No black mark on credit file of Egg victims

Credit reference agencies have stated that the customers who have been affected by Egg’s decision to cancel 161,000 credit card accounts will not have to worry about getting a black mark on their credit file.

In fact, officials from the credit referencing agencies have said that some customers may even benefit from the withdrawal, as it could improve their credit.

An official from Equifax stated:

‘We don’t flag up whether an account has been withdrawn; we just highlight whether an account is open or settled. So in some respects, the Egg withdrawal of cards could work in a person’s favour.’

He also added:

‘We log that you have paid off a credit card balance, which will look good in the eyes of lenders. Also, one piece of advice I have always given people is - if you are rate tarting you should never leave a card open once you have moved the balance as the lender will only see the number of cards in your name. If you have too many cards you may be seen as too much of a risk. The Egg closure may help you also by reducing your card number and therefore increasing your creditworthiness.’