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Consolidation Question
CliveWeasel
Posts: 16 Forumite
in Credit cards
Hi, I currently have two credit cards in use, one for daily use which I pay each month in full, and a 0% balance transfer which is coming to an end soon.
I've just applied for a new 0% and been accepted, though with a lower credit limit than the one I'm using (£5K compared to £16K).
The amount I will be switching to the new card is around £3,000 so there's no problem with the limit, however what is the best option to maximise my credit score?
Closing the old one seems like the right thing to do and gives an extra settled account, but keeping it open gives me a higher average age of credit accounts, a higher average credit allowance, and a lower percentage of total credit used, all three of which can positively affect credit scores.
So do I close the old one, or leave it open and unused?
I've just applied for a new 0% and been accepted, though with a lower credit limit than the one I'm using (£5K compared to £16K).
The amount I will be switching to the new card is around £3,000 so there's no problem with the limit, however what is the best option to maximise my credit score?
Closing the old one seems like the right thing to do and gives an extra settled account, but keeping it open gives me a higher average age of credit accounts, a higher average credit allowance, and a lower percentage of total credit used, all three of which can positively affect credit scores.
So do I close the old one, or leave it open and unused?
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Comments
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There's no single correct answer. Depends on your circumstances, not least your income.
But either way, ignore the score.0 -
Thanks. Hoping to start ignoring the score soon, but at the moments its OCD... Been 999 for months, but Im on Experian at least four times a week.0
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Do you realise that when you apply for credit the lender doesn't know that you score "999" - they look at the criteria weighted in the way that suits them and make a decision.CliveWeasel wrote: »Thanks. Hoping to start ignoring the score soon, but at the moments its OCD... Been 999 for months, but Im on Experian at least four times a week.loose does not rhyme with choose but lose does and is the word you meant to write.0 -
Do you realise that when you apply for credit the lender doesn't know that you score "999" - they look at the criteria weighted in the way that suits them and make a decision.
And are thus wasting money on an Experian subscription!Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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