No credit history & how many is too many applications?

ktb

My 23 y/o OH has never had a credit card & has virtually no credit history at all but would like to move his student overdraft onto a 0% or low rate card as they has started to charge him 15.9% interest on it.

He applied for an Egg card but was refused as he has no credit history & his overdraft has been at the same level for the past couple of years. He applied for a Virgin Card but was refused for his lack of credit history.

He banks with Barclays so was advised to try Barclaycard. Firstly they said the fact he is a Barclays customer is irrelevant as they are not afflilated with Barclays (but Barclays dont have their own credit cards do they? ) and then although he was just asking their advice not actually applying, when he asked if he was likely to be accepted they told him that it sounded like he didnt have enough credit history. Is there any point in him trying to apply for their 0% card after receiving this advice?

Obviously he doesnt want too make black marks on his credit score - am I right in thinking that all these declined applications will affect it? Is there any point in him trying for something like the M&S card or does anyone know of a card that is friendlier towards people with no credit history?

Or is the only way to go to give up trying to get a card with a good rate and go with Barclaycard Initial or something just to try and get some kind of credit history for the future? He did get his credit report before making any applications and everything else seemed fine.

Sorry if there are lots of other threads concerning this - I did have a look through and couldn't see anything obvious.

Any advice much appreciated!

Robert_Sterling

I am not optimistic that anyone will want to take on the debts at 0%.

ktb

Ok... then we may have to come up with another plan then.

Do you know if all the declined applications count against him tho? Is it worth trying for the M&S 3.9% card perhaps? Or should he stop making lots of applications and go for a card like the bog stanard inital card from Barclays that offers no benefits for his current debt but he is most likely to get accepted for?

A_little_stressed!!

I've had the same problem, no credit history! Luckily I've been with Natwest 20 years, so when they turned me down I went into my branch almost everyday for weeks, photocopying bank statements, my credit file etc and sending them to the CC department. With the help of one of the staff I eventually got a CC, only with £260 limit but it was a start!! Over 6 months on I still get refused everyone else!!!

Does he not have a building society account etc? Somewhere else to try who kind'v knows him!

petera74

DO NOT GET A CREDIT CARD< STAY DEBT FREE

I WAS LIKE YOU NO HISTORY>NOW I HAVE PLENTY>


The bank will give you a big overdraft to start with.
You go into and slowly you get to the limit.
Then you get a loan to pay it off.

Then you think you need a credit card, when you don't.....
Things steadily fall apart
You then get another loan to pay the credit card off.

It's my own fault I should have seen it coming.
I think some banks very readily dish credit out at the start. Very little help is given well things go wrong.

Iam quite mad at my bank, offering me in the first place.

Iam very sad at the moment and can't seem to get rid of my credit card debt.

Yours

UK007BullDog

You dont say how old he is and how much he earns and what the amount is of the student loan. Going by my kids student loan I am thinking its a very large sum?

He needs to get his first card from Barclays. He needs to use it and pay it all off every month. He needs to prove that he can handle money. Barclays is the easiest choice as they know his banking account and the goings on. Even if it is a low limit it is better than nothing and it will help him build up a credit record.

Do not go asking for more cards as he will be refused. If his income is low compared to the loan amount there is no way that you would be able to move the whole lot over.

It is better to maybe ask for a regular loan (from Barclays) at a 6.2% rate and pay the student loan off that way?

If you were to get a 0% CC for 6 or even 12 - 18 months thereafter it would go back to their regular rate which could be as high as 29%. What if you then cannot get another card to move it again to a 0% deal?

CLAPTON

he's unlikely to get a 0% or low LOB card as his first CC card.

he's better try for a card thats intended for first time CC users like barclays initial 27.9%, vanquis, capital one etc but this will give him the chance to establish a credit history (obviously he will want to clear it off each month). no real use for now, but frankly if he isn't reducing his overdraft then he's not really a very good credit risk is he?

too many applications in a short time look as if he is desperate and will reduce his chances of being accepted.

cmc_entertainment

petera74 wrote:

DO NOT GET A CREDIT CARD< STAY DEBT FREE

I WAS LIKE YOU NO HISTORY>NOW I HAVE PLENTY>


The bank will give you a big overdraft to start with.
You go into and slowly you get to the limit.
Then you get a loan to pay it off.

Then you think you need a credit card, when you don't.....
Things steadily fall apart
You then get another loan to pay the credit card off.

It's my own fault I should have seen it coming.
I think some banks very readily dish credit out at the start. Very little help is given well things go wrong.

Iam quite mad at my bank, offering me in the first place.

Iam very sad at the moment and can't seem to get rid of my credit card debt.

Yours

put an SOA [Situation of Affairs] in the debt free wannabe thread, and ppl will give you lots of advice

ktb

Thanks for the responses guys...

It is only his student overdraft (approx £1500) he wants to pay off not his student loan. He earns approx £20K a year and as I said in my original post is 23y/o.

I guessed that he might have to just get a bog standard card and build up some credit rating for the future I will advise him to speak to Barclaycard about that and try and come up with another way to avoid the interest on his overdraft.

petera74 thanks for the advice & i'm sorry to hear about your problems with debt... I can def recommend the Debt Free Wannabe forum and doing yourself an SOA. It has helped me get things into perspective loads.

Unlike me... other than his student overdraft which up to now has been at 0% (and student loan which as Martin says doesnt really count in the same way) my OH doesnt have any other debts and i'm not remotely worried he will run any up either - he hasnt had any cards up to now for a very good reason - he despises them! I know you should never say never but he is just not remotely careless with his money... I just recommended doing a SBT as a way to not pay interest for the few months it is going to take him to pay the o/d back.

Looks like i'm going to have to rethink tho. :rolleyes:

ktb

A_little_stressed!! wrote:

I've had the same problem, no credit history! Luckily I've been with Natwest 20 years, so when they turned me down I went into my branch almost everyday for weeks, photocopying bank statements, my credit file etc and sending them to the CC department. With the help of one of the staff I eventually got a CC, only with £260 limit but it was a start!! Over 6 months on I still get refused everyone else!!!

Does he not have a building society account etc? Somewhere else to try who kind'v knows him!

I will look into this... thanks a l s!

mintymoneysaver

cOULD HE OPEN A NEW CURRENT ACCOUNT E.G aLLIANCE AND lEICESTER WHICH ALLOW 0% overdrafts for the first year? He will also get £50 for switching.
And can I just say what a financially sensible couple you sound!