Doesn’t too many cards negatively impact your rating though?
Too many credit cards? aka "The Credit Card thread"
- Thread starter robfosters
- Start date
I think paying your bills on time has a better effect on your credit rating than the number of cards you have. My experience anyway.
Caporegime
Not really. I mean there are many many factors. One of them is utilisation rate. So if you have 1 card with a limit of £1k, and you are at £500. You are at 50%.
If you have 5 cards with a combined limit of £10k, you also only need £500 monthly, then your utilisation rate is at 5%.
The 2nd scenario you are seen as a safer customer to lend money to and will help credit rating.
There however is a rule of thumb as a general consensus that you should not apply to more than 5 cards in any 2 year period.
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That seems a bit daft... as above... have fewer cards that you utilise the benefits from and close the rest down... the admin headache alone would annoy me, and plus.. fewer cards with higher credit limits (and less utilization of overall credit limit) would look better.
Maybe but it has helped get my credit rating back on track.
I could close down the accounts now but just never bothered..
When I got the default, they removed it but told me it would still be on file for 7 years I think it was, and my credit rating dropped to the red.
After obtaining many cards over the years (1-2 a year since multiple credit searches don’t look good) and making random purchases to show I’m using it but at the same time paying it off in the same month, my credit rating has gone back to green. Checking checkmyfile, Experian and the lot, shows I’m in the top 5% for lending so I’m happy..
Had I not been able to get this sorted I’d never be able to buy my house.
It can affect what you're lent for loans and mortgages, sometimes, but I think it depends on other factors.
I currently have 3 and my Experian credit score is 999. One I haven't used in years, and I don't even know where the card is, which I need to cancel. And two others that I paid off early this year. I had a mortgage approved about 3 weeks ago for a house I'm buying (selling current one).
Caporegime
I would just leave the old card alone. An old card is your credit history, if you cut that card off you utilisation rate goes up and your history on record gets cut shorter and your credit rating will drop…in theory.
Even if I have had uncountable credit cards over the last 10 years? I use them to buy expensive car parts usually, pay them off over time or until the purchases run out and move to a 0% balance transfer card.
Caporegime
The advice I’ve always read is you should not burn your oldest card, even if it’s not been used for years.
Soldato
I have the BA Premium card, I've hit the £10k companion voucher spend and avios bonus but unsure of my next step. Was thinking of closing the account for a pro rata refund and applying for the Nectar Amex (no bonus) so I can start the 2 year clock ticking for another sign-up bonus on the gold/ba cards
Fair enough! I'll just keep it then, I don't know where it is anyway, I think I cut it up when it arrived we I'd never use it and don't know the login details.
in case you don't know the qualification for the voucher is £15k from 1 Nov this year if that affects your decision
At the age of 51 I'm new to credit cards, having always subscribed to the 'if I can't afford it now, I'll save up' school of thought. However I do see the benefit of the extra protection and flexibility of paying for stuff and then clearing the bill at the end of the month. I'm finding myself confused though and feel I have unnecessarily paid interest a few times, which I'd like to avoid.
I have a Halifax Clarity card, my statement date is 22nd of the month. I assumed that I should wait for my statement date, then clear the balance and, if I did that, I wouldn't be subject to interest charges. But this month I've had an (admittedly very small interest) charge appear on my statement, and I'm not sure why.
More specifically, this month I started with a zero balance and made payments on my card totalling just short of a grand. I received an interest charge of £1.11 with my statement.
I appreciate it's minimal, but I do want to understand exactly how it all works. Should I have paid it in full the day before I got the statement? Or will there always be an interest charge no matter what I do?
I have a Halifax Clarity card, my statement date is 22nd of the month. I assumed that I should wait for my statement date, then clear the balance and, if I did that, I wouldn't be subject to interest charges. But this month I've had an (admittedly very small interest) charge appear on my statement, and I'm not sure why.
More specifically, this month I started with a zero balance and made payments on my card totalling just short of a grand. I received an interest charge of £1.11 with my statement.
I appreciate it's minimal, but I do want to understand exactly how it all works. Should I have paid it in full the day before I got the statement? Or will there always be an interest charge no matter what I do?
Man of Honour
It should explain on your statement which part of your balance has attracted the interest. For normal purchases you don't pay interest up until your payment due date so in theory you can get up to 56ish days interest free depending on when you purchased and when your due date is.
Have any of your transactions been cash withdrawals or classed as cash transactions such as purchasing crypto? If so they generally attract interest from the purchase date.
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Ahh that explains it I think - I had some work done on my car and couldn't transfer to the garage bank account (the only method of payment he takes) so I did a cash transfer for the value, thinking I'd be better off doing that and leaving the money in savings a bit longer. Clearly not then, lesson learned.
Thanks for the info.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
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I always pay mine off in full, but I did end up with too many. I’ve settled into one primary Barclays visa and one backup Halifax Mastercard. That said, the amount I’ve spent this month I’d be better off with Amex!
Soldato
You should be able to either contact your card provider or set your payment method to full balance each month so you don't have to worry about manually clearing it.
My statement date on the Amex is towards the end of the month but it gets taken out a week or two later (they control this automatically) but it always clears the full balance with DD.
If you want to get cash out of your CC without fees the only way I know of is to send friend/family paypal gift with the card as the source, it should be £0 fee, and then they can withdraw the cash and send back to you. Bit convoluted but I've done it a few times to essentially borrow money from myself
My statement date on the Amex is towards the end of the month but it gets taken out a week or two later (they control this automatically) but it always clears the full balance with DD.
If you want to get cash out of your CC without fees the only way I know of is to send friend/family paypal gift with the card as the source, it should be £0 fee, and then they can withdraw the cash and send back to you. Bit convoluted but I've done it a few times to essentially borrow money from myself
Good to know - thanks!You should be able to either contact your card provider or set your payment method to full balance each month so you don't have to worry about manually clearing it.
My statement date on the Amex is towards the end of the month but it gets taken out a week or two later (they control this automatically) but it always clears the full balance with DD.
If you want to get cash out of your CC without fees the only way I know of is to send friend/family paypal gift with the card as the source, it should be £0 fee, and then they can withdraw the cash and send back to you. Bit convoluted but I've done it a few times to essentially borrow money from myself
Soldato
I only take 0% cards, and pay off the minimum rather than full, then at the end of the term balance transfer to another 0% card (this sometimes incurs a fee).
Currently on a 0% Capital One card, had a Santander with £12k credit limit on... £7k now.
We tend not to use it for day to day stuff, but do put unexpected stuff on it or big purchases that might benefit from additional cover.
Currently on a 0% Capital One card, had a Santander with £12k credit limit on... £7k now.
We tend not to use it for day to day stuff, but do put unexpected stuff on it or big purchases that might benefit from additional cover.