Should I get a new card?

Mazintim

I have a basic Credit Card, one of the first ones you can get...I only use it to get up my credit score and always pay on time so never have fees. Is it worth getting a new card or should I just stick with this one? 

Also any tips on speeding up credit score? it is currently at 500

TadleyBaggie

Credit scores are a made up thing, no one else can see them. It's your credit history that is important. Just showing you can properly manage credit accounts is all you can do to build up your credit history.

cymruchris

Credit score is unimportant as only you see it. Nobody else. Nobody at all. Just you.

It gives you a general indication of where you are roughly - but can be wildly inaccurate. Focus on your history - not your score.

If you've been paying off your credit card in full every month - that's a great start - keep that up.

If you only have one card - then yes - by all means try the eligibility checkers for other cards directly on the banks websites - don't use comparison sites.

Go through eligibility on a number of cards that interest you - and whichever says they are most likely to approve  that suits your requirements - go with that one.

If several come back as 'pre-approved' or similar - apply for ONLY one.

Then continue what you're doing - but split it over both cards - and keep building a positive financial history. 

Mazintim

cymruchris said:

Credit score is unimportant as only you see it. Nobody else. Nobody at all. Just you.

It gives you a general indication of where you are roughly - but can be wildly inaccurate. Focus on your history - not your score.

If you've been paying off your credit card in full every month - that's a great start - keep that up.

If you only have one card - then yes - by all means try the eligibility checkers for other cards directly on the banks websites - don't use comparison sites.

Go through eligibility on a number of cards that interest you - and whichever says they are most likely to approve  that suits your requirements - go with that one.

If several come back as 'pre-approved' or similar - apply for ONLY one.

Then continue what you're doing - but split it over both cards - and keep building a positive financial history. 

Thanks for the insightful reply! Is there an actual benefit of switching to another card though?...I kind of hate the fact I have to juggle accounts, but don't want to miss out on anything just by sticking with the first ever card I got.

Thanks again

cymruchris

The longer you keep an account - the more beneficial it is - so opening one and closing your older account can actually be negative on your history. Better to keep it open, and open another. Benefits of a new card might be points or cashback depending on your circumstances and what you are eligible for.

Mazintim

cymruchris said:

The longer you keep an account - the more beneficial it is - so opening one and closing your older account can actually be negative on your history. Better to keep it open, and open another. Benefits of a new card might be points or cashback depending on your circumstances and what you are eligible for.

Perfect, thanks for the explanation!

blue.peter

I agree with the advice given above, but would make one additional suggestion. Is your existing card Visa or Mastercard? If possible, it would be ideal to get the other as a second card, simply for resilience. It's conceivable that one might have a system failure when you want to buy something, in which case it could be useful to have the other available as a backup.

[Deleted User]

At the moment due to the pandemic, its a lot harder to be accepted for credit cards and the lenders have been rejecting people with spotless scores plus slashing the credit limits of quite a few of its existing cardholder base.  

Not in any way discourage you from applying, but you would probably be better holding off until better card products start being introduced into the market again and scoring thresholds start to lower off. 

Mazintim

blue.peter said:

I agree with the advice given above, but would make one additional suggestion. Is your existing card Visa or Mastercard? If possible, it would be ideal to get the other as a second card, simply for resilience. It's conceivable that one might have a system failure when you want to buy something, in which case it could be useful to have the other available as a backup.

Apologies on the delay in replying. 
I'd never thought of getting "the other". My current credit card is a Mastercard from Tesco. I use it to pay for petrol, and pay this off in full monthly - whilst collecting clubcard points too haha.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Very insightful.

jbrassy

I agree with all the points made above. 

I think there is no harm applying for another card. If you pay off your current credit card in full every month, I would suggest getting an Amex card to benefit from the rewards they offer. You should keep your Tesco card as a back up since Amex is not accepted everywhere. You'd be strongly advised to use the Amex eligibility checker beforehand:
https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/eligibility-checker/?intlink=uk-en-hp-promo1-all-eligibility-04032021

Mazintim

jbrassy said:

I agree with all the points made above. 

I think there is no harm applying for another card. If you pay off your current credit card in full every month, I would suggest getting an Amex card to benefit from the rewards they offer. You should keep your Tesco card as a back up since Amex is not accepted everywhere. You'd be strongly advised to use the Amex eligibility checker beforehand:
https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/eligibility-checker/?intlink=uk-en-hp-promo1-all-eligibility-04032021

Thanks for this. Do you have much info on the benefits? I've just tried to browse their website to find out more but could only find a small bit of info about point system, before asking me to log in.