which of these would be better...closing credit card accounts or leaving them open...

BillieTheBot

ok, so im applying for a professional development loan in june time.

hopefully, by that time, i will have paid off two of my three credit cards.

when it comes to applying for the loan which would be better....to close the accounts ive paid off so i don't have to state i have them on the application form (therefore, showing the bank that i do not have the opportunity to get myself into more debt)

OR...

do i keep them open showing them that i have paid more than the min payment each month and my balances are zero when i have 'x' amount available to me therefore, showing them i am a good candidate for a loan as it shows that i am reliable in keeping up to date with payments.

i dont know which is the best to do.

advice plz. ta.

JsT

Well the cards will already be on you credit history if you've used them, I'd say best to close them?

Former Member

It's my understanding that for credit applications it's better to have less available credit, I.e. credit cards with nothing left to pay off should be closed.

Former Member

I was being rejected for credit cards so I paid off and closed all the store cards I didn't need anymore and reduced the credit limits on the accounts I wanted to still use (Next kept putting my limit up to £3600 - I reduced it to £200!). Obviously this reduced the available credit I had showing on my credit report. Next time I applied for a credit card (balance transferring to a lower rate, not getting into more debt) I was offered a top Gold card with a huge limit