Long held card..... to close or not?

Sam29

Hello,

I have 3 credit cards. One of these is is santander card which I have had for 10 years. I recently cleared this card and I was planning on closing it. But I'm worried this might affect my credit rating as long held card. Technically there is 3500 available so should I be reducing my limit and holding on to it or getting rid completely? My other cards with mbna and hsbc are zero percent but I've only had these for few years.

Anyone got any advice?

Thanks

bigadaj

Unlikely to do you any harm in closing it, but the cards isn't many so I'd hold onto it if I were you.

I like the idea of having different brands in case of issues with one, so currently hold a visa, MasterCard and Amex amongst my cards and will continue to do so.

Candyapple

I'd close it. No point in hanging onto it if you're not going to use it and also it means if in the future you want to take out a new 0% purchases or BT card, you don't have to worry about the £3.5k being taken into consideration as a debt and a lender reducing your credit limit because of it.

Closing a card will not harm your credit 'rating'. In fact it will probably boost it as it shows a clear consistent history of use of an historical account.

System

I personally think that two cards - ideally 2 different networks (Visa, Amex, Mastercard) is adequate.

The only reason I would keep it is if it offers you something use to you or if it is a Santander Zero card (these are useful of foreign use but no longer offered)

Sam29

Thanks for the replies guys. Keeping two different card types makes sense to me.

So are there any benefits of having on long term card or is it better to get new offers? I know loyalty rarely pays nowadays but I would have thought credit card companies might take a different approach.

Superscrooge

As you have had your other credit cards for several years, closing your Santander CC is unlikely to have any negative effect.

If you had only had your other credit cards for a couple of months it might have been worth keeping it open to give you a longer credit history.