Seconds Card - Yes or No?

Money_and_Travel

I took out a Credit Card about 6 months ago.

I've never had a balance of more than about 10% of my credit limit.

What would be the pros and cons of a second card?

What would the extra credit limit do to my credit rating?

WillPS

Your "credit rating" is irrelevant, it'll jump about in either direction but lenders never see it so it shouldn't concern you.

Individual lenders will have their own ideas about what's good and bad, but this is unknowable - both to us and to eachother.

Why do you want a second card? What does your current card not do for you, if credit limit isn't the issue?

It's impossible to give you a 'pros and cons' without more detail.

My wife and I have 4 different cards which we use every month:

• Nectar Amex (effectively 1% anywhere that accepts Amex, except Costco)
• Natwest Reward (1% at supermarkets)
• Santander Edge CC (2% currently, up to max £15/year)
• Barclaycard Avios (0.5% effectively)

At any one time I'll also have 2-3 0% balance transfer cards. But this is all strategic stuff to make as much money as possible from everyday spend AND free up as much cash as possible to benefit from interest on savings. So, for us, the pro of having multiple cards is several hundred £s a year.

CliveOfIndia

That's good advice from WillPS.

In itself there's no benefit as such from having a second card, particularly if your existing credit limit is sufficient for your needs.  The CRAs do like to harp on about credit utilisation, but as long as you clear the balance in full every month (which your really, really, should be doing) then it's irrelevant.

There's an argument to say it's handy to have one Visa and one Mastercard, just on the offchance that there's a temporary glitch with either network.  But even that's not a strong argument if you're not reliant on the card as a means of payment.

Similarly, it can be handy to have a different card from a different bank - again, just in case one provider happens to have an IT glitch at some point.

If you're likely to travel abroad (or, indeed, buy goods/services online in a currency other than Sterling) then a "travel" card can be handy to avoid FX fees.

I guess for most people, a card that offers rewards of some kind (cashback, airmiles, supermarket points, whatever) is probably the biggest incentive to get another card.  If you can earn a few quid for just spending what you'd normally spend anyway, then why not.

But, purely in terms of your "credit-worthiness" or whatever you want to call it, then it makes almost no difference.  Yes, it could be argued that having a higher available credit limit overall shows that multiple lenders trust you.  But on the flip side, if you have a shed-load of credit available to you, you could in theory rack up a massive debt then do a runner.

So yes, pros and cons - but on balance, it's not worth worrying about too much if your current card does what you want.

Money_and_Travel

CliveOfIndia said:

If you're likely to travel abroad (or, indeed, buy goods/services online in a currency other than Sterling) then a "travel" card can be handy to avoid FX fees.

My current Credit Card is zero fees for foreign purchases, so a travel card seems to be pointless.

I guess I won't be bothering with another card.   

Money_and_Travel

CliveOfIndia said:

There's an argument to say it's handy to have one Visa and one Mastercard, just on the offchance that there's a temporary glitch with either network.  But even that's not a strong argument if you're not reliant on the card as a means of payment.

I've only been reliant on the card once, and that was recently when on holiday.

The hotel car park and bar were card only (I wouldn't have booked there had I known), and the "pay on exit" car park in Belgium was also card only.

lr1277

I have only come across one site that only takes Visa. That was for the Paris Olympics earlier this year.

If you have Visa and Mastercard covered across your debit and credit cards and you debit card can cover any potential big spends, then you will be fine.

My personal story is that 2 of my cards were closed by the companies themselves. 

My income (or lack of) doesn't allow me to get a 2nd card after 2 of my cards were closed leaving me with one card.

So if you are confident about getting another card should your credit card close (say at an inopportune time), then again you are ok.

My suspicion is co-branded cards are more likely to be closed than cards provided by banks under their own name.

I am not against a high limit as I needed it a few years ago. My dad was ill and the doctor said he should go into private hospital that evening. He was in no state to talk to the hospital. My mum's card limits were not high enough to pay for the hospital stay. So I paid and my parents paid me back. None of us had enough in our current accounts to pay the bill at that moment in time which happened to be a Sunday night.

kempiejon

Money_and_Travel said:

CliveOfIndia said:

If you're likely to travel abroad (or, indeed, buy goods/services online in a currency other than Sterling) then a "travel" card can be handy to avoid FX fees.

My current Credit Card is zero fees for foreign purchases, so a travel card seems to be pointless.

I guess I won't be bothering with another card.   

Another card might give you access to more credit, some of us thrive on the squeezing a last squeek from the pips and use stoozing, cash back, points etc. CliveOfIndia said a 2nd or 3rd supplier in case of IT !!!!!! up is a bit of redundancy.
I have more credit than I need in my wallet, I carry 4 or 5 cards and in an absolute catastrophe provided I could find places to accept cards I'd have access to tens of thousands to buy myself out of an emergency I cannot currently imagine. I have no idea what that unknown, unknown might be and I trust I never have to deploy the massive credit panic but it's there.

lr1277

kempiejon said:

Money_and_Travel said:

CliveOfIndia said:

If you're likely to travel abroad (or, indeed, buy goods/services online in a currency other than Sterling) then a "travel" card can be handy to avoid FX fees.

My current Credit Card is zero fees for foreign purchases, so a travel card seems to be pointless.

I guess I won't be bothering with another card.   

Another card might give you access to more credit, some of us thrive on the squeezing a last squeek from the pips and use stoozing, cash back, points etc. CliveOfIndia said a 2nd or 3rd supplier in case of IT !!!!!! up is a bit of redundancy.
I have more credit than I need in my wallet, I carry 4 or 5 cards and in an absolute catastrophe provided I could find places to accept cards I'd have access to tens of thousands to buy myself out of an emergency I cannot currently imagine. I have no idea what that unknown, unknown might be and I trust I never have to deploy the massive credit panic but it's there.

+1 to this.

I use a credit card for daily spend that I know I can pay back. This helps build a good credit file.

But it is also there (or was in my case) for those unexpected spends that might be greater than your emergency savings.

maxximus75

Having another card will give you another credit account and helps thicken out your credit file.

If you feel you have the discipline to manage two accounts then go for it but if you don’t, then stay with just the one.

Remember to find a card that suits/benefits you.

Gerry1

I suggest getting Barclaycard Rewards because there's no foreign loading or transaction fees and also no cash advance fees if repaid in full by the statement date which is a very rare feature.  (Local ATMs may charge, but cashback at store checkouts can be a workaround.)  There's also 0.25% cashback.  It's Visa, whereas most cards are MC, so it covers all the bases.

Money_and_Travel

I've got a Barclaycard Rewards Card.