What to do with cleared off credit cards?

stephi103

We have 3 credit cards that all had our debt split onto. We have now cleared those off and now wondered what we should do with them?

The other half said we should keep them as it looks better on our credit report if we have credit but not using it?

Whats the best thing to do?

Thanks

MABLE

stephi103 wrote: »

We have 3 credit cards that all had our debt split onto. We have now cleared those off and now wondered what we should do with them?

The other half said we should keep them as it looks better on our credit report if we have credit but not using it?

Whats the best thing to do?

Thanks

Not so long ago it would have been a good idea to close cards you know longer have need of. However since the so called credit crunch I am keeping all my unused cards incase some providers decide to do an Egg scenario on me and then have other cards to fall back on.

sicker

I would phone them and close them in the hope that you could re-apply at a later date if the card provider came out with new offers. It would also do your credit file no harm by reducing the amount of available credit to you.

ShelfStacker_3

How much are the combined credit limits on your cards?

By and large, your OH is wrong. Lenders don't like large amounts of available credit as they think you either don't need the money or won't use their card.

If you don't need them then close them, at least then you won't have any temptation to spend on any of them.

lisyloo

Well lost of available credit can be a bad thing.

On the other hand it's good to have SOME credit history and it's worth keeping at least one card becuase some thing(like hiring a car) are very difficult without a credit card.

I would be tempted to keep 2, maybe one visa and one mastercard.
Assess the benefits, do any have cashback? free purchase protection? or free credit report? or any useful benefits?

I'd keep either 1 or 2 (the best ones) and get rid of 1 or 2 that you aren't going to use.

Also credit cards offer valuable protection.
I recently bought a hotel voucher from ebay and the company has gone bust.
It's worth using credit cards for protection in these scenarios.

poppy_f1

if you have had a iffy credit history it might be worth using one regulary and paying it in full that way your report will show lots of paid on times which could help in the future