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Credit Cards - and closing them

I currently have 4 CCs (Barclays/MSDW/RBS/Virgin)

I got the RBS and Virgin for large balance transfers that I have now paid off, I won;t be using those cards for the forseeable future..

Do people usually CLOSE the CC account when they are done, or just leave them ope and throw away the card (and perhaps order a new one if they want to spend again?) - or is it better to terminate just because its 'cleaner' (i.e you don't have loose ends) - and possibly even leave the option of joining as a new customer after a few months/years (is that possible, and how long do you normally have to wait?)

If I apply for a CC in the future with a special offer, will it be better or worse if I have 4 open CCs or 2 open CCs with previously closed ones?

Cheers

Reply to
mo
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I always close mine. Thus there is less of a security risk that someone may be running up a bill on your card, and also, if you apply for a new card, you won't have too much 'wasted' credit limit outstanding, possibly reducing the credit limit allowed by a new card provider.

Rob Graham

Reply to
Rob graham

Always close them if you won't be using them anymore. Aside from it being neater (less paper work for you) it is more secure and stops any nasty 'resubscription' or 'low usage' charges that may crop up. Doesn't really happen anymore but best to be safe!

Reply to
Sam Smith

I've got 19 "active" credit card accounts - although I only use 2 cards for shopping, one of which is a Nectar American Express which only (what seems) a 1/4 of retailers accept. My main card is a VISA which I use if they don't take the Amex card. I've never closed cards when I transferred a balance from one to another (all now paid off), but it's never seemed to affect me getting another card or the limit of my next card (the Nectar AMEX is my latest new one and I got a 10K limit). The other day I tallied up all the credit limits on all the cards and it came to 98,200. My ambition is now to get 20 cards and take the total of all credit limits to over 100K. Sad, I know!

Reply to
Mitchum

At 00:32:53 on 19/10/2005, mo delighted uk.finance by announcing:

Yes, it's possible. It can be as little as 3 months.

Reply to
Alex

I had to read that as you having 98k of DEBT and trying to get 100k :)

Reply to
mo

If I had 98K debt and 19 credit cards then I'd have contacted the Daily Mail and claim that *I* was the victim.

Reply to
Mitchum

That shouldn't be funny, but it is.

Reply to
Biscit

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