Credit Score Query

creditcardchaos

Despite having a ‘good’ credit score I haven’t been able to shift debt to 0% balance transfers unfortunately. The only negative on my report was utilisation. I had debt over 3 cards and I have now taken a loan (at 17% APR) and paid all three off. 

My question is do I keep them open with zero balances or close them all to improve my score?! My hope is that I’ll eventually be accepted for a lower interest rate loan but meantime I am overpaying on it to reduce the interest I pay. 

Thanks 😊 

TheMilkmansDad

Personally, i would cancel 2 and keep one active. Use this one for weekly shopping etc and pay of in full by DD each month.

"Good" credit score means nothing, you need to take a look at it and see what markers are there which may be red flags for potential lenders (each lender has their own criteria which is why the score on the front page means nothing).

Under laying question may be what caused the debts in the 1st place - was a loan the right path? Or are you just heading down the same path only with potentially greater debt?

[Deleted User]

TheMilkmansDad said:

Personally, i would cancel 2 and keep one active. Use this one for weekly shopping etc and pay of in full by DD each month.

"Good" credit score means nothing, you need to take a look at it and see what markers are there which may be red flags for potential lenders (each lender has their own criteria which is why the score on the front page means nothing).

Under laying question may be what caused the debts in the 1st place - was a loan the right path? Or are you just heading down the same path only with potentially greater debt?

That is poor advice, not least because if one has technical problems, OP would be stuck. Having at least 2 (Mastercard and Visa) from 2 different institutions is a good idea. Also, having cards open and used every month and paid off in full keeps the credit rating (not the gimmick score) improving. There is some debate about the effect of utilisation of credit but closing 2 cards will increase utilisation as available credit will be lower so it's not a great idea to do this. Lenders like to see stability and long term trends and closing off cards coupled with the loan would make them think OP is not a responsible borrower