Closing credit cards

Avogirly

Hi everyone!

I have a quick question regarding closing credit cards. I'll explain my situation and hopefully you guys will be able to assist me!

I have got five credit cards.

COOP
First Direct
Santander
Barclaycard
Lloyds

COOP and First Direct have nothing on them (I have just balance transferred to Barclaycard and Santander). The Barclaycard and Santander are both at 0%. I use the Lloyds card for any business expenses and that has a limit of £500, which gets paid off monthly so I don't get charged any interest.

So, my question is, should I close the COOP and First Direct cards? How does having open credit cards affect my credit file?

Thanks for reading and for your help.

Deru

Close them if you don't use them.

Having too much credit is usually not great but I think your portfolio is okay. If you use them a bit, then keep them. It's just not good to have unused cards.

Having open credit files is not a problem provided the accounts are operated properly.

Avogirly

Brill, thanks Deru. That's what I was thinking and there is no way that I want to use them again, so I shall close them both.

Thanks for your help.

msallen

Are you sure you want to close both. I would consider keeping one open, as you presumably don't want to use your "business expenses" card for any personal spend, and you are STRONGLY advised not to use cards carrying a balance transfer for purchases.

knack92

msallen wrote: »

Are you sure you want to close both. I would consider keeping one open, as you presumably don't want to use your "business expenses" card for any personal spend, and you are STRONGLY advised not to use cards carrying a balance transfer for purchases.

What about cards that that offer 0% on both purcahses and balance transfers? Are they the exception to the rule or is there some other reason? Thanks

GooliesOfFire

Are the cards you use maxed out? If so then keep also those with 0 balance on them

Avogirly

msallen wrote: »

Are you sure you want to close both. I would consider keeping one open, as you presumably don't want to use your "business expenses" card for any personal spend, and you are STRONGLY advised not to use cards carrying a balance transfer for purchases.

It's tricky isn't it because I don't want to build up any further CC debt, so closing them both will obviously remove any temptation. I suppose it comes down to thinking if I need one available for emergency purposes.

Avogirly

GooliesOfFire wrote: »

Are the cards you use maxed out? If so then keep also those with 0 balance on them

No, neither of them are maxed.

That could be my other option. If I need to access credit in an emergency I can use one of those cards.

It's food for thought isn't it!

SuperHan

knack92 wrote: »

What about cards that that offer 0% on both purcahses and balance transfers? Are they the exception to the rule or is there some other reason? Thanks

There was a thread on here about this recently.

Some card providers will take any payments off the amount that will generate the highest interest after the promotional period, so if you try to pay off purchases as they are on a shorter promotional period, for example, you will have to wait until AFTER the 0% ends, thus incurring some interest before you pay it off.

While CC providers now take payments against the highest interest balances first, this can sometimes get confusing in multiple promotional periods, so unless you are really clued up on the T & Cs, it's usually worth having separate cards in all circumstances!

Avogirly

Hi SuperHan

I haven't seen that thread, but your comments make interesting reading. If I sustain the level of debt reduction that I am now I will have the 0% cards paid off by June 15 and then Oct 15 so I suppose it's all about calculating the risk of whether to keep one empty CC for a year and then closing all bar one of the accounts this time next year.