served it's purpose in moving you to mainstream and the card offers no benefits.


With a £3,500 Barclaycard and a £500 HSBC credit card you have enough credit. Continue to use both responsibly, and pay off in full each month as you are doing. In time you should be able to get a card with better benefits e.g. Amex Cash back card.


Overdraft use is a negative marker when it comes to credit scoring however as it is a 0% student overdraft and you are earning interest on it in an ISA it is explainable. Just ensure you understand the period it remains interest free when converted to a graduate account and ensure it is paid off to avoid circa 20% interest.


Use of a interest free overdraft as a student will have little if any impact on you in the future as long as you remain within the authorised limits and pay it off before it starts costing you money.