The Sub Prime Credit Thread - Part IV

Mrs_Ryan

*sneaks in*

IVE GOT A PLATINUM CARD!!! WOO-HOO!!! _party_

Only cos Citi are stopping the EasyJet card and changing it to a Platinum - right about the time that they decide they cant keep the account on the DMP cos theyre getting more than the minimum payment :mad: Arrears are cleared, tis back under the limit now. Its another 25 a quid a month to find but if I can manage one big push Im going to do a BT from Capital One and then just close it. Then I will be £100 per month better off - thats got to be something.

And I will have a platinum card as well - yay!!!

God Im so shallow arent I :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Zack1

ElkyElky wrote: »

You'd be surprised who likes and doesn't like students.

ElkyElky wrote: »

Take me for example, I'm an unemployed student with 5 credit cards, 2 bank accounts, 4 savings accounts and a mobile contract.

Both of my bank accounts are eligible for an overdraft and one bank wanted to give me £3700. I royally hate overdrafts though, they don't benefit anyone but banks themselves.

It's all about how you manage your finances.

Haha, yea that's true. I guess because I'm only a first year and only just 18 that doesn't help me. But I know some places do like students (like Natwest who try and ram their student credit card down your throat every time you go in, whether you have one or not!) because they hope they won't pay on time/will go over limit etc. Plus I picked Natwest for the railcard, so am kind of capped at their stupidly small overdraft limit and stupidly small credit limit which won't be put up. I see you've got BOS, but BOS and Natwest are the same company aren't they? So I don't really want to risk Natwest getting funny and taking my railcard or overdraft off me (as I agreed to only have 1 student account and to use that as my main account and overdrafts are repayable at any time so they can take it away if they wanted to blah blah blah.....)

I've got 2 mobile contracts and 2 cards so far, plus that HSD account

Oh I've got a reply from HSD basically quoting the rules and adding my name and "thank you for choosing to shop with us". I hate it when companies do that - I know the rules say I must have it delivered to my "Home" address, if I didn't I wouldn't be emailing asking for an exception! Now replied asking again if they'd consider it if I send proof of ID/Passport/Uni Status/Halls Contract, but that'll probably still be a no so trying to find out if they'll send it by Royal Mail rather than the courier! If they don’t listen to me I won’t get it for ages (January at the earliest) or have to pay to get it sent back up here (and rely on someone actually bothering to send it:p)

hax_2

BOS and Natwest are not the same company.
BOS = Bank of Scotland, owned by HBOS (H = Halifax), which are owned by the Lloyds Banking Group.
Natwest is owned by RBS = Royal Bank of Scotland.

ElkyElky

Zack1 wrote: »

Haha, yea that's true. I guess because I'm only a first year and only just 18 that doesn't help me. But I know some places do like students (like Natwest who try and ram their student credit card down your throat every time you go in, whether you have one or not!) because they hope they won't pay on time/will go over limit etc. Plus I picked Natwest for the railcard, so am kind of capped at their stupidly small overdraft limit and stupidly small credit limit which won't be put up. I see you've got BOS, but BOS and Natwest are the same company aren't they? So I don't really want to risk Natwest getting funny and taking my railcard or overdraft off me (as I agreed to only have 1 student account and to use that as my main account and overdrafts are repayable at any time so they can take it away if they wanted to blah blah blah.....)

I've got 2 mobile contracts and 2 cards so far, plus that HSD account

Oh I've got a reply from HSD basically quoting the rules and adding my name and "thank you for choosing to shop with us". I hate it when companies do that - I know the rules say I must have it delivered to my "Home" address, if I didn't I wouldn't be emailing asking for an exception! Now replied asking again if they'd consider it if I send proof of ID/Passport/Uni Status/Halls Contract, but that'll probably still be a no so trying to find out if they'll send it by Royal Mail rather than the courier! If they don’t listen to me I won’t get it for ages (January at the earliest) or have to pay to get it sent back up here (and rely on someone actually bothering to send it:p)

No, Bank of Scotland is part of the Lloyds banking group. The Royal Bank of Scotland is part of NatWest.

I've never had a student account, partly because it doesn't come with any features that would be any use to me. I don't do overdrafts so the interest free overdrafts they offer don't appeal to me. Having a full current account, I believe helped me obtain a credit card with BOS, with a decent limit.

It's best to try and make sure you don't live off your overdraft, like most students, and focus on making sure your account is in credit for the majority of the month. Always maxing out your overdraft won't help your credit file and certainly won't help your finances!

Oh and put a few pound in a savings account each month. It'll come in handy if your ever worried about missing a payment or short of cash one month. It's better to have something to fall back on, for whatever reason.

Zack1

hax wrote: »

BOS and Natwest are not the same company.
BOS = Bank of Scotland, owned by HBOS (H = Halifax), which are owned by the Lloyds Banking Group.
Natwest is owned by RBS = Royal Bank of Scotland.

Ahhh damn I should've gone for it before racking up so many searches! Thanks!

Zack1

ElkyElky wrote: »

No, Bank of Scotland is part of the Lloyds banking group. The Royal Bank of Scotland is part of NatWest.

I've never had a student account, partly because it doesn't come with any features that would be any use to me. I don't do overdrafts so the interest free overdrafts they offer don't appeal to me. Having a full current account, I believe helped me obtain a credit card with BOS, with a decent limit.

It's best to try and make sure you don't live off your overdraft, like most students, and focus on making sure your account is in credit for the majority of the month. Always maxing out your overdraft won't help your credit file and certainly won't help your finances!

What you say about maxing out my overdraft.... I've maxed it out and put some of it in savings, when it goes up at xmas I'll put most of that in savings too (think it goes up by about £700 so £500 can go to savings). Is that a factor to my declines too then? If I knew that I'd have left it there!

I've got a full current account with A&L (premier 21 or something), which I use as a savings account, but hopefully that'll show as a good thing on my file.....

ElkyElky

Zack1 wrote: »

What you say about maxing out my overdraft.... I've maxed it out and put some of it in savings, when it goes up at xmas I'll put most of that in savings too (think it goes up by about £700 so £500 can go to savings). Is that a factor to my declines too then? If I knew that I'd have left it there!

I've got a full current account with A&L (premier 21 or something), which I use as a savings account, but hopefully that'll show as a good thing on my file.....

It's hard to say really, being maxed out on an overdraft can be perceived as being over-committed by lenders. It could make you look like you're struggling for cash. But saying that, there could be many factors that would lead to your declines.. low income, too many applications in a short time, not on the electoral roll. Some lenders just simply don't like students.

Savings accounts don't show on your credit file unfortunately, but if you ever apply for credit to A&L, they'll be able to see you have a savings account with them and that can only have a positive impact on your application.

Sygma Bank is a student friendly lender. I have 2 cards from them, Silver and Flybe.

Zack1

ElkyElky wrote: »

It's hard to say really, being maxed out on an overdraft can be perceived as being over-committed by lenders. It could make you look like you're struggling for cash. But saying that, there could be many factors that would lead to your declines.. low income, too many applications in a short time, not on the electoral roll. Some lenders just simply don't like students.

Savings accounts don't show on your credit file unfortunately, but if you ever apply for credit to A&L, they'll be able to see you have a savings account with them and that can only have a positive impact on your application.

Sygma Bank is a student friendly lender. I have 2 cards from them, Silver and Flybe.

Yea I guess it's hard to say, just checked my last credit report and it appears as £479 balance, so guess that is a factor, that or too many applications/limited income because I've still got everything registered at "home", where i'm still on the electoral roll, so it won't be that

Na it's a actual current account, it just gives 5% interest on balances up to £1,000 for a year, so I'm using it as a savings account, but I've got a debit card and stuff to go with it too. Hopefully that'll help if I want a credit card or anything from them in the future... Edit: I know the fact I've got money in there won't come up though, but hopefully internally it'll make a difference, and externally it's seen as a full current account rather than a student one/the other kids one I've got at Natwest

Sygma are the ones that rejected me for JJB I think But that probably was because I'd just been accepted for Capital One & HSD and have only had 3 for a while and o2 & Natwest aren't exactly long term, so I'll try them again in a while

I really want MBNA to accept me, they run all the football branded cards, and I want a England one, but they rejected me without even searching my credit file last time I think . If I got it, and got a decent limit, that would probably become my main card (a bit patriotic I suppose, love the England football team). Have I not got a chance being a student then? A outright rejection without even searching my credit report seems to suggest that :mad:

ElkyElky

Zack1 wrote: »

Yea I guess it's hard to say, just checked my last credit report and it appears as £479 balance, so guess that is a factor, that or too many applications/limited income because I've still got everything registered at "home", where i'm still on the electoral roll, so it won't be that

Na it's a actual current account, it just gives 5% interest on balances up to £1,000 for a year, so I'm using it as a savings account, but I've got a debit card and stuff to go with it too. Hopefully that'll help if I want a credit card or anything from them in the future...

Sygma are the ones that rejected me for JJB I think But that probably was because I'd just been accepted for Capital One & HSD and have only had 3 for a while and o2 & Natwest aren't exactly long term, so I'll try them again in a while

I really want MBNA to accept me, they run all the football branded cards, and I want a England one, but they rejected me without even searching my credit file last time I think . If I got it, and got a decent limit, that would probably become my main card (a bit patriotic I suppose, love the England football team). Have I not got a chance being a student then? A outright rejection without even searching my credit report seems to suggest that :mad:

You'll have a chance at getting an MBNA card but only if you're studying a degree level course. I recently applied and got instantly declined, but I appealed the decision. Got a phone call from them and they asked what I was studying. As I'm only studying an HND, they said they can't accept the application until I'm on my degree. MBNA have a reputation for increasing interest rates as soon as the interest free periods end, as high as 34%.

When did you apply for the MBNA card? If it was recently, then there is no harm in appealing.

Zack1

ElkyElky wrote: »

You'll have a chance at getting an MBNA card but only if you're studying a degree level course. I recently applied and got instantly declined, but I appealed the decision. Got a phone call from them and they asked what I was studying. As I'm only studying an HND, they said they can't accept the application until I'm on my degree. MBNA have a reputation for increasing interest rates as soon as the interest free periods end, as high as 34%.

When did you apply for the MBNA card? If it was recently, then there is no harm in appealing.

The other day was my most recent (23rd Nov), but I can't remember what that was for. It might have been England again, I know I was thinking of it. I was declined for England card in May too. Either way if I could get it on appeal it might be worth it, would it be possible to switch after a while (as I'd have history too), or just take out another MBNA card?

I got an email with "Unfortunately on this occasion, your application has been unsuccessful. For further details of our decision, please click on the link below." and get sent to a page but it asks for DOB to see the decline reason, but DOB list only goes up to 1990 so it keep saying my input is invalid (I'm 91), so I can't even see why they've rejected me. I might phone them on Tuesday then . Although given my recent application spree it probably won't make a difference, but if I apply again in 6 months then I can try appealing that too