How many cards is too many?

chattychappy

g6jns wrote: »

Two should be plenty. Three at the absolute outside.

Depends on your work/lifestyle.

No chance of making do with 2 or 3 in my case.

thatwilldo

One consideration is managing all these cards with various payment dates and terms, plus logins for online access. I have three only: Natwest World MasterCard for everyday spending which earns points. Barclaycard with a small balance at 0%. Finally a tesco MasterCard which I used for everyday spending and is clear. So no more than three for me, too much hassle otherwise.

lisyloo

I think it depends on your needs lifestyle.
I have two with different cashback deals and one for foreign use.
That's fine for me I can see that other people might might one for business or one for 0% borrowing, so depends on your needs.
Personally I don't keep cards I'm not usign as they are all a fraud/theft risk.

andyfromotley

I asked a similar question a few weeks ago, i think the suggestion was that as i had £30k of credit available to me (unused) it may put some lenders off as they don't know that i'm not going to max em out the day after i remortgage or whatever. So i plan to reduce to just one card. Like you i used em for a specific purpose and acquired more as i shuffled the balance.

Its no real loss because obviously most of yours will no longer carry a promotional rate and you sound in a good position to be approved for new cards if you need em.

So my advice would be to close most of them. Hope this helps.

Thrugelmir

Be a potential downside if you wished to remortgage.

TheEffect

I've got:

NatWest CashBack Credit Card - £2k limit
Barclaycard Platinum - £1k limit

Plus a Barclays Debit Card, and a NatWest Debit Card.

I plan on swapping the NatWest CashBack card for the Halifax Clarity in a few months, as the annual fee means I'm not earning any cashback, plus it's expensive to use abroad.

I wouldn't have more than 2 credit cards myself, as I don't need them. Rarely do I carry a balance.

Deadbeat

Interesting question. I'd perhaps want to answer in terms of what specific cards are useful or not, instead of just focusing on the number.

For instance if one drove then a card that gave back rewards on fuel purchases would be good. I know the Americans have one - Citi Driver's Edge - but I don't know if you can get it here.

At the moment I've reduced my collection to 2: An Amex Platinum Cashback, mainly as it's my oldest active card, and a Bank of Scotland cashback Mastercard for anywhere that doesn't take Amex.

I'm considering applying for the Amex Gold card before renewing my annual season ticket to take advantage to the 20,000 bonus MR points. Might not get accepted though, but if not I'll just use another card.

symphonies

I like to keep it simple and use one debit card and one credit card. Both are with the same bank (who are also my employer!) Don't see the point in cramming a whole load into your purse/wallet if they don't really serve a purpose. I guess my financial situation is quite simple which is why I'm fine with one debit card /credit card combo.

I also have a Barclaycard Freedom floating about but thinking of cancelling that soon.

I admire those peeps who can actually take advantage of offers and stooze and do all those clever things to make money.

billyataol

I have 9 credit cards:
SANTANDER CARD- regular 12 months+ 0% offers
SANTANDER 123 CARD- cash back earned approx £300 after 3years £24 fee
HALIFAX CARD- continuous 18 months 0% offer
LLOYDS CARD- as above
BARCLAYCARD- regular 0% 12 to 15 month or 0% 10 months cash transfer
VIRGIN MONEY- 29 months 0% balance or cash transfer offer
FLUID (MBNA)- as above
TESCOBANK- regular 12/13 months 0% offers
AMERICAN EXPRESS- currently 5% cash back (£155 in 2 1/2 months) 1 1/4% from mid March.
Oh an almost dormant Santander 123 debit card paying various cash back and 3% gross interest whilst using above cards.
ALWAYS clearing necessary balances at each statement and NEVER paying interest.
Works fine for me as I can choose any of the above offers,anytime.
Thus I haven't closed any accounts,but I am absolutely meticulous in my management of all of the above.

jamesd

No particular limit on card count provided it's not costing you lots of money in interest. If the cards are making or saving you money life is good so long as you can keep track of things.

On the mortgage front I got a mortgage a few years back with around 30% of the mortgage amount in unsecured credit on cards, all stoozing, from one of the fussiest lenders around. But that was at 75% LTV with an income multiple of around 1.1 on the mortgage, so it wasn't a high risk proposition for the lender.