Close credit card?

danco

I have a card with a high limit, and I almost never use that card, as I have others that I use. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to closing it? I would still have Visa, Mastercard, and Amex in existence. I make occasional non-UK purchases (mostly software) but travel outside the UK is unlikely.

The limits on my other existing cards are enough to cover all my expenses (one is an Amex card, which I can't use at some places, but the others should give enough limits). Probably the only thing I am likely to do is to pay off an existing 0% balance transfer card and then perhaps apply for another balance transfer card. I guess I have another question. When I pay off the balance transfer card, should I apply for a new balance transfer card with the same bank or choose a different one?

MyRealNameToo

danco said:

I have a card with a high limit, and I almost never use that card, as I have others that I use. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to closing it? I would still have Visa, Mastercard, and Amex in existence. I make occasional non-UK purchases (mostly software) but travel outside the UK is unlikely.

The limits on my other existing cards are enough to cover all my expenses (one is an Amex card, which I can't use at some places, but the others should give enough limits). Probably the only thing I am likely to do is to pay off an existing 0% balance transfer card and then perhaps apply for another balance transfer card. I guess I have another question. When I pay off the balance transfer card, should I apply for a new balance transfer card with the same bank or choose a different one?

Each lender sets its own lending criteria so there is no universally correct answer and its why people see such disparity in limits etc when applying for new cards. Generally there is a view that prospective lenders like to see high limits on your other cards as it shows others trust you well however this is partially countered by the affordability considerations if you were to go out tomorrow and spend a large slug of the available balances. 

Who you should get a new BT card with is much more dependent on who you are carrying a balance with as you cannot transfer a debt from one card to another in the same bank and qualify for the 0% rate. Many banks will offer existing cardholders with promotional rates for transfers but often these arent as good as new customers. 

Personally I close any BT cards after their balances are cleared and when I need to do a BT I assess at that point who's offering the best terms for the amount I need to transfer. 

Brie

MyRealNameToo said:

Who you should get a new BT card with is much more dependent on who you are carrying a balance with as you cannot transfer a debt from one card to another in the same bank and qualify for the 0% rate. Many banks will offer existing cardholders with promotional rates for transfers but often these arent as good as new customers. 

Actually it's normally within the same banking group that you can't do transfers.  So you can't transfer between a card from NatWest to one with RBS.

The reason to keep a card with a high limit is if you want to do a BT in the future as the limit is likely to be higher than what you'll get as a newbie.

danco

Thanks. That indicates that I might as well keep the card I don't use. There are some advantages in doing that.

I was fortunate in that my current account is with RBS and I got my balance transfer card from them with 0% interest and 0% transfer fee and a high limit. But I need to pay it off by mid-January.