Do Card Providers really dislike the self employed?

mroakley

My g/f is a full time carer for her mother but her main income comes from selling stuff online. She wants to apply for a credit card but has been told that card providers take a dim view of self employed applicants. What she receives (in benefits) as a carer is dismally low so she can hardly put that down as her main occupation. And being as my credit rating is nothing to shout about right now there's no point her putting my earnings forward for consideration.
Apart from the employment factor her credit report is pretty good. No debts; on electoral roll; long standing bank account is almost always in the black; etc.
Does anyone have any information/words of advice for us on this? Are the self employed really scored significantly lower than employees?
Thank you

PNPSUKNET

self employed in general are a higher risk as they dont have a regular provable income.

never-in-doubt

As above, self employed people are classed as higher risk but some lenders such as Tesco (for a CC) do not care, either way. May be worth applying to those types of lender....

Eydon

It might be worth looking at some of the applications. Some ask details about your salary, but others ask about total household income (in which case she could include your income details as well as her own).

That's how my wife, who is a full-time housewife with no income of her own, managed to get her own credit card.

djm1972

I'm self-employed and just got approved for the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card.

Swift application process as well, approved immediately online; PIN arrived 3 days later and the card 2 days after that.

ILW

mroakley wrote: »

My g/f is a full time carer for her mother but her main income comes from selling stuff online. She wants to apply for a credit card but has been told that card providers take a dim view of self employed applicants. What she receives (in benefits) as a carer is dismally low so she can hardly put that down as her main occupation. And being as my credit rating is nothing to shout about right now there's no point her putting my earnings forward for consideration.
Apart from the employment factor her credit report is pretty good. No debts; on electoral roll; long standing bank account is almost always in the black; etc.
Does anyone have any information/words of advice for us on this? Are the self employed really scored significantly lower than employees?
Thank you

Does she have accounts for her online business?
Does she declare the profits on a tax return?

never-in-doubt

djm1972 wrote: »

I'm self-employed and just got approved for the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card.

Swift application process as well, approved immediately online; PIN arrived 3 days later and the card 2 days after that.

see post 3 - thanks for confirming what I said.... :beer:

mroakley

Cheers for all replies.
Djm and Never-in-doubt; Tesco card sounds like a good lead. We'll give it a try.
Many thanks.

magic-man_2

djm1972 wrote: »

I'm self-employed and just got approved for the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card.

Swift application process as well, approved immediately online; PIN arrived 3 days later and the card 2 days after that.

Did you need to show records of your income?

never-in-doubt

magic-man wrote: »

Did you need to show records of your income?

No - Tesco don't care about employment and it doesn't form part of their credit assessment either.

mroakley

Never-in-Doubt; If you don't mind me asking - what kind of credit limit does Tesco offer?