Aqua, Barclaycard Initial, Capital One Classic or Vanquis?

Reesy1981

Reading through a few pages, theres people asking about all 4 sub prime cards. So i thought why not try and put all the information regarding them into one thread to make it easier for people to make a decission.
Being a newbie, i am not up on the pros and cons of each, so thats where you good experienced forum members come in! The only con i know of is the astronomical interest rates on each!
So, for those in the know, if you could divulge more into each of the cards, i am sure alot of people would be most grateful!

izools

Vanquis: If the only thing going for you is having a pulse

Capital One Classic: If you've messed up big, but since rectified your old debts but still may have the defaults showing, or are new to credit

Capital One Progress: If you've messed up big, but have settled your old bad debt and have a couple of years clean payment history with other accounts, or have limited history

Aqua: If you have limited history or your previous bad debt is long since settled (these are the only ones not to have accepted me)

Barclaycard: If you have little, but not limited history, and have a small amount or no debt. Barclaycard don't like applicants with bad histories or high levels of debt but can be sympathetic to limited histories.

KingElvis

Yep, I would avoid Vanquis unless you're cryogenicially frozen or have debts so bad it would make Fred The Shred blush.

You can try for a Barclaycard Initial without leaving a footprint on your record...just type Barclaycard pre application into the search engine of your choice.

Capital One Classic they tend to give to anyone but those with super bad histories so it's still better than Vanqswiz.

Aqua is the kinda forgotten sub-prime card and I know little about it.

Letfromspain

I had very bad credit and applied for Capital One, Vanquis and Aqua in March 2009 - only Capital One accepted me with a £100 limit.

In October 2009, I reapplied for Vanquis and Aqua and was accepted by both with £500 and £650 limits respectively.

As of now, I still have all 3 cards with limits of:

Capital One £100 (unchanged in almost 2 and a half years).
Vanquis £1,500.
Aqua £850.

I've applied for the Barclaycard Initial on 3 seperate occasions (via the soft search) and on one occasion was given a 70% - 80% chance of acceptance but declined to take this further. I think this is because I have a CCJ from October 2005 (the last blot on my credit record).

As everybody will tell you, the sky high interest rates on these cards are irrelevant if you pay them in full. Personally, I leave a little balance and incur what I perceive to be modest charges in view of these companies giving me a chance to rebuild my credit rating. I'm not suggesting you do this, that's just me.

Hopefully, when my CCJ is removed in October I'll get the green light for a more mainstream card.:)

hello2007

Letfromspain wrote: »

I had very bad credit and applied for Capital One, Vanquis and Aqua in March 2009 - only Capital One accepted me with a £100 limit.

In October 2009, I reapplied for Vanquis and Aqua and was accepted by both with £500 and £650 limits respectively.

As of now, I still have all 3 cards with limits of:

Capital One £100 (unchanged in almost 2 and a half years).
Vanquis £1,500.
Aqua £850.

I've applied for the Barclaycard Initial on 3 seperate occasions (via the soft search) and on one occasion was given a 70% - 80% chance of acceptance but declined to take this further. I think this is because I have a CCJ from October 2005 (the last blot on my credit record).

As everybody will tell you, the sky high interest rates on these cards are irrelevant if you pay them in full. Personally, I leave a little balance and incur what I perceive to be modest charges in view of these companies giving me a chance to rebuild my credit rating. I'm not suggesting you do this, that's just me.

Hopefully, when my CCJ is removed in October I'll get the green light for a more mainstream card.:)

I had my Capital One for nearly 3 years before they increased my limit. It was only when I used my card every month and started to pay interest that they increase my limit to £800 and now £1,800.

Aqua tends to increase your limits every 4-6 months my credit limit has been increased from £250 to £1.400

I have no adverse data and applied for the Barclaycard initial and was accepted right away with £800 limit and they also gave me 6.9 LOB for balance transfers.

I have a student now graduate HSBC card that is 18.9 % and they have given me 0% for balance transfers. The limit is only £500.

I only keep the Capital One because its my longest credit card and they give me free access to my Equifax credit file. I am going to get rid of Aqua card next year.

I also have a Argos card that has a low credit limt so I have 3 mainstream cards and 2 subprime cards but my credit limits are higher on my Capital One and Aqua cards than the mainstream cards.

My bills are paid on time each month and I am well under my credit limits.

Lessbutbetter

How do capital one give you access to equifax reports? Thats interesting!

I've had my capital one card for 4 months now and its the only card i've ever applied for. I'd like a more mainstream card with at least 1k limit, but i dont know really when is the best time to apply for one or with who? Should i wait another 2 months until i've got at least 6 months with cap1?

I bank with Halifax and was wondering if applying for the clarity would be a good idea? I do dip into my overdraft alot though - would this be seen as a negative with halifax if applying for their CC? I have a salary of 35K and pay into my halifax ultimate reward every month. My experian report is very good, and my equifax is ok but both show no missed payments ever, and a long credit history.

any suggestions people?

hello2007

Lessbutbetter wrote: »

How do capital one give you access to equifax reports? Thats interesting!

I've had my capital one card for 4 months now and its the only card i've ever applied for. I'd like a more mainstream card with at least 1k limit, but i dont know really when is the best time to apply for one or with who? Should i wait another 2 months until i've got at least 6 months with cap1?

I bank with Halifax and was wondering if applying for the clarity would be a good idea? I do dip into my overdraft alot though - would this be seen as a negative with halifax if applying for their CC? I have a salary of 35K and pay into my halifax ultimate reward every month. My experian report is very good, and my equifax is ok but both show no missed payments ever, and a long credit history.

any suggestions people?

Capital One allow you to access your Equifax credit file online through your credit file. You have to register for the service I have had my card for 4 years so I have had the service for years.

Haifax can be fussy they sent me a offer for their mainstream credit card they turn me down and I have no adverse information. My Aqua card is run by Hallfax and I have always paid on time and they keep increase my limit because they said that I am managing my account well so I do not understand why they turn me down for their mainstream card.

chanz4

http://www.equifax.co.uk/capitalone/index.html

Lessbutbetter

thanks for the above, however i don't have a "world mastercard". This service only seems to be available to people with this particular card. I've just ran the trial for equifax for a few weeks and will cancel this week before it finishes. Both experian and equifax are clean with good scores so i dont need to be paying for this each month. Might check back in a few months when i apply for a new card but then again, nothing will change hopefully by then, so really no need!

Think i'll give Halifax CC a miss as i don't think they'll accept me even though i've been a loyal customer for 8 years! They do seem quite picky.

Is it relatively straight forward to get acceptance for a Barclaycard initial then? I've been accepted for the Cap1, held it for 4 months, and have a good, clean report so i don't see why not. What are the initial credit limits - i dont want to get another card with a relatively low limit..i'd like at least 1K.

Any thoughts from any of you clever, "in the know" people?

Reesy1981

Lessbutbetter wrote: »

Think i'll give Halifax CC a miss as i don't think they'll accept me even though i've been a loyal customer for 8 years! They do seem quite picky.

I have been with Halifax for 13 years, they wont even give me a full on current account the lousy *****.

KingElvis

The Barclaycard would very likely come with a limit between 300 and 600 pounds, they do up your limit (if you behave) every six months so within a year, you have a 2k limit.

Hope that helps.