How many credit cards do I need?

[feder1]

This question arises because of CC rejections such as Halifax Clarity being rejected by the local buses and Nationwide refusing to pay Aviva for car insurance. I have had other rejections as well.

It seems that I cannot leave the house unless I have at least two CCs plus cash.

As well as those two CCs I need another for paying for sport activities and petrol.

I don,t wish to use a mobile phone although I have some on there.

[kempiejon]

I have 2 debit cards and 3 credit cards in my wallet. But I'vehardly ever had a rejection. I use American Express and that would sometime not be accepted by retailers I think B&Q was my last refusal a couple of years ago.

[Laughton]

For the past couple of years I've carried two but in that time have never had my Tesco card (well, they apparently give me points) refused. That includes a just returned from drive through France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.

[DrFfybes]

I have 2 debit and 2 credit cards.

Most used is the M&S/MBNA one as we get rewards, second used is the Halifac Clarity(?) one as there are no fees for using it overseas, and on the offchance we ever get around to departing these shores post Covid/Brexit I use it once a month to keep it active.

Third used is my personal Lloyds bank card, mainly buying things I don't want to appear on our Credit or joint bank statement, which leads to card 4, the Santander one for the joint account, used when the seller isn't keen on a credit card like for the lawn tractor I bought last week.

However I cannot remember a specific example of having a card refused for years, occasionally one just didn't work, so I used another. These days I carry all 4 as my wallet seems to have sretched to fit them, and if I remove any the others are in danger of falling out

Paul

[88V8]

I have two credit cards. One Visa one Mastercard.
One I keep for 'best', that is to say I don't use it over the phone or for internet purchases, or in petrol stations with dodgy looking staff.

One debit card.

Same for years, plus always some cash.

It seems to suffice.

On't internet I mostly use Paypal.

V8

[pje16]

I have a few
mainly use Amex I like their triple supermarket points
and where it isn't accepted (another points one) Barclaycard
and Paypal (defaults to Amex) where I can on the Internet

[swill453]

A Barclaycard Visa to use in the UK for absolutely everything with 0.5% cashback, never been refused, ever.

A Santander Zero Mastercard for use abroad because of zero charges, usually fine everywhere but was refused once by a parking ticket machine in Germany.

(For debit cards, a First Direct one only used for cash withdrawals in the UK (once in a blue moon) and a Nationwide for cash withdrawals abroad because of zero charges.)

Scott.

[AF62]

A few, but mainly Amex in the UK and a Mastercard where it isn’t accepted, plus a combination of Halifax Clarity and Nationwide overseas (Halifax don’t seem to like contactless transactions of less than €1 - yes I know…).

A couple of incredibly rarely used debit cards.

In addition a Revolut card for overseas cash withdrawals and odd small value foreign transactions where their ‘disposable’ virtual cards are helpful.

And all stored and accessed on my phone and watch so the physical cards rarely leave the house, and online payments tend to be through Apple Pay.

[raybarrow]

Hi Folks,
If all works as it should you need one of each, but...

Between us we have six credit cards and five debit cards.
We don't need that many but some (the main use ones) are 'old' cashback cards which are no longer available to newcomers - always paid off in full, of course.
One, no longer a cashback card, has a high credit allowance, if I need it.
Others are good cards for spending abroad.
High street banks automattically give you a debit card. As opening a new account can be more challenging these days, I keep old accounts ticking over. The mobile phone/online banks are much easier to deal with. I can't remember the last time I walked into a bank to do business for myself. Mrs B's Brownies A/cs are adifferent matter.

I carry two alternating Credit cards and two debit cards and a little bit of cash <£20. So far I've never been stuck.

Ray.

[Loup321]

Thanks for this - you have got me thinking.

In answer to the original question, I have Amex and Visa. Amex isn't accepted in ShoeZone, for example. Amex gives cashback, but the Visa no longer does.

But I also have three debit cards. I never use two of them. Absolutely never. Well, only to access the bank's online banking webpage with the card reader thingy. I really shouldn't take them out of the house. And the third I used to get 5p cashback per contactless transaction with my previous current account, but since I changed banks I no longer get that. On small value transactions, 5p used to be greater than what Amex paid, so I got into the habit of using the debit card for quite a lot of things, but now I think I need to switch to using the Amex whenever possible.

Thanks again for making me think!

[AsleepInYorkshire]

This question arises because of CC rejections such as Halifax Clarity being rejected by the local buses and Nationwide refusing to pay Aviva for car insurance. I have had other rejections as well.

It seems that I cannot leave the house unless I have at least two CCs plus cash.

As well as those two CCs I need another for paying for sport activities and petrol.

I don't wish to use a mobile phone although I have some on there.

I have one debit card which has never been rejected. I can't recall the largest transaction I've used it for but it would be over £2.4K.

I don't carry cash on me

AiY(D)

[kempiejon]

I don't carry cash on me

I always have a bit of cash, post Covid-19 I have been thinking about it's utility mind, last time I used cash was a few months ago to get rid of some old style £20 notes.
Walking about money I call it, I have a few notes in different jackets, the car, my wallet or that little pocket on jeans as I don't a wallet unless I'm specifically out with a plan to spend and have no "device" for alternative spending the idea of always having some payment is useful, part of my boy scout training I'm sure.
As, post-Covid the norm appears to be cashless I'm thinking about changing my method to fit in with the world.

[feder1]

My original post was prompted by my Halifax Clarity card not being accepted by the buses. Our investigations found that CCs can be blocked if they haven,t had a pin put in for a purchase for a while so the contactless doesn,t work.

The internet said that Stagecoach for example stated that such a blocked or rejected card could not be used for 45 days!

I reckon there must be an explosion of contactless card fraud and the banks and companies have to protect themselves somehow.

[swill453]

My original post was prompted by my Halifax Clarity card not being accepted by the buses. Our investigations found that CCs can be blocked if they haven,t had a pin put in for a purchase for a while so the contactless doesn,t work.

The internet said that Stagecoach for example stated that such a blocked or rejected card could not be used for 45 days!

I reckon there must be an explosion of contactless card fraud and the banks and companies have to protect themselves somehow.

It's probably Halifax who have stopped your card being used contactless until a PIN is entered, and the bus doesn't have that facility.

Use it somewhere else with chip+PIN, a cash machine for example, then it'll probably be fine to use on the bus. Never heard of a 45 day block.

Scott.

[Dod101]

I have one bank account, well several but all with HSBC, two credit cards and one debit card, the second credit card being the Halifax Clarity, mostly for use overseas, although I too use it once a month or so to keep it active. I mostly use a debit card, just paying as I go although the credit card does give me cashback. KISS is my motto.

I have never had any problems. I sometimes have some cash but not very often, and mainly just for tips and so on.

Dod

[Alaric]

Halifax who have stopped your card being used contactless until a PIN is entered, and the bus doesn't have that facility.

I think that's likely. I use a credit card (usually the same one) for numerous small contactless purchases. Periodically I get asked to insert it and key the Pin. I'm not sure if it's been rejected where there wasn't a facility to key a Pin, but I suppose it's possible.

[stevensfo]

I have two credit cards that are used quite rarely, mainly for large and important payments where I want the credit card protection.

Being fascinated by some of the new fintech banks and EMIs, I have quite a lot of debit cards but never go out with more than two. Most ping my phone when used, so I like the security.

I use debit cards for supermarket shopping and certain boring sundries but tend to prefer cash for most things. Apart from once having a card cloned, I just feel more in control with cash and prefer the privacy and anonymity.


Steve

[rcrumble]

I think that's likely. I use a credit card (usually the same one) for numerous small contactless purchases. Periodically I get asked to insert it and key the Pin. I'm not sure if it's been rejected where there wasn't a facility to key a Pin, but I suppose it's possible.

My Nationwide Visa CC insists on the PIN being entered after every 5-10 contactless purchases - which happens pretty quickly as I use it on the bus and for small transactions. It has never blocked entirely, but I tend not to go for too long without making a PINable payment. I don't know what would happen if I only used it for transactions where PIN wasn't an option for a long time, maybe that would block it.

As for OP's question - I have 2 CCs (one Visa, one Mastercard) and usually 3 debit cards in my wallet, although the debit cards see very little usage. I normally use a stored CC on my phone to pay for most things unless I need to enter a PIN (see above...), the wallet is turning into more of a place to keep my driving licence and other non-bank cards.

[Bminusrob]

I think that's likely. I use a credit card (usually the same one) for numerous small contactless purchases. Periodically I get asked to insert it and key the Pin. I'm not sure if it's been rejected where there wasn't a facility to key a Pin, but I suppose it's possible.

My Nationwide Visa CC insists on the PIN being entered after every 5-10 contactless purchases - which happens pretty quickly as I use it on the bus and for small transactions. It has never blocked entirely, but I tend not to go for too long without making a PINable payment. I don't know what would happen if I only used it for transactions where PIN wasn't an option for a long time, maybe that would block it.

As for OP's question - I have 2 CCs (one Visa, one Mastercard) and usually 3 debit cards in my wallet, although the debit cards see very little usage. I normally use a stored CC on my phone to pay for most things unless I need to enter a PIN (see above...), the wallet is turning into more of a place to keep my driving licence and other non-bank cards.

My main card is also a Nationwide one, but I am sure I don't get asked for a PIN more than one in 50. Probably more like one in 100. I also hardly ever use the PIN, as I rarely make big purchases.

I remember being asked for the PIN after filling up with petrol a couple of years ago, and in a senior moment, I could only remember the PIN i had on an older credit card. In the end, I had to use my debit card, for which I did remember the PIN, as the PIN is required more often; each time I use a cash machine.

[Lootman]

I normally use a stored CC on my phone to pay for most things unless I need to enter a PIN (see above...), the wallet is turning into more of a place to keep my driving licence and other non-bank cards.

Surely you still need to carry the card with you, in case the phone doesn't work? That would be particularly embarrassing if you had no other way to pay.

And if you have the card with you anyway then isn't pulling it out and using it at least as easy as fiddling around with your phone? It's not unusual for me to be stuck in a supermarket checkout queue waiting for the person in front of me to get their phone to work.

To the OP, I have 5 credit cards (HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds, Halifax, M&S) and 2 debit cards. The latter only get used to withdraw cash, and I always have cash on me. I have that many credit cards mainly because no one card will give me a large enough credit limit.