How many cards is too many?

Tom_Hendo

Volcane said:

I currently have 13 open credit cards, most of which have their purpose :

Barclaycard Platinum - 7500 limit - used for 2% cash back at supermarkets and petrol stations. Opened in 2008 when cash back rates were much better. I’m so surprised they haven’t changed the cash back rates on this. I also get regular BT and MT offers on this,

Barclaycard Cashback - 9500 limit - was originally an EGG money card back in the day. Offers 0.5% cashback but kept for the regular BT and MT offers. I’m considering changing this to one of their newer Avios cards in the App.

Barclaycard Hilton Honors - 7500 limit - used whenever I stay at Hilton hotels and also have regular BT and MT offers. Opened in 2009 when Barclaycard allowed more than one card per customer.

Santander Everyday card - 5600 limit - card associated with my main bank. Only used for its initial 0% purchase offer and never used since. Never received any BT or MT offers on it.

Virgin Atlantic - 12700 limit - opened for its signup bonus and my current best card for BT and MT offers as only 2.5% fee.

Sainsburys Nectar Card - 12000 limit - opened for its signup bonus and I’d heard Sainsbury’s offer good BT and MT deals but have never received any.

Amex cashback credit card - 12000 limit - opened for the 5% cashback signup bonus and my main card except for supermarket and petrol purchases ( see card one ).

Amex platinum charge card - opened for a boosted signup bonus and since used for its associated travel perks but only used for purchases when Amex have offers I can make use of.

Amex British Airways Premium Plus - 9400 limit - as above, plus Avios points.

John Lewis Partnership Card - 2000 limit - opened for its signup bonus but rarely used now.

Marks & Spencer’s reward card - 1750 limit - opened for its signup bonus and used when shopping in M & S

Tesco Clubcard+ Credit Card - 12400 limit - opened for extra clubcard points when buying petrol when used in conjunction with card one above. Also receive regular BT and MT offers on it.

Creation IHG card ( the £99 fee black version) - 10000 limit - was used when stopping in IHG hotels but partnership has recently ended. I’m keeping replacement card due to regular BT and MT offers with a decent credit limit.

I used to have a Newday Amazon Platinum card used for Amazon purchases only but closed that down when their partnership ended. If Amazon launch a replacement I will apply for that.

Hey

I am interested to know how to gain such large limits from card providers. It may be different life circumstances, or purely income as the lead factor.

I have a mortgage. I have a good credit rating (currently reducing due to credit utilisation due to stoozing since July 2022). I have an income that has just crept into the higher tax bracket. I have 2 slow stoozing cards currently, one with £15K limit (80% used) and one with £6k (80% used). Those I was happy with. 

Then I go to open my 3rd card, chose one of my main Savings Providers, Barclays (Barclaycard for the card) who have only offered me a £4k limit. I assume its due to existing credit VS salary, but it surprised me I was hoping more towards 5 figures given they have knowledge of my savings etc which I assume would take account. 

Any Thoughts?

MorningcoffeeIV

No lender will take account of your savings.  Or your credit rating.

Limits are based on income, affordability and risk.

Tom_Hendo

MorningcoffeeIV said:

No lender will take account of your savings.  Or your credit rating.

Limits are based on income, affordability and risk.

This is what I thought, but why would Barclays have me down as risky (or lower limit by a considerable amount than other places). Customer for years, good income. I just found it incredibly strange. 

Volcane

I have an income in higher tax bracket and I’m sure that has helped me obtain higher limits on various cards.

However it is certainly not a given as you will see above M&S gave me a small £1750 and Newday gave me £2000. These were cards before the Virgin and Sainsbury’s cards too so it’s not as if those two cards with their higher limits were taken into account by them.

Since my above post I have since obtained cards with First Direct ( £4100 limit ) and Nationwide ( £4050 limit ) both for their 12 month and 15 month 0% purchase offers. Tesco have also since increased that card’s limit to £15400 without me requesting. Santander have also increased my limit to £7000 despite me not using their card.

Over the last 12 months I have been instantly rejected by Halifax, TSB, and HSBC despite me having well run bank accounts with all three. Most likely down to available credit. I passed the eligibility check for an RBS card and was even advised of a £5650 credit limit only to then be rejected at the full application stage.

I am a home owner with £31k remaining on my mortgage. On the electoral role and no bad history on my credit files.

Whether my own cards are indicative of high / low credit limits in general I don’t know but it is certainly possible.

Hope this helps.

Altior

Everyone will have a unique approach that suits them, and what they are comfortable managing, but technically there isn't a right number of cards, or a limit. I like a bond ladder type scenario, so I like to leave some scope with capacity for additional new applications. For example, I am slow stoozing on one card, and ideally would like to BT that, rather than pay it off at the end of the 0% offer, and slow stooze again with an alternative provider. Fees are also creeping up on deals with existing cards. 

vacheron

I have 108K spread across 6 cards at the moment. plus two more, one for everyday spending and another for use abroad. 

I think (to use the keen cyclist -vs- bicycles analogy), the perfect number of cards is "n+1" where "n" is the number of cards you currently own. 

For me, as long as people keep offering me 0% balance transfers with zero, or low balance transfer fees I will keep taking them, though they are a bit thin on the ground at the moment as all the current promo deals at present are cards I already own.  

Volcane

Hi,

just by way of update I have now, in the last 24 hours, secured three more cards as follows :

Lloyds Cashback - £3k limit. Opened to get the £20 free money for first £1000 spend and will then see if I can raise the limit and see what 0% offers come in.

RBS - £7400 limit. 0% interest for 17months. I need a new boiler installed so going to use the interest free option for that expense and will then see if it can be used for stoozing.

Natwest - £7400 limit. 0% BT for 14 months with no fee that I will use for stoozing.

I was rejected again by TSB and didn’t pass the eligibility check for Halifax so didn’t proceed further.

Hope this data point is of use to any stooges.

MasterplanC

That's useful, thanks. I tried the NatWest eligibility indicator on their webpage which said I'd likely be approved and just got a £10k limit for a balance transfer for 3 months. The MSE calculator claimed I wouldn't have a chance for NatWest, so that's a welcome surprise.

Volcane

Funnily enough exactly the same for me. Same with Lloyds. I never trust the MSE or the CRA checkers as they are often inaccurate ( for better and worse). I only use the checkers ( if available ) from the banks themselves.

I’ve now secured an ASDA money credit card with a £4k limit as they are offering a free £20 credit after spending £50 in first 60 days. Eligibility checker worked for me here too.

MrFrugalFever

@Volcane are you using the 0% opportunities to become mortgage free?