Closing old credit cards

Craig1981 · 26 May 2018 at 5:48AM

Morning all
just wondering, as unable to find definitive answer about cancelling old cards.
I have now 6 cards, only use one (pay off in full after using) at the moment, and use the others once every 6 months to keep active.
Two have been held since 2012, 3 under 2 years and the one using now is only a couple of months (took this one for air miles)
Some threads say cancel, some say dont. what i would like to know is if anyone can tell me if they have cancelled old cards and what impact it had on their credit score? My scores are relatively high, but have weak "affordability" due to the available credit that is currently on there...
any new info would be greatly appreciated

msallen · 26 May 2018 at 6:13AM

Firstly, ignore the "score".

Secondly think about this long term. Are you just going to keep opening new cards for the rest of your life without ever closing any? How many do you imagine you'll end up with.

You should keep open as many as are suitable for you - and that will vary according to each individual, but will probably be somewhere between about 2-8. Simply close the rest.

[Deleted User] · 26 May 2018 at 6:15AM

That's because there is no definitive answer. It's all circumstance dependent.

Your main consideration should be income to limit ratios. What is yours?

The one thing that no one needs to worry about is the impact on your score, which is entirely made up and not of interest to anyone. Only worry about how your credit files may appear to lenders.

Closing old credit cards

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