Capital One and Halifax Clarity

KCGW

Hi,

Ive recently applied for a Halifax Clarity credit card and have been approved. They have sent me my card which should be arriving Monday. I currently have a Captial One credit card that i use regularily and only got this card to improve my credit history as it was my first credit card. I pay it off in full each month and only spend about 20-30% of the limit each month. What im asking is once my Halifax Clarity (bigger limit and lower interest) arrives and is activated should i clear the balance on my Capital One card and then cancel it or keep it and not use it?

Thanks in advance

Tixy

How long have you had the capital one card?

If you don't have much credit history then it may be worth keeping using the cap one card as well (or keep it and use occasionally). Potential lenders will often take in to account the age of your accounts and a longer credit history can be preferable.

Plus it quite often a good idea to have a back up card anyway in case of your main card being lost/damaged / banking glitch etc.

KCGW

Ive had the card about 6 months, I see what you mean about keeping it due to the age of accounts. If i was to cancel it would that card still be included in my average age or would it be taken off?

YorkshireBoy

Age of accounts will be largely irrelevant for several reasons here in my opinion...

• If you got accepted for Clarity your credit rating/history can't be all that bad.
• 6 months is hardly worth anything. 3-4 years and the answer may well have been different.
• Lenders like to see settled accounts on your credit file as well as active ones...and possibly even short time held settled accounts.

So close it if you want (as the positives could well outnumber the negatives) or keep it (as the back up already advised above).

KCGW

Thanks for both of your inputs, the only reason i use my credit card is to build up my credit history im 20 at the moment and want to hopefully get a mortgage in the next 3-5 years so wanted to start early. The reason i wanted the clarity was because the interest rate was better (irrelevant as i pay off in full each month anyway) and also i travel quite often and wanted to take advantage of the better rates and free atm withdrawals.

tomxlisa

Did you have no history before applying for the capital one card then, if so then 6 months to build up your history and be accepted for the clarity card is good going, hope my situation is the same as that, as I have no history and building it with a capital one card to hopefully one day get a mainstream credit card.

KCGW

I had a very limited history. Capital One was my first credit card and i have used it for around 6 months. I have had a phone contract for about 3 years, on the electoral roll since 18. Also i have my current account with Halifax and have banked with them since i was about 15/16. So i think that was certainly favourable and im sure they took that into account. Good luck with your goals im sure you will have a mainstream card soon. Also i used the MSE credit card acceptability tool for both cards and each time it said 90% so id say it was pretty accurate id definately recommend using that before going and putting a search on your credit file when applying for a better card

tomxlisa

Yeah I use that all the time now even though I normally get about 20% and that's for the poor cards but I guess this has something to do with the fact I've hardly any credit history except for a catalogue account which I've had for 2 years and my recently opened capital one account and argos store card, but the capital one and store card doesn't have much positive standing on my file yet as I've only had them about a month, plus I have only just put myself on the electoral roll, but hopefully once these things are sorted and my cards have 6 months or so payments on them I'll be in the same situation, I don't have a current account and I am thinking if it would be worth getting one as Halifax have said I've been accepted for a full current account with overdraft but I am not earning at the minute so wondering if it's worth getting but maybe it would be a positive towards my credit file.

KCGW

I have decided that I am going to cancel my Capital One card. I have received my Halifax Clarity card and everything is all up and running. I have a balance on the Capital One card of £252.71, I will pay this off in full on payday (4th September). I have two questions, I have never cancelled a credit card before and was wondering what the best way to do it was? e.g. over the phone, by letter or secure message on online banking etc. Secondly should I wait to clear my balance before contacting them or shall I do this now and clear my balance after I have submitted my cancellation? I read that I have 90 days after my cancellation to pay off the card in full.

darkidoe

Well done KCGW! Glad to know abit of credit building works a long way. I am aiming to get the Halifax Clarity too. Currently building history with Aqua Advance. Unfortunately I don't bank with Halifax, so hopefully that doesn't count much.

tomxlisa

darkidoe wrote: »

Well done KCGW! Glad to know abit of credit building works a long way. I am aiming to get the Halifax Clarity too. Currently building history with Aqua Advance. Unfortunately I don't bank with Halifax, so hopefully that doesn't count much.

Yeah I am building mine too, did you have no history before and are you building it with one credit card, what does the eligibility tools say for you?.