Number of credit cards and Credit Rating

TopCat1978

I am new to MSE forums but thought someone may be able to assist with a query I have. I have 17 credits cards with total limits of over £70,000. I am only using about £10k with 0% balance transfers which should be paid off by the end of the 0% rate. My question is, should I close some of the accounts down?

I have seen on other posts to keep them open to show a good position, but is there a point at which too many is too much?

Thanks in advance and sorry if this has been asked before.

[Deleted User]

It depends.

Post the card providers, APR, any promo's, limits etc.

Nebulous2

What is your income?

I'm not good at closing cards, which doesn't appear to do me any harm. I've had well over my income in credit limits for 20+ years, at times over twice my income.

However, where it can have an impact is in chasing new deals. The best deals are reserved for new customers. If you have open cards from the same company then you won't get the deals. Closing them, waiting 6 months, and reapplying may be advantageous.

TopCat1978

MBNA £20k limit, interest rate 23.9%
MBNA £9.2k Limit, interest rate 23/9%
Halifax £8k limit interest 19.45%
Virgin money £13,400 limit, interest 18.33%
Barclaycard £14,900 limit interest 19.2%
Asda credit card £4k, only used for cashback on shopping and fuel
Capital One £4k limit interest 18.9% for cashback.

I am hoping to not have to use any deals going forward and the cards above are often sending through random deals for balance transfers as well. my thought was to have one large credit limit and then a small one with the 'everyday' cards as well.

A lot of them I have had since before 2005 so I guess these should be kept?

Thanks again

[Deleted User]

So you have 7 cards, not 17 - assuming that’s a typo in your first post?

See if you can merge/consolidate the 2 MBNA cards to one card, if you want to.

Keep the rest as is.