3 x applications in 3 days - an experiment

greenmantle

My electoral roll address is about to change, and I suddenly had a yen to reap rewards from perk-y credit cards (and one current account), so I had an online application fest this weekend. Rash - definitely. Foolish - possibly. I'll report back.

Credit record: fine (3 late payments in early 2007, a scattering earlier than that; no defaults). Got approved for FD current account in Feb/March, Coop Platinum CC in June.

My main problem is that (rightly) I'm often seen to be underusing my credit - HSBC just reduced my limit from 7000 to 4000 after noticing that my balance hadn't gone above 1000 for some time, and I was paying things off before the statement date. Experian currently shows 0% of my credit used, even though I've now got a bit of a balance on one card (below).

Searches: all checks except 02 lately (April) have gone through Experian. I've stopped bothering with Call Credit as no one had ever searched them, and they were a bit useless to deal with.

Experian shows: Coop CC search in June, FD search in Feb, Alliance and Leicester savings account 'money laundering' check in September.

The apps:

1. BMI (MBNA) Amex (for the Diamond club points) - applied Friday night; got immediate online approval with 3800 credit limit. I used to have a big-limit card with MBNA which I closed on good terms with them in 08. They had a lot of interest off me over the years.

2. LloydsTSB (for the Airmiles) - applied Friday night; got a 'we're considering your application and we'll get back to you'. Applied in 08 for the same card and got rejected (still had a loan and another balance at that point). It's possible I have a low behaviour score with LTSB as I spent a long time paying off an overdraft with them. Despite the fact that I closed the account in the spring, the muppets are still updating my credit report with a green 0 for a non-existent overdraft every month.

3. A&L Premier Direct Current Account (minus the CC or OD -didn't want to push it). I've got a small slice of cash in an A&L savings account (for the Quidco cashback) at 3.15 AER. May as well switch it to the current account for 6% AER for 12 months... Have got a 'we'll get back to you' from these too. Hmmm.

Did I just hit weekend dead time with the last two? Will my irritable history with LTSB come back and bite me (I don't see how - I paid back a loan and an overdraft without fussing, but they didn't see much of my money passing through their coffers in the end)?

Re: 3. Of course I just noticed after I did the application that they're offer 100 quid to switch from tomorrow. But given that I don't want to 'switch' and I've applied 40 mins before midnight, I doubt I can wangle that.

We'll see...
(taps fingers) :rolleyes:

Zack1

Just so you know, that A&L account should get back to you fairly quickly, I got mine within a few hours (that was Premier Direct Current Under 21 or whatever it's called, I basically use it for savings), but that was within office hours. And I was accepted with a pretty bad (in terms of searches and lack of income) record. I got a standard email though (despite not asking for a card!) "we are unable to currently offer you an overdraft or credit card, so if you applied for xxxxxxxx [name of some credit card] then this has been deselected, but we are pleased to offer you the premier blah blah blah with a Visa debit card".

Good luck though . I basically had that idea before coming to uni, and applied for anything and everything in one day (thinking I would have to change my address - and so screw up my credit rating - but it turned out I could use mail forward and even things like bank statements are redirected (despite the "if undelivered" thing on the back)). It kind of worked, got my overdraft and a 3 SIM Only contract, but Halifax and co told me to get lost, I think it was because they actually seemed to search 2 days after my app, so they saw the spree I was on a few days previous!

greenmantle

Thanks for that Zack - encouraging news about the A&L account. I suspect one way or another I'm going to fall foul of LTSB again for their credit card - i bet they wait a few days to search...

I've been teetering on the brink of an address change as I've been using mail forwarding to keep it looking a bit more stable up until the unavoidable electoral roll update. I'm hoping that even beyond this the (totally unavoidable) moves will be balanced out by the fact that my job is fairly stable.

greenmantle

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]We are delighted to let you know that your application for an Alliance & Leicester Premier Direct Current Account has been successful. We are now setting up your new account. We will send you written confirmation in the post within the next couple of days.

This message is for information only. You cannot reply to this message by email.[/FONT]

But no word from LTSB Anyone got any experience with ease of acquisition of the Duo card? Internal score relevance etc?

never-in-doubt

You don't have any internal score with Lloyds as savings accounts do not apply that way so really you'll be classed as a new customer - internal scores start when you have a credit related product - savings do not help/hinder a credit score (internal)...

Zack1

Good you've been accepted for A&L, that was only a few (working) hours too then like me

greenmantle

yep!

NID:

You don't have any internal score with Lloyds as savings accounts do not apply that way so really you'll be classed as a new customer - internal scores start when you have a credit related product - savings do not help/hinder a credit score (internal)...

No, the savings account is with A&L. I've had 1) a loan and 2) an overdraft with LTSB. I closed the current account months ago (and paid off the loan in 2007), but they're still bizarrely reporting the current account to both CRAs... LTSB rejected me for the same credit card in 2008, when I was holding more debt from elsewhere.

never-in-doubt

greenmantle wrote: »

yep!
NID:
No, the savings account is with A&L. I've had 1) a loan and 2) an overdraft with LTSB. I closed the current account months ago (and paid off the loan in 2007), but they're still bizarrely reporting the current account to both CRAs... LTSB rejected me for the same credit card in 2008, when I was holding more debt from elsewhere.

Ahh yea, I remember now cos you have the old style HSBC gold card don't you? LOL :D:D But the A&L savings will not help you, but seems you got the account anyway lol - nice one

You can go to Lloyds and request they cease reporting a closed account with the CRA's.....

greenmantle

Yeah! I may now shut that down, as I barely use it, and wait for some perk to come along to motivate me to use an HSBC credit card again.

So I think my boat may have sailed as far as the LTSB card is concerned, since MBNA and A&L searches have both turned up on Experian (27/11 and 30/11 respectively). LTSB, if they search now (belatedly - typical!), will find these two, plus a Co-op card search in June and FD way back at the beginning of the year.

I do wonder why I'm returning for punishment from LTSB - I'd like the Airmiles, but in all other respects I've vowed to avoid them after shoddy service for current account banking. I need to get around to writing to them to prompt them to get around to noticing I no longer hold a current account with them, but little time at present... Much like them clearly!

never-in-doubt

greenmantle wrote: »

Yeah! I may now shut that down, as I barely use it, and wait for some perk to come along to motivate me to use an HSBC credit card again.

So I think my boat may have sailed as far as the LTSB card is concerned, since MBNA and A&L searches have both turned up on Experian (27/11 and 30/11 respectively). LTSB, if they search now (belatedly - typical!), will find these two, plus a Co-op card search in June and FD way back at the beginning of the year.

I do wonder why I'm returning for punishment from LTSB - I'd like the Airmiles, but in all other respects I've vowed to avoid them after shoddy service for current account banking. I need to get around to writing to them to prompt them to get around to noticing I no longer hold a current account with them, but little time at present... Much like them clearly!

I'd keep the HSBC card cos unless you actually bank with them then you cannot reapply.... do you use 1st Direct now or still HSBC?

Regards to airmiles, why not try another card, like the MBNA or Amex card? See here for airmiles providers (I do not promote that link, it was the first one I went into): http://www.money.co.uk/credit-cards/air-miles-credit-cards.htm

Lloyds are dire!

greenmantle

I've kept my HSBC current account as a standby - I've been with them for nearly 20 years (shows as just over 10 on CRAs due to change of branch) and I want to keep that long record for mortgage applications etc for a while - especially while FD account is under 2-3 years old. I also have a savings account with them (for now).

Balance transfers between FD and HSBC are reliably instantaneous, for obvious reasons, and this can be handy for budgeting.

Lloyds were worth trying because applying through the Airmiles site offered 'two free flights to zone 1', which will very much come in handy for me. Otherwise, most of the other cards are specific to certain airlines (or convert generic reward points) - but I may well end up going for the BA Amex, since I still use BA when I can.