Wanting a new Virgin BT card - Any advice?

Tixy

Hello All

I'm thinking of applying for a new card. Current CCs I have

HSBC (my bank) £3k limit £2900 balance interest 25.02%
Co-op (had about 3yrs) £1k limit £950 bal, interest 23.95% (had a few overlimit charges last year)
Egg (had 10yrs+) £2.5k limit £2200 bal, interest 17.9%
MBNA (had 5yrs) £800 limit £0bal (I did make some late payments on this when active 3yrs ago)

I would like a new card to BT my £3k HSBC card to. Preferably at 0%.
I applied with tesco 3 months ago but was declined. I think my credit report has improved slightly since then - nothing too bad on it anyway as far as I can see.

I'm now thinking of applying to Virgin. As mentioned above I have an MBNA card active and don't know whether that will go against a new application (as I understand they are linked) I did make some late payments on my MBNA card and I did claim back charges after the balance was cleared.

I don't want to apply for more than one card so if I'm advised this will go against me I'll try another company.

Also is it advisable to apply online or is it better to do it by phone?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

naijapower

Well not sure if your late payments and over the limits issues would favour your application. maybe someone else can comment

Moggles_2

I've answered your questions on the *Best Balance Transfer* sticky, where you first posted.

Tixy

Thanks Moggles - thought it might be better as a seperate post in case it got missed - obviously moved it while you were replying.

Tixy

I've read/been told that it is better for your credit rating if you always pay slightly more that the minimum payments on credit cards. Is this the case and if I do this for say 3-6months will it mean I stand a better chance of getting a new 0% card. Is as little as £5 extra enough to make a difference?

If this is the case i don't understand how a new prospective lender looking at my credit report can tell whether i only pay off the minimum or more. My understanding is that they look at a snapshop in time which, providing my current balances are within credit limits and i have no late payments shown, how would they know what I have paid off? If they saw the balances over several months it would make sense but I don't think they do.

If people advise me to I could pay a little extra for a few months before applying for the Virgin card.

Thanks in advance

Moggles_2

Tixy wrote: »

I've read/been told that it is better for your credit rating if you always pay slightly more that the minimum payments on credit cards. Is this the case ... ?

Currently, there's no evidence of this.

In addition to the number of accounts in use (our national average, btw, is five credit cards), lenders look at the extent their credit limits have been utilised. Maxed out accounts make you look stretched for credit, so it's wise to leave plenty of headroom, if you're going to apply for market-leading BT cards.

For tips to improve your chances of credit card acceptance, have a look at the *Credit Rating: how it works and how to improve it guide*, especially Martin's *Manage and Improve your credit score* article

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score#improve