Which accounts to close?

gozaimasu

It's myth that closing unused credit accounts is good for your credit record.

planteria

who are the cards with?
and are you hoping for Balance Transfer deals in the future?

on the face of it, if the others (other than the 9% card) are not offering you a deal, or any cashback/points, you could close them all.

planteria

ok, so you get cashback on one of your Halifax cards?
i have found them to be tight with repeat deals.
i have found Tesco to be tighter.
and i have found Nationwide to offer nothing, repeat-wise, of any interest at all.
if you want the smaller Halifax card for cashback i would actually consider closing all of the others & then, in perhaps 3 months (by which time the accounts will not be showing as current--which can take longer than it should) apply for something new which has features that appeal to you.

guesswho2000

With limits amounting to 35% of your income, providing they're not maxed out! I wouldn't worry about closing any of them. A vague guideline is having at most 50% of your income as available credit. This depends on your income, of course - if you earn £5k, a £1k limit might be seen as high by a lender.

My credit limits exceed 100% of my income and have done for some time, this doesn't seem to cause me any issues. I have some outstanding balances, but less than 10% of the overall limit.

The_Boss

^ what guesswho2000 said.

I like MBNA and Barclaycard for their repeat offers but I assume you are after a greater cashback card than the one at present?

Oh and great to see someone wanting advice that gives us the details we need - i.e. proportion of salary used and how the credit limits on existing cards stack up to that.

planteria

guesswho2000 wrote: »

My credit limits exceed 100% of my income and have done for some time, this doesn't seem to cause me any issues.

same here. it is currently around twice my income. it has been up to more than five times my income in the past.

planteria

The_Boss wrote: »

I like MBNA and Barclaycard for their repeat offers but I assume you are after a greater cashback card than the one at present?

me too The Boss. i am simplifying my 'deck' at the moment...the ultimate streamlined situation would be Amex for spending and Barclaycard and MBNA for borrowing, imo.