Credit score and applying for credit cards

sarah_price

Hi there,
I applied for an M&S 0% on purchases on 15 months credit card and I have been refused on the grounds of the information they have received from Experian. I then went onto Experian and signed up to view my credit score and found out my score is 976 (in the excellent band). How come I have been refused for credit when im a low risk to lenders? Any info appreciated.

Tixy

sarah_price wrote: »

How come I have been refused for credit when im a low risk to lenders? Any info appreciated.

Because the 976 is a score that experian have given you not what M&S have assessed your risk at. You are obviously not considered low risk to M&S. The 976 score doesn't take into account many things that M&S will consider - such as your income, your employment status, length of time with employer etc).

Its not worth paying for a score from a credit reference agency - instead you need to look at your credit report and assess what is on there as that is what a potential lender will see.

If you have very little credit history or no credit history experian will give you a 'super, fantastic, wonderful' assessment, but in practice a new potential lender will be wary of lending to you because they have no history to assess how responsible you are likely to be with the credit card or to see you have made lots of payments all on time in the past.

paulmcerlean

Experian score means NOTHING to M&S.

jon_boy75

you may well be considered low risk, but also low profit

it's very hard for anyone to get credit nowadays...even people who believe they have perfect credit

that's just the way it is right now

smir

i have been hit with the same thing - cap one rejected me and didnt want to tell me why even though i have clean history.

for the past 10 years i have used my hsbc debit and hsbc visa card and thought i didnt need anything else - even though my rating is good overall and i still be refused due not accessing enough credit for their liking over the years.

anyone got any suggestions on how i can make myself look better for these scum? (yes i know the double standards here but i want to make sure i am covered for a "what if" situation)....should i get one of the credit builder cards? i have already been kicked back by cap one - should i try Barclay's for example?