Closing or keeping credit cards?

danxmas

Hi! I read so many articles about keeping or closing credit cards so now I am a bit confused. What I realised it that it's better just to keep them even if they are not used (but not all the time). I am a little bit worried that I have 5 credit cards and I really use 1 or 2 of them on regular basis. I think one of the mistakes was opening too many of them in February 2020, the reason for that was that one of the credit score agencies was advising me to increase the overall credit limit so it would be more than £15k.

Currently it's £20,200 and it's around my annual income. I always pay in full all the outstanding balances as well.

So, I've got the following credit cards:
RBS Credit Card (0% on foreign transactions) - £6k limit - opened in September 2018
HSBC Credit Card (0% on purchases until August 2021) - £4k limit - this is the one I use most - opened in February 2020
Bank of Scotland Platinum (no promotions, 16% p.a.) - £5600 limit - opened in February 2020
Barclaycard (0% on foreign transactions) - £2000 limit - opened in February 2020
Santander (0% on foreign transactions) - £2600 limit - opened in February 2020

As I mentioned, all the cards are always paid in full if they were used. My concern is that a lot of them were opened during the same period of time (I know, probably, it was a stupid idea but it's how it is now). Would you recommend to close any of those mentioned above if I only use RBS card (it's my main bank) and HSBC card or shall I just keep having what I have at the moment (I tried to use all of them for some minor transactions for 1 or 2 months) and not apply for any other credit products for some time? Is having the credit limit that is around my annual income fine as well?

Thanks in advance for any help

adamp87

Im amazed you could open 4 cards in the same month to be honest.

Do you trust yourself with the limits? In that case I’d keep everything as it it is, and use 3 sparingly just for a subscription or something.

Having the credit limit would do well for utilisation and the longer you keep cards open the better for your report.

danxmas

adamp87, thanks! I'm fine with the limits at the moment and keep utilisation ratio usually at 5-10% level. It's probably better just to keep them I think

Ohfeelya

Just be aware your direct debit will be cancelled after 13 months, although this has been extended during covid.
https://www.directdebit.co.uk/FAQs/Pages/InactiveDirectDebits.aspx