Close it down?

natscat84

I have a credit card with M&S which has a £0 balance on it, a £1500 limit on it, and an APR of 25.9%!!!

I also have a card with Halifax which has a lower limit (£950) but also a much lower APR - I think it's 18.5% but not sure. I definitely know it starts with a '1' and not a '2'!

The most I put on a card is around £500 as I know that I can clear it. I haven't used the M&S one for yonks now, but have always kept it 'just in case' for emergencies but if I needed to go up to that amount I couldn't clear it and be charged the stupid interest rate.

Presumably even though it's got nothing on it, it's hurting my chances of better cards because of the 'available credit'? I was thinking that I was going to close it down completely if it means that I have a better chance of getting something like a 0% with a lower APR after that to replace it and my Halifax card. But part of me is worried that if I do, my car is going to suddenly blow up or something (even though it's covered by warranty).

I guess I just need someone to tell me to do it and stop worrying about hypothetical situations! Or not, if it's going to hurt me.

Thanks!

The_Boss

How much do you earn?

Having roughly £2.4k in available and total credit isn't a huge amount and wouldn't have much impact if your salary is in 5 figures.

dj1471

If you don't use it, close it.

You can always request a limit increase on your Halifax card.

natscat84

At the moment, my income is about £8k a year because I'm a final year student - but come August I'll be a fully qualified doctor, so will be on about 3 times that. Which was why I was thinking maybe close the M&S one down so that when I start working properly I can be classed as a 'new' customer and get the good rates. ie, not 20-something percent!!

cse

If you always pay off the full balance then the APR doesn't matter too much. Are there any rewards on the M&S card that you could be taking advantage of?

As others have stated the total amount of available credit you have isn't huge; the benefit of having the M&S card for emergencies might outweigh the potential future benefit of closing it down