Help tidying Credit Report

cld28

Hi all,

Just wanted some advise/ideas of how to clean up my credit report. I feel I have too many cards, surplus to requirement and want to reduce the amount of credit available to me. Here is a list of my current cards, balances and APR:

Halifax CC (My Bank) £1000 Limit, 21% APR, £0 Balance
Bank of Scotland CC £2000 Limit, 0% APR, £1800 Balance
Barclaycard Freedom Rewards £3950 Limit, 0% atm, £0 (use every month for rewards and pay in full)
John Lewis Card £750 Limit, 16.9% APR, £0 Balance

Do you think it would be worthwhile transferring my BoS card to Barclay's so I could close that down? I would like to keep my Halifax card as its with my bank along with Barclaycard & JL for the rewards?

Thrugelmir

Keep the card(s) that they you use or need. Close the others. Won't make a huge difference to your credit rating. However it will change the way potential lenders view you when making applications in the future for credit facilities.

kloana

cld28 wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wanted some advise/ideas of how to clean up my credit report. I feel I have too many cards, surplus to requirement and want to reduce the amount of credit available to me. Here is a list of my current cards, balances and APR:

Halifax CC (My Bank) £1000 Limit, 21% APR, £0 Balance
Bank of Scotland CC £2000 Limit, 0% APR, £1800 Balance
Barclaycard Freedom Rewards £3950 Limit, 0% atm, £0 (use every month for rewards and pay in full)
John Lewis Card £750 Limit, 16.9% APR, £0 Balance

Do you think it would be worthwhile transferring my BoS card to Barclay's so I could close that down? I would like to keep my Halifax card as its with my bank along with Barclaycard & JL for the rewards?

I would consider closing the BOS as above, myself. But do bear in mind there'll be a BT fee payable to Barclaycard, assess whether it's worth it in the long run...it would be £50-60-ish, depending on B/C's current rates. Also bear in mind whether there's enough 0% time left for you to actually clear the balance off.

The reason I would do the above is because BOS seem to have decent 0% rates these days. By closing it, you'd be eligible to reapply for a 0% deal in the future (time limits vary). Though that'd depend on whether you see a use for it in the future...personally I never keep the best cards open doing nothing - I've traditionally closed them and re-applied, as there are only finite cards with finite deals.

By the way, BOS is also your bank As in Halifax Bank of Scotland / HBOS. I have both a Halifax and BOS CC, and they both appear on the same internet banking page.

The John Lewis (HSBC) card seems pretty useless.