18, No Credit History - What To Get And When?

YorkshireBoy

Jakg wrote: »

So I should go for Vanquis instead of A&L (my bank)?

A&L aren't offering credit cards at the moment. They used to outsource them to MBNA anyway, but I suspect they're about to bring them back in-house under Santander Cards Ltd. More details available a week tomorrow...

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/credit-cards/index.aspx

Jakg

Ok well I just applied for a CapitalOne Classic and was Accepted. Anything else I could do to help my credit rating? Now up to 2 searches within 9 days. Will the JD Williams thing be good even if i dont buy anything?

Jakg

Well it turned up, £100 credit limit ftw.

I don't even think I can fit my fuel bill on there!

TheEffect

I would leave it a while now. Start using the CapitalOne card responsibly and get the green 0's. Too many search is bad.

flyingscotno1

£100 credit limit is low.

What I would do is leave it a while and apply for a student account that comes with a credit card. RBS/Natwest do a student account that (used to anyway!) come with a rail card and a student mastercard with a £500 limit (which can be raised for laptops etc).

Once the green 0's appear it is easier to get the credit appropriate to you. When I left uni my credit limit was increased 7 fold!

fawinds

Jakg wrote: »

Will the JD Williams thing be good even if i dont buy anything?

In my experience both JD WIlliams and Next will report account to CRAs only after you use it.

Buy something cheap.

FYI NatWest reports even the basic STEP account.

elfen

I'm using my student account overdraft as it's interest free,and if I pay it back properly and don't go nuts it shows I can handle money (I think anyway)

EDIT: I also just looked at my credit report. It's not very nice reading.....but it does mean I'll be behaving now