Rejected. Then 2 Barclaycard Platinum BT 0%?

maxlondon

Hi, Just wanted your opinion on what to do. Here's my personal situation:

2007 Relocated to UK. Opened healthy c/a and s/a w/ Barclays.
08/2008 Received pre-approved Barclays Platinum. Applied. Rejected due to no credit history.
3Y3M living at same address & banking w/ Barclays. Tenant. No kids. No loans. No mortgages. No ccards. My income & savings both around 3x London average.
Received offer to join Barclays Premium twice, I declined.
08/2011. Received guaranteed Barclays Platinum BT 0% 16. Approved w/ £260 credit limit. The credit limit is ridiculous, I spend that just on wine on a weekend.

Today I received another guaranteed Barclays Platinum BT 0% 16 offer. I don't understand why they sent me a second Platinum card offer.

I don't need BT, just need ccard for hotels, restaurants and spending w/ decent credit limit i.e £5,000

What to do?
a) Request 2nd guaranteed Platinum ccard and see what credit they give me. (Will this impact my credit rating?)

b) Don't request 2nd guaranteed Platinum ccard. Keep using first card, build credit and request credit limit increase.

Any opinions welcome. Thx.

Venusflytrap

If you can afford to spend £260 per weekend on wine then from the sounds of it, you don't need a credit card. Maybe a charge card may tantalise your taste buds better?

maxlondon

I've used my debit card for more than 4 years in the UK.
Barclays gave me one Platinum card w/ £260 limit and now they give me another one

I don't need credit or BT now but I want to build my credit and increase credit limits.

I want a ccard for 3 reasons:
1) Security- I do a lot of small transaction in bars, shops, restaurants, internet and I don't want to risk access to my current account.
2) Spending- because many hotels, car rentals, etc don't accept debit cards and when they do it all becomes a pita and unfair
3) Rewards, points, freebies - I spend a lot w/ my debit card and I don't get any of these. I want to be rewarded for my spending.

What should I do?

a) Request 2nd guaranteed Platinum ccard and see what credit they give me. (Will this impact my credit rating?)
b) Don't request 2nd guaranteed Platinum ccard. Keep using first Platinum card w/ £260 limit, build credit and request credit limit increase.

Venusflytrap

maxlondon wrote: »

I want a ccard for 3 reasons:
1) Security- I do a lot of small transaction in bars, shops, restaurants, internet and I don't want to risk access to my current account.

Wise. Also S75 protection for CC spends between £100 - £30000.

2) Spending- because many hotels, car rentals, etc don't accept debit cards and when they do it all becomes a pita and unfair

Yes, a CC makes such transactions easier and safer

3) Rewards, points, freebies - I spend a lot w/ my debit card and I don't get any of these. I want to be rewarded for my spending.

I doo too. Trouble is your current CC is barely 3 months old and, from the sounds of it, you don't have much else in credit history. I would advise that you hold off applying to any of the rewards cards until you hit 6 months min with your B.card. Then again, you can take a gamble and try applying to either Tesco or M&S, both of which offer long term 0% deals on purchases and bonus points, and lots others!

What should I do?
a) Request 2nd guaranteed Platinum ccard and see what credit they give me. (Will this impact my credit rating?)

Don't think you can hold two B.cards at same time; you will need to close existing and then apply for the other. Still, besides the S75 protection, the Barclaycard freedom rewards scheme is shait so I wouldn't really bother!

b) Don't request 2nd guaranteed Platinum ccard. Keep using first Platinum card w/ £260 limit, build credit and request credit limit increase.

If you want to stick with them, otherwise (3) above.

chexum

The second offer was probably delayed and was sent at a time they did not know you accepted the previous - I don't see any possibility they would actually accept you for two cards within a few weeks. £260 is the minimum Barclaycard limit, and they go very slowly even with customers that are otherwise less risky, but have a thin credit file. Chances are you could have gotten it (with the same limit) much earlier, if you applied in the branch in person.

It seems you just got to the point where you had fulfilled the automated criteria too. With 3 years address history (and hopefully with at least the current account putting in green ticks on your credit report too, even if without, or with a nominal £10 overdraft), you could probably get another mainstream card anywhere (Halifax Clarity if you spend more abroad, or possibly even one of the cashback cards).

If you otherwise like them, keep this card, and you can probably request an easy increase every 6+ months via online banking, so if you double the limit each time, in 1-2 years the limit can go to a useful number... They never let you ask for an increase more than every 6 months, but maybe it's worth to call them to see if they are willing to give you a higher limit before that based on your account turnover...

maxlondon

VenusFlyTrap and Chexum, many thanks for your input and good advice.
I think I'll keep the B BT Platinum w/ £260 credit limit, won't request 2nd card, and ask for a limit increase 6 months from now. Cheers.

Venusflytrap

chexum wrote: »

£260 is the minimum Barclaycard limit, and they go very slowly even with customers that are otherwise less risky, but have a thin credit file.

Quite right. My husband's limit of £260 was only increased straight to £1750 after 3 years with Barclaycard simply because he had little credit history prior to (even though he is water tight with money and earns a very good p/t net income of £1450).

maxlondon

Venusflytrap- What you say is *really* interesting...

So: a good saver w/ v. good income & little credit history -like your husband and myself- gets a v. low credit limit...
...whereas an up-to-the-nose indebted individual with 3-4 cards and £ '000s in pending open balance gets much higher credit limits...

It seems clear what kind of 'targets' banks pursue... talk about credit crisis!.. sigh

Venusflytrap

From my experience and that of my husband, if one has savings, spends within budget with debit cards (as my husband used to do), has little or no credit agreements, such a person is seen as 'higher risk' by lenders because they are unable to ascertain your borrowing behaviour. They ask: Are you a 'spend now and pay late/cannot afford to repay' type of customer? Or a 'spend and repay on time (whether part or full)' type of customer? And they need a history to help them make that judgement.

chexum

Yep, as Venusflytrap says, it's the detailed credit file that they need, not a proof of "indebtedness".

If you compare an individual in their 20s who had started with student overdraft, to a high-caliber immigrant in their 30s (or someone never relying on credit before), logic says the latter should get a bigger credit limit, but that's not necessarily correct. Although the former might have a few credit mishaps in their life, their credit file details their behaviour over the last 6 years, whereas the one new to the UK started with a clean slate. They might have been nasty in their old country, or perfect with their money, noone will know. If they did not learn how to use credit before, with a bigger limit, those mishaps could be more risky for the bank. The bank will need a couple of years to assess how reliable is the individual.

There are some shortcuts that make this easier in a few circumstances (Amex Global Card Transfer for example), but a useful credit file still take years to build. It doesn't really matter if it was started at the university, or at the age of 30...