going to cancel credit cards...peoples experience..

Deals_2

i had taken out a few credit card when they were at 0%. I remember reading in Martin's article that if we required additional credit at a later stage it was probably worth cancelling them but best to call them up and see if they try and get you to keep them and they might offer deals that are not available on the open market. The cards were LLoyds TSB, Abbey (think it was MBNA?), HSBC and Nationwide. I wonder what are people's experience of these providers and have they had any deals off of them and should i cancel them all as i dont really need anything at the moment. thanks in advance.

emma396

none of your providers, but when i called up to cancel my MS card after earning £75 cashback, they asked me what i used the card for. i replied with purchases and was offered 0% on purchases for 5 months :j

lynxptc

I phoned up to cancel Capital One. They tried really hard to persuade me to stay, was on the phone for nearly 20 minutes, but they did not offer any special offers or offer to increase the credit limit etc.

scottish_blend

I have

capital one - £1000 limit and empty
halifax - £2000 limit and empty
mint - £350 ??? and empty
RBS (which is also my main bank account) £2000 limit and about £30 on it cleared each month
virgin - £3000 and empty
M & S - £2000 and £1800 interest free until January

I am obviously going to keep moving this £1800 around until I pay it off, and I'll definitely keep the RBS card, and get rid of the mint card as the balance is useless. Of the other ones (halifax, virgin and capital one) which ones should I keep and which should I get rid of with the view to applying for the next one to shift the debt to?

Can anyone help please?

DawnW

I closed a previous Halifax card when the 0% purchases deal was over and all paid up. I then closed it (no offers were made). After a few months I applied for another type of Halifax card with 0% for purchases, and have now received it. If they don't offer you anything, close the account and reapply after a few months when you will qualify as a new customer again. The actual time may vary, so look at the T&C. Another card (MBNA card I think, but a branded one) offered me a 0% balance transfer if I remained, which I accepted. I didn't have a 'balance' as such, so they simply credited it to my current account. I don't know if this is normal practice, but this is what happened. I banked the cash in one of my high interest accounts and paid it off just before the end of the interest free period, and pocketed the interest. Always need to remember to make the minimum payments on time though for this to work.

scottish_blend

thanks Dawn

ps - Deals - sorry for sort of hijacking your thread mate - just didn't want to start another one with the same question

Deals_2

I didn't have a 'balance' as such, so they simply credited it to my current account. WHAT DID THEY CREDIT EXACTLY? if amount of money how did they know what to credit?? thanks in advance.

DawnW wrote: »

I closed a previous Halifax card when the 0% purchases deal was over and all paid up. I then closed it (no offers were made). After a few months I applied for another type of Halifax card with 0% for purchases, and have now received it. If they don't offer you anything, close the account and reapply after a few months when you will qualify as a new customer again. The actual time may vary, so look at the T&C. Another card (MBNA card I think, but a branded one) offered me a 0% balance transfer if I remained, which I accepted. I didn't have a 'balance' as such, so they simply credited it to my current account. I don't know if this is normal practice, but this is what happened. I banked the cash in one of my high interest accounts and paid it off just before the end of the interest free period, and pocketed the interest. Always need to remember to make the minimum payments on time though for this to work.

Deals_2

glad thread of use to others!

scottish_blend wrote: »

thanks Dawn

ps - Deals - sorry for sort of hijacking your thread mate - just didn't want to start another one with the same question

DawnW

Deals wrote: »

I didn't have a 'balance' as such, so they simply credited it to my current account. WHAT DID THEY CREDIT EXACTLY? if amount of money how did they know what to credit?? thanks in advance.

It was 5K. To be honest it was a bit random. I expected them to just back off when I said I had no balance to transfer. I don't know where they got the 5K from. Must have been some promotion they had on at the time. There was a balance transfer fee of about 2.5% but I put it in an account paying more than that, obviously. Made a few £ but nothing major.