Credit Card - Which One??

Dan2k9

Hi,

I am 20 years old and am at a point where I want to build my credit as I prepare to build foundations to buy a home in 3-5 years.

I currently have a Bank Loan with TSB which paid for my car (negative equity at present)

Loan: £6100
Car Trade-In Value: £4000

Which I am not too fussed about as I have made every payment plus additional payments to bring interest down (started as £7.5k in January 2008). And I am hoping to have it paid off by Q4 of 2010/Q1 of 2011

This isn't an issue but I am presuming my monthly payments will help my credit rating?

I bank with A&L and always keep my account in credit and make all purchases through debit card (never had a CC) and I pay every bill in the first 2 weeks of the month and my partner pays me weekly for her living expenses. We privately rent a house at £500 a month paid by standing order (not sure if this helps with credit)

The big thing though is I used to bank with TSB and have a £500 overdraft with them (in the red) What would everyone's advice be? Should I apply for a credit card and is there a way of transferring the debt onto that and closing the TSB account thus my payments to the CC company would help my credit score?

What is everyone's advice to pay the OD off and how to improve my credit? (Never been refused yet)

Moggles_2

A few rather special cards will allow you to transfer an overdraft to them, (in other words, transfer cash from the credit card to your current account), at balance transfer rates. You need:

a card issued by MBNA (e.g. Alliance & Leicester, MBNA itself, Sony, Virgin), Egg card or the Post Office card

If this would be your first credit card, you have a limited credit history, but your bank loan certainly helps.

For tips to improve your credit rating, 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