paying credit card in full?

hussnainh8 · 21 October 2018 at 2:32AM

Hi,

First of all sorry if I posted in the wrong area of the site (newbie). I just want to ask a quick question to all the credit card experts.

I have 4 credit cards to pay off all with a different credit limit and they all came with a 0% interest free period. I have only been paying the minimum on them for a few months now and if I keep paying the minimum amount, I won't be able to clear the cards before the 0% interest free period finishes.

What I am thinking of doing is paying 2 credit cards off in full well before the interest free period is over however I would like to know if this will affect my credit score?

credit card expiry dates:

Tesco - 13th March 2019
AA - 7th August 2019
Virgin money - 21st may 2020
Barclay card - 30th November 2020

I would like to clear Tesco and AA credit cards in full so that I don't owe them anything. Is it safe to do so?
Any help much appreciated.

Thank you

msallen · 21 October 2018 at 3:22AM

Ignore you score.

Why on earth wouldn't it be safe to do so?

hussnainh8 · 21 October 2018 at 5:14AM

"Ignore you score." What do you mean by that?

I am asking because I read online and a few websites seem to say you shouldnt pay the credit card off straight away?

mwarby · 21 October 2018 at 8:02AM

I wouldn't pay much heed to that advice in this case.

Sure banks love to see evidence of you paying interest regularly, but that's not very money saving. Also if you clear the debts, it will lessen any affordability concerns for future lending.

Nebulous2 · 21 October 2018 at 9:10AM

hussnainh8 wrote: »

"Ignore you score." What do you mean by that?

I am asking because I read online and a few websites seem to say you shouldnt pay the credit card off straight away?

Why are you interested in your score? If you think you're going to need credit, such as a mortgage, then try to tidy up your history, save a deposit, show you can meet your commitments, make sure you are on the electoral roll. Those are some of the important things, not a score.

I've no idea why anyone would be saying you shouldn't pay off the card. The best thing to do moneywise would be to continue making minimum payments, save the money in an interest bearing account, and pay it off (or balance transfer it) before the 0% promotion ends.

However if you are taking on a big commitment, such as a mortgage, having the credit card debt could make that more difficult. Then paying it off now might be best.

In short - do what is best for you, rather than try to feed an imaginary creature called a score.

Eternal1 · 21 October 2018 at 12:57PM

When people say "ignore your score" they should ideally tell you why...

Your score is not what creditors look at when deciding how trust worthy you are, they look at your credit history because it's your credit history which shows how long you've had credit for, how much of that credit you're using each month, how good your are at not missing payments etc.

Take me for example, when I signed up to Experian it said I had something like 969 credit score and said it was excellent but I'd never had any lines of credit open before... When I tried to apply for credit cards, the only ones I could get were credit builder cards, this is because creditors were looking at my credit history and not my credit score.

Don't worry about your credit score too much and just focus on paying off as much of the cards in full as fast as you can.

[Deleted User] · 21 October 2018 at 1:01PM

Your score is made up.

The payments will show a minimum payments on your credit files but with a marker to state it’s in a promo period.

You could pay them off now if you wish or wait until nearer the end of the promo period/s - either way it will make little difference

McKneff · 21 October 2018 at 1:08PM

I have had a credit card for many, many years and i pay it off in full every month

Zero_Sum · 21 October 2018 at 3:38PM

Or get a new 0% balance transfer card & carry on paying minimun with no interest for a couple of years longer.

Terry_Towelling · 21 October 2018 at 9:13PM

What is it these days with people so worried about their credit score? In essence the credit score providers are just trying to sell credit products to you - how else are they going to make any money? Just get on with your life and try to pay off your cards before they start costing you money in the form of interest charges.

All these credit score providers really do is run down the battery in your device and use up your data allowance.

paying credit card in full?

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