SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY my CC Portfolio

[driftless]

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@NRB525 wrote:

On the other hand, I'd consider finding a good quality VISA card, such as Chase Freedom or a Cap One VISA. And personally, I'd not rely on Barclays as one of the three legs of my credit platform, when another leg is Discover. Likely no issue, but there's enough sketchy Barclays reports to make me wonder. Capital One, though, is perhaps enough of a solid base (rock solid in my opinion) that even the Discover and Barclays become redundant and inconsequential as the two weakest legs of that credit base.

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+ 1 The OP does have a Cap One card which makes his three cards scenario pretty solid. I agree with NRB525 that having a Chase Freedom and/or Cap One card goes a long way to giving you peace of mind.

[wasCB14]

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@NRB525 wrote:

Closing Store Cards is not even a debate. Do it. They are useless except at that store, and only lead to one thinking "I should go to Kay Jewlers just to buy that $100 earing set to keep my credit card happy." Not a good basis for using your credit card

On the other hand, I'd consider finding a good quality VISA card, such as Chase Freedom or a Cap One VISA. And personally, I'd not rely on Barclays as one of the three legs of my credit platform, when another leg is Discover. Likely no issue, but there's enough sketchy Barclays reports to make me wonder. Capital One, though, is perhaps enough of a solid base (rock solid in my opinion) that even the Discover and Barclays become redundant and inconsequential as the two weakest legs of that credit base.

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Why do you consider Discover inferior to Barclaycard Rewards or a QS1? I like my Discover, but wouldn't want either of the latter two.

I agree a decent Visa would be good.

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

Closing Store Cards is not even a debate. Do it. They are useless except at that store, and only lead to one thinking "I should go to Kay Jewlers just to buy that $100 earing set to keep my credit card happy." Not a good basis for using your credit card

On the other hand, I'd consider finding a good quality VISA card, such as Chase Freedom or a Cap One VISA. And personally, I'd not rely on Barclays as one of the three legs of my credit platform, when another leg is Discover. Likely no issue, but there's enough sketchy Barclays reports to make me wonder. Capital One, though, is perhaps enough of a solid base (rock solid in my opinion) that even the Discover and Barclays become redundant and inconsequential as the two weakest legs of that credit base.

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What's wrong with having Barclays as part of the 3? That's where I'm currently at. If you only have 3-4 cards, it is highly unlikely you are going to see an AA from Barclays.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with having Barclays as part of the 3? That's where I'm currently at. If you only have 3-4 cards, it is highly unlikely you are going to see an AA from Barclays.

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I don't know much about the Barclays product, but if you only have 3-4 cards from any 'quality' bank (and I know Barclays is a quality bank overseas, so not implying they are not) and use them properly, how likely are you to see AA from any of these other banks?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with having Barclays as part of the 3? That's where I'm currently at. If you only have 3-4 cards, it is highly unlikely you are going to see an AA from Barclays.

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I don't know much about the Barclays product, but if you only have 3-4 cards from any 'quality' bank (and I know Barclays is a quality bank overseas, so not implying they are not) and use them properly, how likely are you to see AA from any of these other banks?

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This is just a guess but I would think you would not have problems from any bank...unless you maxed out all of those 3-4 cards. People who get an AA from Barclays are doing app sprees, tons of inquiries, balance transfers, etc. Someone with only a couple cards isn't going to be doing any of that and is likely to keep their utilization in check too.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with having Barclays as part of the 3? That's where I'm currently at. If you only have 3-4 cards, it is highly unlikely you are going to see an AA from Barclays.

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I don't know much about the Barclays product, but if you only have 3-4 cards from any 'quality' bank (and I know Barclays is a quality bank overseas, so not implying they are not) and use them properly, how likely are you to see AA from any of these other banks?

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This is just a guess but I would think you would not have problems from any bank...unless you maxed out all of those 3-4 cards. People who get an AA from Barclays are doing app sprees, tons of inquiries, balance transfers, etc. Someone with only a couple cards isn't going to be doing any of that and is likely to keep their utilization in check too.

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Right, I think the concern among many here is that Barclays is *soooo* tripwire that anything at all can cause AA.   I would guess that evidence here shows that they are

more sensitive than many to the behaviors that happen here, but, as you suggest, for "normal" behavior I would guess they are fine.

And of course we here about nearly every issuer closing "for no reason" but these are generally associated with an increasing perceived risk from apps, balance increases etc

[driftless]

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@driftless wrote:

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@NRB525 wrote:

On the other hand, I'd consider finding a good quality VISA card, such as Chase Freedom or a Cap One VISA. And personally, I'd not rely on Barclays as one of the three legs of my credit platform, when another leg is Discover. Likely no issue, but there's enough sketchy Barclays reports to make me wonder. Capital One, though, is perhaps enough of a solid base (rock solid in my opinion) that even the Discover and Barclays become redundant and inconsequential as the two weakest legs of that credit base.

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+ 1 The OP does have a Cap One card which makes his three cards scenario pretty solid. I agree with NRB525 that having a Chase Freedom and/or Cap One card goes a long way to giving you peace of mind.

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After reading the posts after I posted this one I felt obligated to say that I was only commenting of the Cap One QS and Chase Freedom cards, I have no interest nor experience with either Discover or Barclay's. In truth, Barclay's does scare me.

[grillandwinemaster]

Thank you all for your very thoughtful and well versed replies. I must say I'm a little surprised at the overwhelming majority of replies saying to go ahead and cancel and thus reducing the portfolio to only 3 majors. Thank you all once again. 

I think it was Hulu that inquired about my uti. At this particular moment it's actually higher than what I want it to be. I understand the relationship between available/utilized credit and Fico scoring. However, I intend to bring the uti percentage down to the 1-9% range by the end of the year, And like a previous poster mentioned, from this point forward, keep the uti% in check. 

Now, it has been mentioned that I'm essentially missing a solid Visa card. This is true. I do feel like I need a good, rock solid Visa for two reasons.

1- I want the extra protection for when I rent a car, which I do about 3 times a year or so.

2- were big Costco shoppers, so I like the fact that ALL Visas are now accepted at Costco.  

Maybe I should have at least 4 cc's, meaning one from each major. Discover, MC, Visa and Amex. Funny how nobody mentioned my lack of having an Amex, but the fact that I was missing representation from Visa certainly raised some thought provoking conversation.  

Hmmmm....

Interesting indeed...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with having Barclays as part of the 3? That's where I'm currently at. If you only have 3-4 cards, it is highly unlikely you are going to see an AA from Barclays.

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I don't know much about the Barclays product, but if you only have 3-4 cards from any 'quality' bank (and I know Barclays is a quality bank overseas, so not implying they are not) and use them properly, how likely are you to see AA from any of these other banks?

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This is just a guess but I would think you would not have problems from any bank...unless you maxed out all of those 3-4 cards. People who get an AA from Barclays are doing app sprees, tons of inquiries, balance transfers, etc. Someone with only a couple cards isn't going to be doing any of that and is likely to keep their utilization in check too.

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+1

[kdm31091]

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@grillandwinemaster wrote:

Maybe I should have at least 4 cc's, meaning one from each major. Discover, MC, Visa and Amex. Funny how nobody mentioned my lack of having an Amex, but the fact that I was missing representation from Visa certainly raised some thought provoking conversation.  

...

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There's really, IMO, very little real reason to collect a card from each network just for the sake of it. If there's an Amex that suits your spend and needs anyway, sure, that's fine. But there are very very few occasions where network really matters, especially here in the US. Visa/MC are interchangeable 99% of the time (exceptions are things like Costco), and having just those two will get you by just fine. Discover and Amex have the lower acceptance rates and again, I don't think they are necessary unless they otherwise suit you. You don't have to have an Amex to have a well rounded set of cards and build history. Try not to fall into a "collection" mentality with cards, as you will end up with cards that sit in a drawer unusued because they have such a small, specific purpose.