Closing old credit card accounts good or bad idea ?

older_wiser

long post so apologies in advance 

i have 7 credit cards some have uses cashback or points etc others don't  several i haven't used in over a year possible even longer is it time to to close them down or is it better to keep them as i've had some of them  5+ years

I've just got a halifax all in one card with 17 months 0% purchase and balance transfers which will probably be my main card to take advantage of the interest free period
the others i would want to keep are the tesco for the points creation for the cashback amazon again for the points and they are now doing 12 installment plans which may still be useful in 17 months time but as i won't be using them is it better to get rid ?

My aqua card is one of those i do wish to get rid of but it did until recently have the highest available credit limit  of 5k but now halifax has far surpassed that so this might be the time to get rid would cutting my credit amount significantly be detriment to me in the long run ?

for information i don't carry a balance on any card paid off every month no debt and i do have a HTB isa with halifax so the possibility of buying a house is there at some point in the future 

[Deleted User]

If you don't have any need of credit in the immediate future, you could close one or two down, but there's no real need to.

older_wiser

i doubt i'll be using any of them other than the halfiax for the time being i do think 7 is a lot of cards to have though which is what prompted me to create this post

the fact that alot of benefits are being withdrawn for new customers has stopped me cancelling cards earlier and make me second guess closing them down. 

do you mind me asking how many credit cards you have how many you use regularly ?

[Deleted User]

I have eight and use five regularly. They either serve different purposes or are kept alive as back ups.

older_wiser

Deleted_User said:

I have eight and use five regularly. They either serve different purposes or are kept alive as back ups.

so maybe my thoughts about 7 being too many are wrong hmm i think perhaps cutting the credit cards that don't give any benefits is the way to go forward

aqua will be the only one i'll ponder longer about i think 

thanks for your replies much appreciated z81

femalemonarchfemalecanine

I've currently got 7 cards - I closed the 8th card last year as it is one that tends to have decent 0% offers [at least it did, pre covid] - some have 0% balances and some I use for normal spending that I pay off in full each month as they have cash back. As long as you use them responsibly and don't miss payments etc, I don't think there's ever been a problem I've had with having a large number of cards - I've had as many as 12 in the past. My combined limit is high compared to my income, but I don't go anywhere near the overall limit so it's not a concern to me.
In my experience it seems to generally be viewed as a positive to have plenty of available credit that I've not ever used, though of course you see your credit 'score' fluctuate with any change [or none at all] but it's largely meaningless anyway. But if you do close some, it'll probably go down, or maybe up, there seems no rhyme or reason to it.

sassman

Check that your credit utilisation percentage doesn't drift above 50% when you consider closing a card.
It has an impact on a credit report and may work against you if you think you're going to need credit in the short term. 

older_wiser

femalemonarchfemalecanine said:

I've currently got 7 cards - I closed the 8th card last year as it is one that tends to have decent 0% offers [at least it did, pre covid] - some have 0% balances and some I use for normal spending that I pay off in full each month as they have cash back. As long as you use them responsibly and don't miss payments etc, I don't think there's ever been a problem I've had with having a large number of cards - I've had as many as 12 in the past. My combined limit is high compared to my income, but I don't go anywhere near the overall limit so it's not a concern to me.
In my experience it seems to generally be viewed as a positive to have plenty of available credit that I've not ever used, though of course you see your credit 'score' fluctuate with any change [or none at all] but it's largely meaningless anyway. But if you do close some, it'll probably go down, or maybe up, there seems no rhyme or reason to it.

Yes i think my initial concerns regarding the number of credit cards was incorrect it doesn't really matter
its far more related to to your credit file and with halifax and the generous limit probably the fact i've switched my HTB isa along with using the account far more often in the past 6 months.

I know the credit score is meaningless but i still ponder why it increases or decreases sometimes if nothing significant has happened on the credit file. thanks for the reply 

femalemonarchfemalecanine

I often see 'your credit score has gone up/down 9 points because: no changes' Not worth worrying about