Is it better to keep open a old credit card ?

dazzaofdagenham

Good afternoon
wife just opened and did a balance transfer from a MBNA to Barclaycard....
when she phoned barclaycard to close the account, although they were more than happy to close the account, they mumbled something about closing the account would somehow damage her credit score...????.....true this is her longest held card for about 8 years..but can closing a account do harm to a credit history ( notice I never said score )

Thanks

Willing2Learn

Yes.  An old account on your three credit files will demonstrate to lenders that you can be trusted with their money.  Hold on to it.  Just use it every now and then, paying off the full statemented balance as required by Direct Debit

planteria

that is fair advice, yes.. providing you are both sure that the card won't be used more than you later wish you had.
i've had up to 24 cards in the past, but i was playing the system, and disciplined. i know several people that would have been far better off never having a single credit card in the first place.

cymruchris

If you’re never going to have any credit other than the odd card it’s not such a big deal - if you have a range of credit accounts on your file - they do say it’s beneficial if you’re applying for a mortgage. If you’re able to control your spend and not use it as free money to build up debt, then most certainly i would keep it. 

J_B

We used to have a Goldfish credit card when they used to give bonuses - we stopped using it and moved on when they 'sold' the name to Barclaycard (google tells me it was 2008!)

We've not used it since, but they keep sending annual statements and new cards every so often ..... We *think* our credit score is good (even if we're told that's meaningless!)

Willing2Learn

As long as you successfully manage all your credit accounts, then all the data on your three credit files will have that data recorded as evidence and lenders are more likely to offer products at attractive APRs.  You just need to check your three files periodically to ensure all the data remains accurate.