no-man's land

owlhead

Help, I'm in a credit card no-man's land! I'm doing a full-time PhD and receive a scholarship but this is not considered a 'wage' by the credit card people. I've never had a card before but think I should now to try and improve my 'credit-rating' for the future. I tried my bank but they said no, even the PostOffice said they wouldn't consider my scholarship a wage. Recently I tried to apply for a Graduate Barclaycard but they said I couldn't because I wasn't employed and told me I couldn't even apply for the student card as this is for undergrads. What can I do? Is my only option to go for one of the cards with the extortionate interest rates?

normanmark

You don't really have an option. Your best bet is looking into the high interest rate cards, which if you're only looking to improve a credit rating, shouldn't really matter as you'll be paying it off in full every month.

If that's not an option then you're better off holding back till you've finished your PhD.

jimbo26

How about opening a catalogue account with someone like Littlewoods, buy items you would normally have purchased and pay off the bill each month. Catalogues report to the CRA's.

On top of that apply for a Capital One Classic or similar card, they do have high rates of interest but if you plan to pay it off each month then the interest rate is not an issue.

Your aim is to show that you can borrow responsibly, and by showing a good payment history will help you in the long run.

You will probably never get a card with a decent rate of interest until you start earning but by building a history now it will set you up for the future.

owlhead

Thank you both. Have applied for capital one. Have a credit limit of £100, wow! They have a lot of faith in me. Yes, only intend to use it for building good credit history now I have to think about these things. And thanks, I already have littlewoods account. They have a great thing going now, buy now (Jan) and pay nothing till 2010 and they gave me credit of £750! It's true. It's meant I can buy a few things now I couldn't have afforded otherwise. See ya.