Should i cancel credit cards?

jessip12

Hi,

I have been reading this forum for the past year and at the end of the week i will technically be debt free, however i am going to wait an extra month to build up an emergency fund before i made the final payment (its on 0% until Feb 17).

I just wondered what your suggestions would be re cancelling cards? Would this effect my credit history?
I current have a barclaycard initial (£0 balance, £8000 limit) which i wanted to cancel and
Tesco (Balance will be cleared end of Feb, £8000 limit).
I want to keep one as work requires me to travel sometimes and claim expenses.
Over the past year i haven't really used the credit cards at all and leave all cards and cash at home most days.

Thanks

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on getting debt free. It would probably be a good idea to keep one but maybe reduce the limit? If you use it then get into the habit of paying it off in full each month.

sourcrates

Credit cards are the spawn of the devil, and positively the worst thing to happen to people, financially, in my lifetime.
They are the cause of untold misery, and millions of people first getting into debt, debt which most carry with them for years.

Once hooked, your a customer for life, the profits are Hugh on these cards, cut them up, throw them away, close the accounts, and think yourself lucky you managed to pay them off !!!

if you have to travel, use a debt card instead.

northerner999

Depends entirely on your use of them, I use one for regular (budgeted) spending what ch is paid off in full every month. I also keep a second one for emergency / when I am purchasing for work of as a group and need time to collect the money off people.

But I steadfastly turn down attempts to increase the credit limit and as others are paid off - also on 0% - I intend to end up with two, one for main spending and paid off and one for emergencies.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

I have one CC, on which is much of my remaining debt. It's at 0% and will be cleared well before the introductory period ends. I shredded the physical card and pin unopened as soon as they arrived.

I have another which gets used for any business expenses and any time I think there might be a warranty issue (online shopping, electronics, etc.) but is cleared in full whenever it's used.

jessip12

Thank you all for your responses
I think I will call Barclays tomorrow to cancel the initial card. Once I have cleared the balance on the tesco card I will reduce the limit slightly and leave it at home unless I am travelling abroad

Puddylove

I have 3 CCs with limits adding up to £35k or so...I was told that closing them, or reducing the limits could adversely affect my credit history, as it may look as though the banks closed them.

Perhaps re-ask this question on the credit card board?

KirstyO

My only nugget here would be that your credit utilisation is recorded on credit file, so if you have 16k of credit and you are only using £100 of it than this can look more favourable that having 8k of credit and only using £100. I don't know if this is information that lenders can see? But it appears on clearscore as something which affects the decision they make about how your record 'looks' to them. It may be it is only something which the CRAs use to put their useless scores together, but I've heard it mentioned a lot in the past.


But if the temptation will be too great then you're better off without it.

jessip12

thank you for your replies. i will ask on the credit card board

lexia

@jessip12: I would close those, but get a Halifax Clarity card instead - which is a great one for travelling as it's got no fees for withdrawals and no load fees (look it up on this forum).

I'm not the best person to advise on debt and credit card issues, as my debt is too high, but I couldn't close all cards - even if all were at 0 balance and kept in the drawer. I would keep one...