Should I get rid of my CreditCard?

reaprr

Hi All,

I have just opened a Halifax credit card (MasterCard) to benefit from the £5/month bonus. This card also comes with fee free foreign usage.

My old card was a standard Nationwide card (VISA), which has no benefits other than I can build up a 'fee free' foreign usage amount, currently about £2k.

The Nationwide card has a limit of £2200, Halifax has £3500 and these are the only credit cards I own.

My first thought was to close the Nationwide card as I do not plan on using it. However I wonder if it might be a good idea to keep it as a backup (one VISA, one MasterCard)?

I plan on getting my first mortgage in the next 18 months, so am trying to keep my credit report as squeaky clean as possible - do lenders generally see a 2nd credit card with a low limit (say £750-£1000) negatively or will it not have much of an impact?

20aday

reaprr wrote: »

Hi All,

I have just opened a Halifax credit card (MasterCard) to benefit from the £5/month bonus. This card also comes with fee free foreign usage.

My old card was a standard Nationwide card (VISA), which has no benefits other than I can build up a 'fee free' foreign usage amount, currently about £2k.

The Nationwide card has a limit of £2200, Halifax has £3500 and these are the only credit cards I own.

My first thought was to close the Nationwide card as I do not plan on using it. However I wonder if it might be a good idea to keep it as a backup (one VISA, one MasterCard)?

I plan on getting my first mortgage in the next 18 months, so am trying to keep my credit report as squeaky clean as possible - do lenders generally see a 2nd credit card with a low limit (say £750-£1000) negatively or will it not have much of an impact?

How long have you held your Nationwide card for? I'd definitely keep it for "emergency" purposes; maybe charge say £10 a month and pay the balance in full when the statement has been generated.

From what I've read on here that'd look good when it comes to applying for your mortgage when the time arises.

thebritishbloke

Nothing wrong with having more than one credit card, and a lot of people on here would advocate keeping at least one of each VISA/MasterCard. If you do keep it, just make sure you charge at least something to it every month and pay it off in full.

Cyberman60

Worth having both as Mastercard are sometimes difficult to use abroad.

reaprr

Thanks for the replies,

@20aday - I have had the Nationwide card about 5 years, but for the first year it was never used (I assumed just having a credit card would help).

@thebritishbloke - Thanks, I probably wouldn't have spent anything on it but I will do as you suggest. Is there any way to do this automatically - can DD's come out of a credit card account?

@cyberman60 - I did not realise this, good to know!

20aday

reaprr wrote: »

Thanks for the replies,

@20aday - I have had the Nationwide card about 5 years, but for the first year it was never used (I assumed just having a credit card would help).

@thebritishbloke - Thanks, I probably wouldn't have spent anything on it but I will do as you suggest. Is there any way to do this automatically - can DD's come out of a credit card account?

@cyberman60 - I did not realise this, good to know!

Seeing as you've had your Nationwide card for around five years then I'd definitely keep a hold of it.

thebritishbloke

reaprr wrote: »

@thebritishbloke - Thanks, I probably wouldn't have spent anything on it but I will do as you suggest. Is there any way to do this automatically - can DD's come out of a credit card account?

You can't have DD's coming out of it, but you can have regular payments coming out of it, i.e. any monthly subscriptions you have, such as Netflix.