Having 3 Credit Cards

T-G-C

I have the following credit cards:

• Vanquis Origin - 59.9% APR - £250 Credit Limit (I know that's a terrible rate but don't carry a balance - only in full)
• Capital One - Classic Complete - 0% until January - £200 Credit Limit

And finally just applied and was accepted for an Aqua Classic credit card with 0% for 6 months + 34.9% APR after.

I can't obtain low-interest cards or prolonged 0% periods, as I only turned 18 a few months ago and have a limited credit history. I've paid my first statement with vanquis in full so that's a green tick already and the other two have 0% status, so I only have to pay the minimum on them until near the expiry date.

The reason I've obtained 3 cards since only turning 18 in the last few months is because I want to rocket my credit history for when I apply for a mortgage in a few years. I'm not irresponsible with debt and don't even have the credit limit to do such, as the maximum they'll give me is £250 on each, so do you think it's bad for me to have three cards already? A few people think it's terrible at 18 and others think if you're being sensible then why not. I'm merely taking advantage of 0% except from vanquis which was the first company to actually give me a chance as the other two probably wouldn't have beforehand.

What do you guys, from experience, think about this? Your opinions and thoughts for my own consideration would be great!

Thanks

eDicky

You seem to have a pretty good idea of what you're doing, for an 18 year old, also demonstrated by this quest for genuine advice in preference to judgemental opinions...

[Deleted User]

The three cards are fine.

wiseonesomeofthetime

In my opinion, it is not necessarily how many cards that is important, more how you handle them.

You sound a level headed 18 year old, and you will need to hold on to that going forward as more and more companies throw credit opportunities at you.

For now, I would stick with the three. Don't be tempted with any more and build up a good credit history using those cards.

Try and pay just over the minimum payment on the 0% cards to minimise 'minimum payment markers' in your history, though that itself should not be a major problem as, from experience, the credit reports also indicate whether the minimum payments were made against a promotional rate.

Don't fall into the trap of looking at the scores provided by the three Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) as they are irrelevant. Focus on your history, which seems to be a weird thing to say when the history you are attempting to create is in the future.

All the best with the adult financial world and hope you achieve what you are aspiring to.

tastyhog

keep going, anything that can show you can manage credits accounts wisely is a good way to go, maybe get a cheap phone contract, or handle the broadband bills etc if you're going off to uni, or moving in to a house share.

but better low interest / zero interest and decent 0% balance transfers and purchases are just around the corner.

another one to check out is the Tesco Bank foundation card, tend to be easy to get and with lower interest than most of the 'credit builder' cards, and starting limits are a bit better.

pay by direct debit via your main bank account and you'll likely be able to get a decent card from your bank in no time, when they see payments going out for credit cards regularly.

as for people saying it's bad, well run and managed credit cards are nothing but a good thing, not only from a financial perspective, but as a means to cover unexpected or emergency spends or even just spreading the cost for bigger purchases, which being young and entering the world there is bound to be quite a lot of at some point, some people have this notion that all debt is bad for some reason, but it's not, which i'm sure many many people come to find out when they try getting a mortgage having never had any kind of real credit and being lumped with higher interest than if they had a few years of decent credit history behind them.

Daveahare99

Three is no problem at all if its within your means and your managing them properly. I've got two and the only thing I would suggest is trying to pay off as much as above the minimum as you can.

Easier said than done but its easy to get caught in the APR trap each month buy just settling the monthly minimum.

My rule is 3 : 1. If say the monthly is £30 I pay £40. Simple.

Hope it helps.

StopIt

As long as you're not paying interest to get your credit history together, alls good.


3 cards with a low limit, 1 card with a high limit, whatever, just don't carry a balance after the 0% ends and pay interest just to see a mythical score go up.


Rinse, repeat, build a history and a deposit for a house and you'll be in good stead when you need to get on the housing ladder. Remember to look into a LISA if you're looking to build a deposit.

Don80

Hi. As long as you are not carrying a balance and paying interest this is fine. Remember what often counts is how much of your available credit you use, and whether you pay it all off every month. So nominal transactions every month, paid in full by direct debit is fine. In 6 months, do the MSE eligibility checker to see if you can get a better deal, but close unused accounts. Don't build up massive amounts of available credit.

Sign up for the MSE Credit Club and you'll see your report every month which will give you a good idea of how you are getting on.

See also https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

Anthorn

T-G-C wrote: »

I have the following credit cards:

• Vanquis Origin - 59.9% APR - £250 Credit Limit (I know that's a terrible rate but don't carry a balance - only in full)
• Capital One - Classic Complete - 0% until January - £200 Credit Limit

And finally just applied and was accepted for an Aqua Classic credit card with 0% for 6 months + 34.9% APR after.

I can't obtain low-interest cards or prolonged 0% periods, as I only turned 18 a few months ago and have a limited credit history. I've paid my first statement with vanquis in full so that's a green tick already and the other two have 0% status, so I only have to pay the minimum on them until near the expiry date.

The reason I've obtained 3 cards since only turning 18 in the last few months is because I want to rocket my credit history for when I apply for a mortgage in a few years. I'm not irresponsible with debt and don't even have the credit limit to do such, as the maximum they'll give me is £250 on each, so do you think it's bad for me to have three cards already? A few people think it's terrible at 18 and others think if you're being sensible then why not. I'm merely taking advantage of 0% except from vanquis which was the first company to actually give me a chance as the other two probably wouldn't have beforehand.

What do you guys, from experience, think about this? Your opinions and thoughts for my own consideration would be great!

Thanks

Why does apparently everyone take an Aqua Classic card when they could have an Aqua Advance credit card starting with the same APR and the prospect of a 5% reduction in the APR every year for 5 years? That is beyond my understanding and probably points to bad advice.

Personally I would concentrate on Aqua since in my experience they do offer limit increases far more readily than the others. At the time I closed my Aqua Advance card my APR was 19.9% and my credit limit was £7,500. On the flip side Aqua are ball-breakers when it comes to making payments on time. If you fail to do that you can say bye-bye to limit increases for some time and your Advance APR will revert to its starting point.

Candyapple

tastyhog wrote: »

keep going, anything that can show you can manage credits accounts wisely is a good way to go, maybe get a cheap phone contract, or handle the broadband bills etc if you're going off to uni, or moving in to a house share.

but better low interest / zero interest and decent 0% balance transfers and purchases are just around the corner.

another one to check out is the Tesco Bank foundation card, tend to be easy to get and with lower interest than most of the 'credit builder' cards, and starting limits are a bit better.

pay by direct debit via your main bank account and you'll likely be able to get a decent card from your bank in no time, when they see payments going out for credit cards regularly.

as for people saying it's bad, well run and managed credit cards are nothing but a good thing, not only from a financial perspective, but as a means to cover unexpected or emergency spends or even just spreading the cost for bigger purchases, which being young and entering the world there is bound to be quite a lot of at some point, some people have this notion that all debt is bad for some reason, but it's not, which i'm sure many many people come to find out when they try getting a mortgage having never had any kind of real credit and being lumped with higher interest than if they had a few years of decent credit history behind them.

The rest of the post is good advice but the bolded part is not. The last thing you want to do is have any bills in your name if you are going to uni/house sharing because regardless of you sharing with your friends, 9 times out of 10, you will be the one left holding the ball when it comes to settling debts or balances should one person leave or if you have a falling out and that will ultimately mess up your credit history.

If you already have 3 active credit cards then make sure that your bank account and mobile phone contract is also showing on your files.

Don't forget to get registered to the electoral roll too as this is very important.

And keep an eye on your credit reports. The free versions to check your credit files are below:
Experian: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/creditclub
Equifax: https://www.clearscore.com
Call Credit: https://www.noddle.co.uk

enthusiasticsaver

I personally feel that 3 credit cards at 18 is too many especially as these are high interest cards once any 0% deals are finished.

My advice to my daughters when they finished uni and were earning was to get one and pay it off every month to demonstrate it was affordable. Gradually they increased their limits. At the moment they still only have one credit card but had no problems getting a mortgage.