Trying for 0% BT card in three months should I close cards

th081

Hello,

I am looking for some advise. I have been rejected by Santander even though I was in the 90% category to be accepted via mse. I am finally making a converted effort to get rid of my cc debt.

Looking on CRA my available credit is 59k, 90% of my salary. With utilisation of 22k (37%). It has been higher in the past with a peak of 35k. I have a loan with NatWest coming to a end next month and will be using the extra cash from this to pay down my cards.

I have a total of 7 cards and my question is should I close some and try to get a BT card through NatWest who is my bank.

Tesco 3.5k zero balance - already closed this month
Creation 4.8 limit zero balance 
Jaja 1.2k balance 6k limit 
Coop 8k - day to day card 12.5k limit
M and S 1.7k balance 3k limit
Barclay1 2.5k balance 14k limit
Barclay2 4.5k balance 10k limit

Natwest overdraft 0 used, 5k limit.

I could close creation and JaJa (after paying off) and take almost 11k off my available credit given both seem to have stopped with 0 deals.

And possibly ask Barclay to put all debt onto one card and close the other before applying in 3 months to NatWest for their 0 BT card.

All my cards are long standing and any closed ones are no longer showing on my CRA account. 

Any advise would be welcome as my utilisation will go higher if I close. 

grumbler

IMHO, 90% is too high.

Did you check your existing cards for any offers?

For one of my Barclaycards (currently with a big promotional balance) I see

0% until 1/05/25, 2.9% fee BT

0% until 1/1/26, 3% fee MT

Similar offers for the second card that I use for spending and pay in full.

th081

My utilisation is 37%, the 90% is available credit to salary. Unfortunately there are no offers. Not shown is virgin which has a zero offer finishing in three months. 

grumbler

I mean 90% available/income is high. IMO, it's worth reducing it before applying even if utilisation gets higher.

th081

Thank you grumbler, 

I will do that if I close creation, JaJa and one of the Barclays ( if they transfer the balance across) that will (with Tesco already closed) reduce my available credit by 24k and leave 62% utilisation. 

MorningcoffeeIV

Keep your cards open 

It's your debt which is the problem. Get that down.

daivid

I agree with morningcoffee, my available credit is just under double my annual salary, it has been triple in the past. Your credit utilisation is high - I try to keep mine below 25% at all times, closing your cards will make utilisation worse. Also wherever possible use the providers own eligibility checker regardless of what the mse one says - they can be poles apart.

th081

Thanks MorningCoffee and Daivid,

The plan is to get the debt down and if I can get a BT card for zero percent even better. With 59,000 of available credit I can see why I might struggle to get another card. 

I think I will get a card from my bank and want a decent limit on it so might be better closing some cards down. If I don't get a BT I will just have to suck it up and pay the interest while paying down the debt. Especially since creation and JaJa don't seem to be taking on new customer and no offers of BT (at least to me).

MrFrugalFever

As mentioned above, people (including myself) have had far better success rates with utilising the lenders own eligibility checker before applying.

Slightly off piste I know but you say your Coop is your day to day card, what benefits do you get from using it?

As you have a number of CC’s, can I assume that the opening of those and balances are a result of some kind of historic offer which have all long since finished?

I’d pay down the debt - check out the debt free wannabe boards if you need any assistance or advice and keep open most. Just put a very small spend on all every so often and have 1 card that you use daily (paying back in full each month) which could benefit you. This may be a low interest rate card (such as The NatWest Credit Card) or anFX fee free card or cashback/air miles etc card.

When tackling your cards, go with paying off the largest chunks to the highest interest bearing one’s first.

I’d re-evaluate in 3 months time to allow the ‘hard search’ to not be so much of an issue.

th081

Thanks frugal, 

Yes I will use the lenders own eligibility tracker. Coop I just ended up using as my day to day card for some random reason. No benefits apart from occasional 0% deals.

The rest are balance transfer debt, I used to be able to move from one to the other.

It would be great if I could get a 10k card with 0% but I think the 59k available credit needs to come down first. It was a surprise to me when I summed it up. 35k even if utilisation is 62% stands me a better chance if not in three months then some point down the line. 

elasto

My available credit to salary is 150% and I got given a new BT card only this month, so, FWIW, my anecdotal experience is that 90% isn't so extreme.

My credit utilisation is only 10% so, again, anecdotally, I'd wonder if it's not just the high level of debt that is more the worry for them - in which case closing cards might make you less attractive rather than more...

Ultimately, though, I'd guess that each organisation has their own risk profile - and some rate high utilisation as more risky and some rate high available credit as more risky - and so you might be closing one door to open another no matter which way you turn...