Interest free credit cards

aidy93

My interest free period ends in May. Should I get a new credit card and cancel this one.

is it good practice to do this or can it negatively impact your credit score?

cymruchris

aidy93 said:

My interest free period ends in May. Should I get a new credit card and cancel this one.

is it good practice to do this or can it negatively impact your credit score?

Have you checked eligibility for a new card? You may not qualify for one if you've been carrying the debt for some time... They aren't as easy to get now as they were in the past. If you can't get one - what's the plan to kill the debt?

The score means nothing. It's only you who sees it.

Lenders look at your history - so if you've carried a high balance for a long time, and have only been making minimum payments for example - that would count against you. If you were clearing your card balance every month, that would be seen positively.

It also depends on income/debt/available credit levels as well. There's no one-size fits all answer to your question.

aidy93

Of course your credit rating means something and yes the banks can see it.

my credit rating is in the top 10% of the country. I would not of got a large mortgage without it. That’s why I’m cautious to keep it healthy

 I can easily get another credit card. Kill what debt, ive already paid off my card as the interest free period ends soon and I’m not keen on paying interest.

my question is whether or not I should keep the existing card or get a new one to enjoy more interest free payments. I will speak to an expert about this and I’m confident there is an answer

WillPS

aidy93 said:

 yes the banks can see it.

Not true. 

aidy93 said:

my credit rating is in the top 10% of the country. I would not of got a large mortgage without it. That’s why I’m cautious to keep it healthy

You're conflating your credit history/report with your rating. Your mortgage provider will have had sight of the former, but not the latter.

aidy93 said:

 I can easily get another credit card. Kill what debt, ive already paid off my card as the interest free period ends soon and I’m not keen on paying interest.

my question is whether or not I should keep the existing card or get a new one to enjoy more interest free payments. I will speak to an expert about this and I’m confident there is an answer

The answer is that different lenders will take differing views. Personally I'd never keep a balance running on a card other than one with a 0% deal on it, and I close any cards I have no further use for. That means that when a BT of mine is a few months from expiry, a new card is applied for and the existing one closed. 

It's a fools errand trying to figure out what would objectively make you most attractive but you can do the best to ensure you save or earn more money.

Nasqueron

aidy93 said:

Of course your credit rating means something and yes the banks can see it.

my credit rating is in the top 10% of the country. I would not of got a large mortgage without it. That’s why I’m cautious to keep it healthy

 I can easily get another credit card. Kill what debt, ive already paid off my card as the interest free period ends soon and I’m not keen on paying interest.

my question is whether or not I should keep the existing card or get a new one to enjoy more interest free payments. I will speak to an expert about this and I’m confident there is an answer

Nobody but you sees the fake score

Banks do their own credit scoring based on the data on your file only, you will never see that score

Your top 10% of anything is utterly irrelevant and played no part in you getting a mortgage

Your question was already answered - you can apply for one and you may or may not get one. That decision is down to the bank, not the gimmick number you see. There is no "expert" to speak to as the bank you apply to will not tell you their lending criteria