How many credit cards is "enough" for the average person?

ah23

I currently own two credit cards. A student credit card with a £500 limit, and an AMEX cash back card w/ £3k limit. I'm thinking of applying for the AMEX basic card, but wonder whether 3 is too much?

Thanks.

than_prutt

No, I don't think 3 will be too many at all considering one of them is an Amex. However, why do you want another Amex card? Surely you don't want to split your Amex spends so that you earn as much cashback as possible?

[Deleted User]

Generally no, but you need to manage your income and credit ratio.

HappyMJ

ah23 wrote: »

I currently own two credit cards. A student credit card with a £500 limit, and an AMEX cash back card w/ £3k limit. I'm thinking of applying for the AMEX basic card, but wonder whether 3 is too much?

Thanks.

I've got quite a few now. 2 Santander's one for purchases and one for balance transfers. A Capital One card for a fixed rate balance transfer. A Halifax card for purchases. A Barclaycard for balance transfers and a Royal Bank of Scotland card for receiving the balance transfers and transferring to my current account for free.

So that's 6. I used to have plenty more but over time they don't offer any new offers and get closed.

ah23

than_prutt wrote: »

No, I don't think 3 will be too many at all considering one of them is an Amex. However, why do you want another Amex card? Surely you don't want to split your Amex spends so that you earn as much cashback as possible?

Good point. I wanted another AMEX because the other major banks require a minimum annual salary which I do not yet have seen as I'm still a student. So I don't think I'm eligible for most of them, and the other student credit cards available aren't very useful seen as they're only around £500 credit limit. I'm not a huge spender by any means, I just want to build a strong credit history early on and have access to funds when needed.

Thanks for your response.

janed9388

HappyMJ wrote: »

A Barclaycard for balance transfers and a Royal Bank of Scotland card for receiving the balance transfers and transferring to my current account for free

?? would this card happen to be available to new customers or is it an old one ? I'm sure you won't want to say which it is but a quick look on the RBS website didn't make it obvious. Is it worth re-reading all the small print ??

bellaboo86

I currently have 3 although I prefer to have 2. I have my clarity card which I use abroad and has a zero balance, and a Barclay card and a virgin credit card. I've just balanced transferred my Barclay card to virgin (so I will be paying 0% on both balance transfer and spending) and will be closing the Barclay card.

CLAPTON

ah23 wrote: »

Good point. I wanted another AMEX because the other major banks require a minimum annual salary which I do not yet have seen as I'm still a student. So I don't think I'm eligible for most of them, and the other student credit cards available aren't very useful seen as they're only around £500 credit limit. I'm not a huge spender by any means, I just want to build a strong credit history early on and have access to funds when needed.

Thanks for your response.

surely if you are a student and paying the balance in full each month, 500 is OK as a credit limit

YorkshireBoy

janed9388 wrote: »

?? would this card happen to be available to new customers or is it an old one ? I'm sure you won't want to say which it is but a quick look on the RBS website didn't make it obvious. Is it worth re-reading all the small print ??

There's nothing special about the card. You need to read up on RBS (and NatWest and Tesco) money transfers. They're fee-free, but incur interest from day one...so with good timing you can create a debt (via a money transfer) and repay it (via BT to 0% card) immediately without any interest being incurred.

The facility has been around for donkey's years but its a) not very popular (since you'd need a decent limit as money transfers may be limited to 50% or so of credit limit), and b) not very well known (since who reads the T&Cs! ).

Unless HappyMJ is deliberately placing the account in credit and withdrawing the positive balance?

HappyMJ

janed9388 wrote: »

?? would this card happen to be available to new customers or is it an old one ? I'm sure you won't want to say which it is but a quick look on the RBS website didn't make it obvious. Is it worth re-reading all the small print ??

Yes it's an old one. It's actually a Virgin One VISA charge card but it's a credit card with a £3,500 limit that must be repaid each month. It's no longer on sale.

janed9388

thanks guys - looks like I need to get on with some small print - unfortunately my eyes tend to glaze over after the first few lines but I'll get reading !