Building up credit rating with credit cards - help please!

whostolemyname

Hi everyone!

I am a young man with no debt, loans or really any credit history of any kind. One day I'd like to buy a house, and I'm aware that this can cause problems/higher rates when trying to get a mortgage.

Therefore, a couple of years ago with the help of MSE I applied for and got a couple of credit cards (Aqua Advance and Luma, both specifically recommended by MSE for people such as myself). Since then I have used them regularly, always being careful to repay the full amount, and trying to spend at least something on each card each month.

Over the last two years, my credit limit with Aqua has increased to around £3500. However, after all this time my Luma card is still stuck at £450.

My question is: Should I ditch Luma for another card? Or should I simply get a third card? Or both? Any other suggestions?

I know credit limit in some ways reflects how much the company trusts you, and maybe therefore is important in looking attractive to mortgage companies, in which case I should probably ditch Luma. Although, I also know having too much credit can look bad (but I suspect that would require far higher amounts than the ~£4000 I have to access to right now?).

I believe there are other such cards I could switch the Luma to, or as I say could simply apply for as well. For the record I don't actually need any more credit cards, I am purely interested in order to build up my rating/pave the way for a future mortgage.

Any info or advice from friendly forumites would be much appreciated

[Deleted User]

Try for another if you want. But three cards won't build a credit history any faster, but it might give access to some better benefits.

Chappaz

Sometimes you do have to just ask for a limit increase, and if your history looks good, they'll give you it more often than not.

I've had an Aqua card for 5 months with a £600 limit to start with. I messaged them via their website and asked for an increase to £1250, got a reply 3 days later saying that they've increased it to £1350.

Then again, I've just checked Luma's website and they state that you can't ask for a limit as accounts are reviewed automatically. If you've had the card for a while and you've been using it right, then this company may just be particularly tight when it comes to limit increases, so if the low limit bothers you this much, it may be worth looking for another card.

Dobbibill

It's always handy to have more than one CC for various reasons - whether you apply elsewhere or hang on to Luma is only something you can decide.

Would a £450 limit be enough if your other card was unusable for any length of time?

DCFC79

I agree its not going to be built quicker, just need to be patient, pay the cards off in full.

whostolemyname

Thanks for the replies!

To clarify: I'm not in any rush to improve my credit history, or to get a mortgage, just trying to make the most of my time. Some day I will want to get a mortgage and I'd like to do everything I can to arrive at that point with an attractive history.

The main assumption here is that a higher credit limit is a good thing (within reason at least). For example, I assume responsibly managing £6000 in credit for a couple of years would make me more attractive to a mortgage company than managing only £400.

On that basis I would guess it would be a good idea either to switch Luma or get a third card, to increase my overall credit. I just wanted to check if I'm on the right track or if any of the above is wrong.

A related question is if having 3 credit cards would help me to appear trustworthy for lending, or just like someone with money problems?

Thanks again for any info.

Arleen

The rule of thumb is to not overthink it. I have multiple cards, mainly for the supermarkets we shop at to get better reward back from shops. And as you keep building the file, you will get offers on cards like that, and you will naturally grow a small handful of those, all with couple K limits.