Capital One Accepted a Minor !

money-4-nothing

Hi,

I had just turned 17 and for a bit of fun, I filled out a capital one application form which was inserted in a magazine.

I hold my hands up -- I LIED on the form.

I told them I was 18 and was self employed earning £25,000 a year. (I was really just a student and had a total income of £30 a week from EMA - Educational Maintainace Allowance)

I had no credit history, wasn't on the electrol roll and any simple checks would of noticed this.

A week later along comes a letter, welcoming me to Capital One. Stuck to the bottom was a nice new shiny Mastercard with a whooping £200 credit limit.

I activated my card via a freephone automated activation line, which just needed me to press my date of birth.. i nearly slipped up by typing my real DOB, but stopped myself on the last 2 digits and added a extra year.

My question is -

Why didn't Capital One do ANY checks?


Well i'm now 21, well capital one think im 22. Have a steady job and have a total of 4 credit cards, so have been with Capital One for 4 years.

They have increased my credit limit 3 times and now have £1800 credit limit.

empfun

Applications for credit cards require you to put your details down truthfully and that is what one acknowledges when one signs the application. Yeah, certainly leaves a lot to be desired but I'm glad that it worked out well for you I think.

miss_lisalou

hello.

Doesn't suprise me to be honest. I remember a story on BBC2's business news that a dog owner got so fed up of receiving credit card offers, they filled in their dog's details and even he got accepted!

money-4-nothing

miss_lisalou wrote:

hello.

Doesn't suprise me to be honest. I remember a story on BBC2's business news that a dog owner got so fed up of receiving credit card offers, they filled in their dog's details and even he got accepted!

I would love to see the look on their faces when they are chasing up the debt on the credit card.

"Can I speak to Woofy Smith please, hang on i'll put him on the line.... woof woof woof errr woooffff. :eek: "

Can I dog get a County Court Judgement.

"Hello, i'm a Baliff... i've come to take away your items..... here's his dog bowl, lead and a few chew toys. "

JasonW_2

miss_lisalou wrote:

hello.

Doesn't suprise me to be honest. I remember a story on BBC2's business news that a dog owner got so fed up of receiving credit card offers, they filled in their dog's details and even he got accepted!

Thats hilarious. Reminds me of that episode of Married with Children where they did this LOL

JW

Martinslovechild

...and the woman who left everything to her pet cat in her will

skiddy2k

money-4-nothing wrote:

"Hello, i'm a Baliff... i've come to take away your items..... here's his dog bowl, lead and a few chew toys. "

haha, nice1!

grumbler

money-4-nothing wrote:

My question is -

Why didn't Capital One do ANY checks?

The only information available to them is credit files and electoral roll. This means they did not have any information on you that time and could not check anything. As a result they gave you minimum credit limit and (I guess) maximum APR that reflects their risk. This is this bank’s policy and it is fine that a lot of young people can start their credit history with them. What is surprising - that they did not request any proof of ID and address (did they?).

DiggingOut

If your dog gets a credit card, can he mess up your credit rating by being linked to you?

deadthings

I had no idea credit cards needed activating all those years ago. I've only just started having to do it in the past 18 months!

Did you get the card in the post a week later? Only I had to wait for the form, sign it and return it and wait for the card, much longer than a week.

What is your APR now?

D.

Lopo

They hardly accepted a minor as the title so put it....they accepted an applicant claiming,...who then verified on actvation that they were aged 18+.

Fair enough it seems that basic checks were not done by Capitlal One from your perspective but there is no real way of knowing that for sure. Seems to me evidently they chanced it as a new legitimate customer who was just not on the electoral role who recently perhaps hit 18 since there was no other records to go by with the uncertainty and risk factored in by simply offering a minimal credit limit on the card with a high APR.

From their perspective its as simple as that.... a potential new customer. Its their choice to assess the risk whether to offer it or not...and in this case they have based on the applicants details.

I really dont know the legality of it all or what the repurcussions could be of this little endeavour....IMHO...it was a silly (read: stupid) thing to do, although seemingly you have got away with it present day.

By the way...all original application forms are kept on record. They normally take images which are retained so all this could well come back and bite you in the future when you apply for other credit/financial related products and the DOB issue surfaces......guess you'll never really know. But I suggest you attempt to get at least the DOB corrected with them....and perhaps lose the smugness. You have provided enough information in this post for a clever Capital One individual to do a little snooping around if they have the resources to do so...unlikely, but possible. Doesnt take much to query a database...