Santander Zero Credit Card (Chances of being accepted)

callum9999

I'm tempted to apply for this credit card as it will be useful for my 6 months in Australia (they charge no foreign exchange fees), but I'm aware that having lots of credit searches on your record is a bad thing and don't want to go over the top.

I currently have 1 credit card already (Vanquis - held for 4 months and paid off in full every month) and Capital One have just approved me. Does anyone have any experience of what Santander require?

I have an income of about £800 a month and live with parents so have no significant outgoings. I know you can't be given a definate answer until you actually apply, but is it likely I'd be accepted? The credit cards I currently have are sub prime and I'm cautious about applying for a mainstream one.

Thanks.

P.S. I have also had a Premier 21 account for over a year from Alliance and Leicester with a healthy balance if that helps my case at all.

nickmack

callum9999 wrote: »

I currently have 1 credit card already (Vanquis - held for 4 months and paid off in full every month) and Capital One have just approved me. Does anyone have any experience of what Santander require?

I have an income of about £800 a month and live with parents so have no significant outgoings. I know you can't be given a definate answer until you actually apply, but is it likely I'd be accepted? The credit cards I currently have are sub prime and I'm cautious about applying for a mainstream one.

As you say, it's difficult to second guess how they will assess you. However, four months isn't really very much history to go on.

What's the reason you're currently sub-Prime, is it because of past problems or that you're building up your first lines of credit?

Why did you apply for the Capital One card? If you're trying to get the Santander card, having applied for this is unlikely to help. It will increase your total available credit and show up as an extra search. Do you have any other recent searches in the last 12 months?

exel1966

callum9999 wrote: »

I'm tempted to apply for this credit card as it will be useful for my 6 months in Australia (they charge no foreign exchange fees), but I'm aware that having lots of credit searches on your record is a bad thing and don't want to go over the top.

I currently have 1 credit card already (Vanquis - held for 4 months and paid off in full every month) and Capital One have just approved me. Does anyone have any experience of what Santander require?

I have an income of about £800 a month and live with parents so have no significant outgoings. I know you can't be given a definate answer until you actually apply, but is it likely I'd be accepted? The credit cards I currently have are sub prime and I'm cautious about applying for a mainstream one.

Thanks.

P.S. I have also had a Premier 21 account for over a year from Alliance and Leicester with a healthy balance if that helps my case at all.

You've already answered the Q yourself really, but having just applied for a Capital One card (why?) and being accepted I wouldn't even bother trying for a Santander card given your lack of history, income etc.

You give the impression of being quite young, therefore you have time to build up a good history by learning to manage credit cards responsibly and to show other financial companies that you can manage before entertaining having another card.

The Prem 21 accounts for nothing externally unless you have an overdraft attached to it.

callum9999

I'm on sub-prime cards because I haven't got a credit history, there is nothing bad on there.

I applied for the Capital One card because I knew it would be relatively easy to get - and I forgot that the Santander Zero card existed until I read about it in a travel article. I thought the Prem 21 account would possibly help because Santander own Alliance and Leicester but as there is no overdraft, I guess it would count for nothing.

I guess I'll give the Santander card a miss then. I know overdrafts are also hard to predict, but are Alliance and Leicester strict on them? (I give the impression I'm desperate for money, but its just a visa requirement that I have access to it - I don't actually need to withdraw or spend it).

Thanks.

carlw

Callum buddy,

If you're not planning on applying for much else and you have not got much or any other debt, i would give applying a go. If anything i would think they would give you a lower credit limit rather than just decline you. You wont know until you try and it wont do much harm even if you are declined. Just leave it a while before applying for anything else, which i guess you will be doing anyway if your off in Australia. They will ask your income, and expenditure, to work out what you have disposable so this may be more likely to influence their decision, so don’t stitch yourself up here. I would avoid mentioning your real reason for applying, as they will like to think you will be using their card.

Good luck anyway.

Carl

callum9999

carlw wrote: »

Callum buddy,

If you're not planning on applying for much else and you have not got much or any other debt, i would give applying a go. If anything i would think they would give you a lower credit limit rather than just decline you. You wont know until you try and it wont do much harm even if you are declined. Just leave it a while before applying for anything else, which i guess you will be doing anyway if your off in Australia. They will ask your income, and expenditure, to work out what you have disposable so this may be more likely to influence their decision, so don’t stitch yourself up here. I would avoid mentioning your real reason for applying, as they will like to think you will be using their card.

Good luck anyway.

Carl

Thanks, I was just cautious about getting too many credit searches on my record. When I last applied for credit, I think I applied 3 times. But I guess, as you said, I won't be applying for credit again until around August next year (just for a Student Current Account), so one more can't hurt that much.

bingy_burge

what limit did capital one give you?? If it low I think your lack of credit history and the fact that in the last 6 months you have taken out 2 sub prime cards you are probably wasting your time with them at the mo and you will just have yet another search.

callum9999

bingy_burge wrote: »

what limit did capital one give you?? If it low I think your lack of credit history and the fact that in the last 6 months you have taken out 2 sub prime cards you are probably wasting your time with them at the mo and you will just have yet another search.

They didn't say - I've just returned the credit agreement I got with the acceptance letter today.

Including this one, I've had about 5 credit searches since May - baring in mind the only credit I see myself applying for in the next two years (which will be in August 2010) is a Student account w/ overdraft, will this additional application make much difference (even though I accept my chances of getting it are slim).

izools

callum9999, you have the opportunity now to decide whether you want to have an excellent credit score a year or two from now or a poor score.

You shouldn't look at taking out any extra facilities.

When you apply for a mainstream card, several factors will really impress them:

Newest account at least one year old
No missed payments
Zero or one application in the last six months
On the electoral role
Atleast two to three years of credit history

Without all of the above, it is unlikely you are going to be approved for a mainstream card. I would reccomend you leave it as is, seet up a DD to clear the full balance on the Capital One and Vanquis cards each moth as the APR is MASSIVE, an refrain from applying again until you have had your Capital One card for a year, you'll only damage your credit score by applying for a mainstream card without sufficient data on your report for them to make a judgement.

You'll be alright soon enough! You can be the proud owner of a Barclaycard Gold in a year from now if you play your cards right, and maybe a Santander Zero a year after that, for now, just sit back and watch those little green zeros build up on your credit file

callum9999

izools wrote: »

callum9999, you have the opportunity now to decide whether you want to have an excellent credit score a year or two from now or a poor score.

You shouldn't look at taking out any extra facilities.

When you apply for a mainstream card, several factors will really impress them:

Newest account at least one year old
No missed payments
Zero or one application in the last six months
On the electoral role
Atleast two to three years of credit history

Without all of the above, it is unlikely you are going to be approved for a mainstream card. I would reccomend you leave it as is, seet up a DD to clear the full balance on the Capital One and Vanquis cards each moth as the APR is MASSIVE, an refrain from applying again until you have had your Capital One card for a year, you'll only damage your credit score by applying for a mainstream card without sufficient data on your report for them to make a judgement.

You'll be alright soon enough! You can be the proud owner of a Barclaycard Gold in a year from now if you play your cards right, and maybe a Santander Zero a year after that, for now, just sit back and watch those little green zeros build up on your credit file

Thanks, I'll just leave it all then. Already done that with the Vanquis (the interest is ridiculous!) and will do as soon as the Capital One arrives. Will requested credit limit increases on these cards result in searches or should I wait for them to be offered?

izools

Neither Vanquis nor Capital One do limit increases on request.

It is an automated process, if you have DD set up for full amount and you use the cards every month, they should increase after four months. Vanquis may leave it a little longer, depending on your monthly spend.

Any time you ask a credit card company for an increase, they base their decision on your CC account history, no credit search is performed, except I think with MBNA.

The only Sub-Prime lender that will consider you for a credit limit increase on demand is Aqua, all the others leave it up to the computer