Should I keep these cards

Houndog6105

Hello

I have 4 credit cards and I'm not sure if I should or need to keep two of them

The two in question are very high interest and are basically what helped me get back on track when nobody else would accept me

Fluid card and aqua card both held for about 4 years now and the interest on them is simply shocking

My go too cards at the mo are my Barclaycard and my MBNA card which currently still have decent offers on

The aqua and the fluid both started on about £400 and now my fluid is £2900 and my aqua is £5500 (both recently paid off in full)

Should I close these cards as I definitely don't want to use them again or should I keep them?

Let's just say I was after credit from elsewhere be it a loan or whatever
Would they not think we'll hang on a minute he's got £8400 of available credit just sitting there not being used, why does he need more

Will these high interest cards just sitting there with all that credit available stop me getting better deals interest rates elsewhere?

[Deleted User]

Keep them.

There’s no need to close them with such low limits.

Alexd52

Agree with above, keep them. Interest rates are irrelevant if you pay off in full each month. Always good to have some backup cards available.

CakeCrusader

Aqua's likely to reduce your credit limit if you don't use the card within a few months of clearing the balance. I know the APR's eye watering, are you able to use it a little and clear it every month? I'm not saying this will stop them from reducing the credit limit, but you don't really have anything to lose.

Houndog6105

Yes I think I'm going to just get a week's food shopping on it and then pay off in full when bill arrives

Mutton_Geoff

Houndog6105 wrote: »

Yes I think I'm going to just get a week's food shopping on it and then pay off in full when bill arrives

And best to set that up on your card account so full balance is always collected by direct debit so you don't ever miss a payment and end up with a black mark or penalising interest rates.


I have 5 cards, each serving a specific purpose :


BA Amex - UK purchases for Avios points
Sainsburys Mastercard - UK purchases for Nectar points
Barclaycard Visa 0.5% cashback - UK back up for above
Halifax Clarity - Overseas spending, all countries
Nationwide Gold - Overseas spending back up for above (1% fee for non UK/Europe transactions)


All cards set to pay in full each month except the Sainsbury one which has 20 months interest free so BTd an expensive Caribbean holiday onto it to pay off over next 12 months at my leisure. Holiday was charged in US$ to my Halifax then BTd from there.

System

The Fluid looks like credit builder card - like Aqua.

I would ditch Fluid and only keep Aqua is it's got cashback or forex free usage - otherwise I would ditch it too.

Keeping two credit cards (MBNA / Barclaycard) with decent limits / features are perfectly fine.

enthusiasticsaver

I would not keep 4 cards especially if the interest rate is high. Just close those and stick to Barclaycard and MBNA.

[Deleted User]

There's no harm in having four cards for backups etc.

Interest is irrelevant if they are being paid back in full each month

System

!!! wrote: »

There's no harm in having four cards for backups etc.

Interest is irrelevant if they are being paid back in full each month

No particular reason to keep them either as both high APR subprime cards with zero perks.

Also, might limit a new customer offer in the future with newday.

xebruary

I would ditch them both, if only for the psychological boost of putting the part of your life where you needed these high-interest cards behind you.

Yes, the extra £8000 can have an impact on your ability to get other credit for the reason you described. Those who have said it is useful to have the extra credit available to you, I would disagree; at the rates that these cards charge, I find it hard to imagine an emergency that would see my using them, instead of finding some other way to fund the emergency or make do. As you have said you definitely don't intend to use them again, and they offer no particular perks, I say get rid.