Credit Cards for Abroad - Need clarification

RedBalloon

djglenn wrote: »

Well that was fun....

Just been turned down by Halifax for their Clarity card...lol?

Never had any bad debt ever, I have a mortgage which I have never missed a payment for, never had an overdraft...and never not paid a credit card off in full the month its due.

Amazing...

Just been reading Martins article and I'm pretty sure it said you have to have a reward account with Halifax in order to get it.......

zzzLazyDaisy

It could just be that your over-all credit availability Vs your income, doesn't meet their criteria.

For example, if you already hold two credit cards giving you a total maximum available credit of £20,000, it won't matter one jot that you always pay them off every month, or even if you never use them and there is no balance on them. What matters is that you already have that credit at your disposal so could just max everything out and be unable to meet the payments based on their calculations.

I had an old credit card which I hardly ever used, but the provider kept increasing the credit limit without me asking - it got to £25,000 so I cancelled it. The person on the phone couldn't believe it when I explained that I am on benefits and simply don't want that sort of credit facility on my record - he said 'you do understand that you'll never get a credit limit like this again on your income'. Yep. But it was screwing my ability to rate-tart :-)

djglenn

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

It could just be that your over-all credit availability Vs your income, doesn't meet their criteria.

For example, if you already hold two credit cards giving you a total maximum available credit of £20,000, it won't matter one jot that you always pay them off every month, or even if you never use them and there is no balance on them. What matters is that you already have that credit at your disposal so could just max everything out and be unable to meet the payments based on their calculations.

I had an old credit card which I hardly ever used, but the provider kept increasing the credit limit without me asking - it got to £25,000 so I cancelled it. The person on the phone couldn't believe it when I explained that I am on benefits and simply don't want that sort of credit facility on my record - he said 'you do understand that you'll never get a credit limit like this again on your income'. Yep. But it was screwing my ability to rate-tart :-)

My only credit card has a limit which comprises of 10% of my anual income.....

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lisyloo

Just been reading Martins article and I'm pretty sure it said you have to have a reward account with Halifax in order to get it.......

This certainly didn't used to be the case.
You need to have a reward account if you want the "rewards" card with the benfits.
But I got the clarity card (without the £5 a month reward) and don't have a current account.
It's possible the rules have changed since I got mine 6 months ago, but I suspect you might be reading something that says you need a current account to get the rewards card.
You certainly used to be able to get the NON rewards version on it's own.

My only credit card has a limit which comprises of 10% of my anual income.....

It's possible you don't have enough credit (yes the irony is not lost on me - too much or not enough LOL).
I would advise you to get your statutory (£2) credit reports from Equifax/Experian.
I would not recommend the free trials because if you don't cancel on time you can get stung.
Check these for mistakes.
Most likely there aren't any mistakes but in some way you don't meet their secret criteria.
This could be too much credit available, maxed out on your existing credit, too little credit history or you simply aren't the type of customer they want because of age, income or simply because you pay on time every month and don't make them any money.
It's difficult to fathom sometimes but checking your report can be a start.
If you come back to these board with specifics then people will try to help but after a certain point it because guesswork because each lender has their own criteria.
If you just have one card, it could be not enough credit history but you may well have other credit accounts e.g. mortgage, utilities, mobile phone, store cards, catalogues etc.
Who knows there might even be an error.
But just because you've been turned down doesn't mean their anything wrong, simply might mean you don't meet their target audience whatever that is.
Some people do seem to take it personally and I know it can be a surprise but credit is not an automatic right.

djglenn

lisyloo wrote: »

It's possible you don't have enough credit (yes the irony is not lost on me - too much or not enough LOL).
I would advise you to get your statutory (£2) credit reports from Equifax/Experian.
I would not recommend the free trials because if you don't cancel on time you can get stung.
Check these for mistakes.
Most likely there aren't any mistakes but in some way you don't meet their secret criteria.
This could be too much credit available, maxed out on your existing credit, too little credit history or you simply aren't the type of customer they want because of age, income or simply because you pay on time every month and don't make them any money.
It's difficult to fathom sometimes but checking your report can be a start.
If you come back to these board with specifics then people will try to help but after a certain point it because guesswork because each lender has their own criteria.
If you just have one card, it could be not enough credit history but you may well have other credit accounts e.g. mortgage, utilities, mobile phone, store cards, catalogues etc.
Who knows there might even be an error.
But just because you've been turned down doesn't mean their anything wrong, simply might mean you don't meet their target audience whatever that is.
Some people do seem to take it personally and I know it can be a surprise but credit is not an automatic right.

Thanks for the reply.

Just signed up for the months free trail, but need to wait for my PIN to be posted (yes I will cancel it on time).

I guess I did take it a bit personally. I pride myself on being good with money and taking little to no risks, but in the same regard I guess they would make very little money off me as I would always pay on time, so can figure why they would reject me :-)

Hopefully the credit report helps clarify any issues I may face.

BenL

I have just done the Clarity application online and have no other Halifax accounts. Auto approved online with a multi-thousand credit limit.

Must be something else about you/your history they do not like.

Ben

Roger1

lisyloo is right. The card is available without a Halifax account, though if you have the right Halifax account and adhere to the conditions you get an extra benefit.

Using http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/clarity.asp to apply shows no need for a Halifax account and as I mentioned before, offers a 2% cashback on balance transfers. This is certainly a new offer (well, I didn't get it)!

TinaO

I have the Halifax Clarity credit card, as recommended by Martin. Is it not the case that I would avoid any interest on an overseas cash withdrawal if I were to put the card in credit (effectively make payments to it) before I go overseas? Does anyone know if this works or is even allowed by Halifax?

dzug1

TinaO wrote: »

I have the Halifax Clarity credit card, as recommended by Martin. Is it not the case that I would avoid any interest on an overseas cash withdrawal if I were to put the card in credit (effectively make payments to it) before I go overseas? Does anyone know if this works or is even allowed by Halifax?

It's not allowed by Halifax.

What they do about it is unclear - you might get away with it, you might not. It could be anything from nothing to freezing the card or returning the payment.