Once I pay off 0% transfer card, could I open another In the future?

Tigerbait

Hi!

I'm 24 and made the mistake of building up some debt on an Amex card; I had it for two years with no issues but from around this time last year both my mental health and spending spiralled until around October. Overall this amounted to about £3000, but due to the massive interest on the card, this number has been increasing faster than I've been able to pay it off and is now at around £4000. I wish I'd considered that this may be an option before, but oh well.

My question is, if I transfer to the Virgin Money 0% for 20 months, 2.5% fee card, pay it of fine, and close it, then hypothetically if something happened again in future, would I be able to open another similar card/one with the same company again? Obviously I'm not planning to do this, but it occurred to me that this might be important/useful to know before going ahead.

Thank you!

CliveOfIndia

In principle yes.  Each card company have different lending criteria, and different internal policies regarding offers.  But if you clear the card in full and close it, you will be classed as a "new customer" after a certain period of time, and may be eligible for any offers they're running at the time.  How long before you're classed as a new customer again?  There's no way of knowing.  Anecdotally it'll be something like 6 or 12 months, but since their internal criteria and policies are confidential, it's impossible to say for sure.

But yes, in theory there's no problem with this, and there are many many people who get offered new deals to tempt them back after a while.

horsewithnoname

Yes, I’ve had loads of credit cards and lots of 0% offers over the years, so no problem with doing it. Used wisely it can be very useful. 

Martico

I know that Amex always used to be awkward for balance transfers, so some card compaies may not accept Amex. Not sure if this is still the case, but it's worth checking before applying

WillPS

I've had no trouble getting Amex new cards regularly, although I never built up a long term balance with them - the closest was when I had the Costco card and paid the minimum for a few months while I had 0% on purchases offer. In my case I tend to apply for, use then close 3 cards (Nectar + BA PP + Platinum) within a year then have no account with them for 2 years ('go fallow') so I'm eligible for new customer offers again.

Nothing's guaranteed though and if Amex is your longest held card you might wish to consider keeping it as it is thought that lenders look favourably on those who've held a credit facility for a while. My wife keeps a Nectar Amex running partially for that reason.