Which cards, if any, to cancel?

Jakerrs

Hi there,

Having recently applied for two new cards, I'm starting to think that I should probably get rid of at least some of my older ones. Which ones, if any, would you cancel in this situation?

I'm hoping for some clarity on striking a balance between the length of time that accounts have been opened, accounts which give good existing customer offers as opposed to those which give better offers to new customers, and credit limit in relation to earnings.

• Sainsbury's - Opened ~2011-12 - £2,000 limit / £0 balance (I received a letter to say this was going to be closed due to lack of use when my card expired in June 19, however, I recently tried to apply for a new Sainsbury's card and was told I couldn't as I already have one. Still shows in online account)

• Post Office - Opened March 2015 - £2,500 limit / £0 balance (unused for a long time, was 0% purchase card)

• MBNA - Opened July 2017 - £5,700 limit / £0 balance (Transferred to Nationwide Select at 0% in the last couple of days for consolidation purposes / to reduce minimum payments for saving)

• Santander Everyday - Opened November 2017 - £3,500 limit / £3,017 balance (The majority of this card's balance is in savings accounts and will be paid off before expiry of the purchases offer in May 2020)

• Barclaycard Platinum - Opened June 2018 - £3,500 limit / £0 balance (Transferred to Nationwide Select at 0% in the last couple of days for consolidation purposes / to reduce minimum payments for saving)

• Amex Platinum Everyday - Opened September 2018 - £7,300 limit / Used as our 'joint' spending card and paid in full each month, though account is mine

• Santander Zero - Opened April 2019 - £3,600 limit / Paid in full although has been replaced by Clarity

• Halifax Clarity - Opened August 2019 - £7,500 limit / Paid in full and used for all of my own individual spending (mostly opened for £20 intro offer, but also because I bank with Halifax and so makes it easier while checking finances)

• Nationwide Select - Opened August 2019 - £3,000 limit / £3,000 balance (Balance from MBNA and Barclaycard, and significant amount of this is saved already, will be paid before end of free period)

If it matters, earnings are ~£30k per year

Thanks to anyone that has read all of that :money:

macman

You haven't stated the interest rates on the non-0% cards. The ones with the highest rates are the ones you should clear or BT first.

Jakerrs

macman wrote: »

You haven't stated the interest rates on the non-0% cards. The ones with the highest rates are the ones you should clear or BT first.

Hi macman,

I am not paying any interest on any of the cards. They are either paid in full each month, on a promo, or a zero balance.

Thanks

user1168934

Any cards where the "special offer" is expired, just close them. This is especially useful because some providers keep special offers for new customers only.

Up until last year I had ~6, most of which I have now closed. Now, I just keep 2 credit cards. First one is clarity because I use it for the occassional trip abroad and another one I applied recently for the 0% purchase offer.

I have had clarity for several years so that covers for having account maintained for a long time.

enthusiasticsaver

I would close all but the ones you are using.

MoneySavingNovice

Personally, I would close all of them once the 0% period has come to an end.



The ones I would keep open is the Halifax Charity card as this is great for overseas spending and a current 0% card. You don't need so many open and actually having some marked a 'settled' might improve your creditworthiness.

[Deleted User]

As they're quite low limits, closing them will make little difference in "creditworthiness".

I would however suggest the following:

• Santander Everyday - Opened November 2017 - £3,500 limit / £3,017 balance (The majority of this card's balance is in savings accounts and will be paid off before expiry of the purchases offer in May 2020)
and
• Santander Zero - Opened April 2019 - £3,600 limit / Paid in full although has been replaced by Clarity

Ask to consolidate these 2 cards together to the Santander Everyday card (since you have no use for the Zero card), giving you one limit of £7100. Unless you want to consolidate it to the Zero card, to give you a backup card for foreign spends/holidays etc.

--

• Amex Platinum Everyday - Opened September 2018 - £7,300 limit / Used as our 'joint' spending card and paid in full each month, though account is mine

Keep this card open as an alternative to MC/Visa, and to earn the cashback

--

• Sainsbury's - Opened ~2011-12 - £2,000 limit / £0 balance (I received a letter to say this was going to be closed due to lack of use when my card expired in June 19, however, I recently tried to apply for a new Sainsbury's card and was told I couldn't as I already have one. Still shows in online account)

If you're really inclined to, contact Sainsbury's Bank and explain this. They will likely close the account and may backdate the close date. Although this is your oldest card so may be helping slightly with account stability

--

• MBNA - Opened July 2017 - £5,700 limit / £0 balance (Transferred to Nationwide Select at 0% in the last couple of days for consolidation purposes / to reduce minimum payments for saving)

Keep this card as it has a higher limit than the remainder of your non-Amex cards

--

• Halifax Clarity - Opened August 2019 - £7,500 limit / Paid in full and used for all of my own individual spending (mostly opened for £20 intro offer, but also because I bank with Halifax and so makes it easier while checking finances)

Keep this for your foreign spends and withdrawals, and for the higher limit

--

You should keep at least one Amex, one MC and one Visa card to cover all bases, especially if there is an outage on any of the platforms.

Do the above at least, the rest is down to you personally.