Should I close my Barclaycard?

strawb_shortcake

I've just been approved for a Santander Rewards credit card, I partly applied for the rewards and to now ensure I have a Mastercard (again).

I currently have the following:

Santander - credit limit £6400

Barclays reward - credit limit £5000

Halifax Clarity - credit limit £5000

I was going to close my Barclays one as it just doesn't seem to have the benefits of Halifax, and appears to no longer collect cashback. But I then wondered if there is any benefit to keeping all 3 cards active.

I don't use them much and don't come close to the limit. I do use for travelling abroad. We do have a big holiday coming up in 2028 likely to cost between £10-15k but we have the cash to pay for this. Spending whilst away would be additional and not sure how much we'd spend whilst on holiday.

No other big purchases planned.

Ty

BlueonBlue

The Clarity is only a back up travel card to the much better Barclaycard travel reward card if thats the exact travel reward card you have ?.

The Clarity terms could finish in the near future with the halifax name change .

I would lower the Santander and Claritys limits and keep them all as you can bet change will come from the providers so no matter what you do now things will change .

strawb_shortcake

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82185610#Comment_82185610

To date I've found the clarity card better than the Barclaycard, with different cashback offers I've seen a better return than from the barclays.

Albermarle

The Clarity terms could finish in the near future with the halifax name change

Although the LLoyds Ultra terms are similar, so a change to that would not be a big deal.

PixelPound

Are you panicking because you have three cards open!! Why not just keep all three open?

strawb_shortcake

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82187502#Comment_82187502

I'm not panicking, I was just going to close the Barclays one, then wondered if that was the right choice or not.

I think I'll just put it in a drawer as a back up.

PixelPound

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82187633#Comment_82187633

Sometimes having a spare card can help. If you have an emergency putting it on an unused card means you have 28 days to then decide what to do before you need to consider interest - this could be paying it off from savings, using a BT card so you pay at a lower percentage over several months, etc.

Counter to this I suppose is whether you'd want to be considered a new customer in a couple of years for sign up bonuses, in which case closing it might mean you get those.

Okay, so you aren't panicking, it's just at times there'll be a post for someone who has two cards and a promo rate has just finished on one and they ask whether they should close it, as if you are penalised for keeping it open. I just always find it strange aversion to having credit cards still open whose initial reason for opening has passed.

My longest card open is 20+ years and I don't think I've had as low as just 3 open at any point in the last decade. Keeping your longest card open means a long credit history, often providers will periodically increase credit limit and having one with a high credit limit again is seen as a plus. My Barclaycard had a £7K limit when opened 3 years ago, but they've increased it twice since then and it's now £10K. Another has just offered me a BT promo of 2% for 18 months as an existing customer.

Maegi

Why have you opted to close the Barclaycard Reward? Halifax Clarity is the inferior card of the three.

Since Clarity moved from Mastercard to Visa. Same Visa exchange rate as Barclaycard Reward but without the 0.25% on purchases. Santander uses Mastercard plus 0.25% cashback on purchases after promotions.

The only benefit I can see with Halifax is you might be able to convert to Lloyds Ultra due to Halifax rebranding.

Oh, and reducing credit limits to keep three cards is generally a bad idea - you're better with fewer cards with higher limits than more cards with lower limits as that brings down your average credit limit. Obviously if spending controls are issues then it may be different.

strawb_shortcake

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82188654#Comment_82188654

My Barclaycard does not appear to attract cashback anymore for some reason? I just spent £250 on it last month whilst I was away with work and no cashback (this was in the UK).

My main objective was to get back to having VISA and Mastercard cards again.

I also don't need nearly £17k of cards, our only debt is the mortgage and we have very healthy savings accounts for any emergencies.

I imagine we'll come close to spending £5k when we are away on our big holiday but that's 2 years away.

Maybe I need to look more into my Barclaycard and see just what I'm missing

strawb_shortcake

As an update, I've now been approved for a Lloyds ultra card with a limit of £7,200.

I plan to close the Halifax when I pay the balance next month, use the Santander and Lloyds and then keep the Barclays as a spare.