Is it bad to have too many credit cards?

j813ys

Over the years I have acumulated 5 with over £50k of credit currently available to me. They are all at 0 balance, I just use them for large purchases now and again and when I do I rotate them to keep them active.

I heard it looks good if you have lots of credit but can show the banks that you don't need it?

Or is it looked down on in any way?

I would never ever put £50k of spending onto CC's but there is an insurance of it being there in the back of the mind.

DullGreyGuy

Every lender will have its own view of what good looks like, there are likely to be common themes but the nitty gritty will be bespoke to each. 

Generally lenders like to see that other lenders trust you, so in particular they like to see other lenders giving you a large limit but as always its a bit of a double edged sword as they have to consider affordability in the event that you go crazy and start spending big on the cards.  So in principle, 2 cards with £25k limit each is better than 5 cards with £10k each.

If you are better off with 5 cards and £50 limit or 4 cards and a £42k limit is potentially going to vary between lenders. The other consideration is the ability to get "new customer offers" which can be a better reason to cancel a card so in X months time you can return and get signup bonuses (again)

cymruchris

j813ys said:

Over the years I have acumulated 5 with over £50k of credit currently available to me. They are all at 0 balance, I just use them for large purchases now and again and when I do I rotate them to keep them active.

I heard it looks good if you have lots of credit but can show the banks that you don't need it?

Or is it looked down on in any way?

I would never ever put £50k of spending onto CC's but there is an insurance of it being there in the back of the mind.

I wouldn't worry about having that credit limit of that amount of cards. I think I'm in a similar position. It's not about spending it, but about being trusted to have the limits. If you need any big financial purchase in the future, it can be more positive to have a high available credit and a low utilisation. (But every lender is different in terms of criteria).

I wouldn't change a thing for the moment.

Volcane

As long as you remember a credit limit is not another name for a spending target you will be just fine…

th081

I think the only reason to close would be if you were looking for a BT or MT offer. Depending on your salary they might be reluctant to give you a card simply because of the unused credit. I recently closed three cards with total credit of about 13k and I think that helped me get another BT card for 10k. My total credit is now 55k and if I need a new BT card I will look to reduce that. 

seatbeltnoob

i tend to have loads of credit available to me, like you i never use it. doesnt hurt you to have them as they seem to want to throw more credit your way.