Credit cards - keeping active with ZERO balance? Balance transfers

sammysolent1

Hi All, 

I have a couple of CCs and I have just sold my car so want to use the funds from that to pay off some of the debt and one option I have is to pay my 2x CCs off (1 balance is approx 3.5k and the other is around 3k)
My Lloyds CC has a credit limit of 8k and my Tesco CC has a credit limit 4K.

If I was to have these both at zero balance is it better to keep them active and hope they will contact me with a 0% balance transfer offer or better close them down and apply for a new 0% balance transfer with another lender?

Is there any benefits to keeping 2x cards active once you clear a balance? 

I dont want the banks to see it as I have all this available debt and see it as a risk? My credit rating funny enough went to 999 on experience last month even though my credit usage is deemed high, so don’t really understand that either as on MSE it says my eligibility right now for a new 0% CC would be slim chance of approval - this is the same on Money Supermarket etc 

Any thoughts would be appreciated....

sammysolent1

sammysolent1 said:

Hi All, 

I have a couple of CCs and I have just sold my car so want to use the funds from that to pay off some of the debt and one option I have is to pay my 2x CCs off (1 balance is approx 3.5k and the other is around 3k)
My Lloyds CC has a credit limit of 8k and my Tesco CC has a credit limit 4K.

If I was to have these both at zero balance is it better to keep them active and hope they will contact me with a 0% balance transfer offer or better close them down and apply for a new 0% balance transfer with another lender?

Is there any benefits to keeping 2x cards active once you clear a balance? 

I dont want the banks to see it as I have all this available debt and see it as a risk? My credit rating funny enough went to 999 on experience last month even though my credit usage is deemed high, so don’t really understand that either as on MSE it says my eligibility right now for a new 0% CC would be slim chance of approval - this is the same on Money Supermarket etc 

Any thoughts would be appreciated....

Experian*

Nebulous2

Those aren't big limits. I have no experience of either, so have no idea how likely they are to offer you a deal, however existing customer deals aren't generally as good as new customer ones. 

I'd keep both, clear the balances and once the CRAs have caught up to show the balances are zero I'd apply for a new card. Try an eligibility checker on the card providers website first. 

[Deleted User]

As you can see hundreds, if not thousands, of times on this forum, your credit score MEANS NOTHING - it is a novelty, a gimmick, it's as useful as me saying you're rated as 3 custard creams and a jammy dodger. Lenders NEVER SEE this score, it is NEVER used in any decision on whether they will lend to you or not (they have their own internal scoring system which you will never see, based on the data on your file).

Keeping your card shows history and stability - you could always spend a little on each card every month and pay it off in full or ask the provider if they have any offers, or just keep an eye on the card and see if they offer any. Alternatively, close one, leave it a few months and then apply for a BT card if you need one

sammysolent1

Nebulous2 said:

Those aren't big limits. I have no experience of either, so have no idea how likely they are to offer you a deal, however existing customer deals aren't generally as good as new customer ones. 

I'd keep both, clear the balances and once the CRAs have caught up to show the balances are zero I'd apply for a new card. Try an eligibility checker on the card providers website first. 

So had a dig around, applied for 0% with john lewis and managed to get a 6k for 18 months so that's good news.