Two Credit cards or just one?

kippers

Me and my hubby have a joint Tesco credit card which we use for everything possible(and pay off each month) as we get points and use them for nice holidays.

I took out another credit card - M&S - so i could take advantage of 0% interest for a few months, as we were purchasing a large item and the money stayed in our savings account making interest (thanks to this website). Once the 0% interest ran out i paid the balance off =Nothing outstanding.

I signed up for a Barclaycard last year, as it was offering a £50 voucher with a purchase. Our purchase was £11 which we paid off and then used the voucher (thanks again to this website) =Nothing outstanding.


My question is:-

I've just written a letter to Barclaycard to cancel their credit card. I was just about to also write to M&S to cancel their credit card when it suddenly dawned on me that if there was ever a problem with the Tesco credit card, ie identity fraud etc, we would have no back up of another card.

What do you all do? Do you have more than one credit card? Is it better to have more than one card?

Pls let me know your views.

Thanks

21castlehill

I always have in my wallet at least 2 credit cards, especially when I travel overseas. My brother recently went to China (last minute rush business trip)& tried to pay for his visa using visa, his card got automatically blocked due to it appearing to visa as a suspicious transaction. He basically spent the night on the floor as he couldn't get the card unblocked until the next day. Finally after something like 18hrs he got into the country having missed his original meeting.

armasravi

I have 2 cards, mainly for when I travel. I then keep them seperately so I always have a backup if one disappears.

When I'm home it don't really need a backup, but it's always nice.

belfastgirl23

Apparently if you cancel the M&S you can reapply for the same deal again so on the other side of the coin this is worth considering.

I wouldn't mind only having one credit card because I have 2 current accounts (one joint, one personal) with overdrafts available. But I would definitely want access to at least 2 sources of cash when travelling abroad etc.

CLAPTON

You never know when a CC will be refused, sometimes for no apparent reason. So I see a backup as essential especially if you carry very little cash with you.

Also bear in mind there is no such thing as a joint CC, its always in one name with an additional secondary user. So if you both want to maintain a good credit record make sure you each have one CC in our own name and use it regularly.