How many times can I open & close card accounts?

money_saver_4

I am relatively new to money stoozing/ credit tarting and worried that after a while credit card companies will spot that I am using them and will stop issusing me with new credit cards. My fear is based on a telephone conversation with Capital One earlier today. When I asked them to close my account (0% interest period ended), they thretened me that if I was to apply again, they would refuse my application.

Has anyone had experience of being refused a credit card application, because they already had one/two/three cards before and chose to close them?

Many thanks in advance.

CTT_2

I closed my capital one card when the bt transfer ran out and reapplied 12 months later. They then gave me a small credit limit of 2500 and 16.9 percent. Also 0 percent on purchases and nothing on bt. However I took advantage of the offer but when the 0 percent runs out I will be closing the account for GOOD.

Clariman

You got some FUD from CapitalOne - a well known marketing/sales technique of creating sufficient Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt that it stopped you closing your account.

I closed a CapitalOne card with 6 months 0% in December 2004 and applied and received an 18 month 0% card from them in March/April 2005.

Clariman

Milarky

Capital One has a general rule of only allowing you one credit card at the same time - so to get another C1 card you have to close an old account at some stage. They also say things - such as - you can only ask for a credit limit increase once every six months AND that you may not apply to open a new C1 card for at least six months from a previous [unsuccessful] application.

Like Clariman, however, I was lucky enough to have closed my account [knowing it was redundant] and reapplied - on spec - when the online 18 months card was flagged up here in March. It was only in Feb that I cancelled the old account, but reading the conditions it merely said 'have not applied in the last six months' and all I had done was cancelled the old card - so that did not count against me!

money_saver_4

Thank you for the replies. Do credit card companies log how many accounts I have had with them? If so, are they likely to refuse an application at some stage, e.g. after 5th, 10th, 20th time an account is closed with them?

Clariman

money_saver wrote:

Thank you for the replies. Do credit card companies log how many accounts I have had with them? If so, are they likely to refuse an application at some stage, e.g. after 5th, 10th, 20th time an account is closed with them?

Yes, I believe they will maintain records of past accounts. Your accounts and credit searches will also be recorded by the credit reference agencies, so future lenders will also see.

At some point, I would suspect that they will stop offering new cards. So far I have had 3 cards from the MBNA family, 2 from HBOS, 2 from MINT, 2 from CapitalOne, 2 from Egg, 2 from LTSB - all in the last 2.5 years. By the end of the year, I suspect I will have applied for my 3rd MINT card. I'll keep stoozing until I run out of 0% cards.

Clariman