New Credit Card - Low Earner

jamin008

Hi all, hope you can help me. I wish to transfer the balance from my overdraft to a credit card. I earn approx £11,000 and was wondering which (if any) credit card would be the best to apply for? Many thanks, Ben

izools

Who do you bank with? Have you ever had a credit card in the past? Do you have any other active credit accounts like a catalogue or store card? Do you have a mobile phone contract? Have you missed payments or been over your overdraft limit / incurred charges, or had any other kind of credit problems in the past?

jamin008

Hi there, thanks for your quick response! I bank with lloyds and have done so for the past 16 yrs. I have one current account and one savings account (with nothing in it!) No store cards, catalogues etc. One debit card and thats it! I have no mobile phone contract as I am on 'pay as you go'. I have previously had a Virgin CC and a Tesco CC about 6/7 years ago. No problems with credit in the past, im always very careful, always pay bills on time etc. I have a joint mortgage with my other half. Thanks for your help

izools

Given that you don't have any credit history showing on your credit file (your Virgin and Tesco cards won't appear as they're over six years settled), you're unfortuantely going to be considered sub-prime.

If you call Lloyds TSB and ask if you have a limit set for credit cards they will be able to let you know what it is if you do have one. If you do, you can be quite confident that this is exactly what you'll get if you apply. If you don't have a pre-approved limit, don't try to apply.

If it's a no-goer with LTSB I would suggest you apply for a Barclaycard Initial, and a Capital One Progress.

These are higher interest rates than other cards on the market but you'll have to go with it until you get more credit history under your belt. Both will be fine with your income.

The Initial and Cap One progress reduce your rate over time, to Prime rates. The progress card does this automatically and Barclaycard do it if you ask them to every 6/12 months.

Good luck, and do let us know how you get on! :beer:

jamin008

Thanks for that it was really helpful! I will let you know what happens :-)