First time credit card

J0hncollins

I am a student looking for a first time credit card with a credit rating of fair...any ideas on which one to get?

InsideInsurance

How have you gotten your fair rating without having had a card before?

Normally in your situation you would suffer from a lack of credit history which lenders dislike almost as much as poor history. Your best bet traditionally is going to be with the bank that you hold your main current account with.

J0hncollins

I do not know, I registered with creditexpert.co.uk for a free trial and it told me my rating was fair

My bank refused me a credit card

ultimate_cheapskate_2

Are you on the electoral roll? You should be able to check this somewhere in your credit report

Maestro.

J0hncollins wrote: »

I do not know, I registered with creditexpert.co.uk for a free trial and it told me my rating was fair

My bank refused me a credit card

If you have a good history with them then consider appealing, some banks will credit check you despite having great history with them (basically, treating you as a brand new customer) and if the credit check fails, they'll disregard your history with them and tell you the application stops there. If you appeal with proof that you're not as much of a liability as their credit check would have them believe, they might turn around their decision.

J0hncollins

I am on the electoral roll

I should have a good history with them as I have never been in any debt or overdrawn. So you suggest just go in to a branch and appeal against them refusing me?

InsideInsurance

Dont even bother looking at CreditExperts rating, its only a way to rob you of money. Looking at the report itself is of use though.

If you have no history at all then that is almost as bad as a poor history, especially these days. As per my previous post, what credit history do you have? Loans? Overdrafts? Mobile Contracts?

If your own bank has declined you then its either a case of appealing it or applying for a card aimed at the sub-prime market and using it to build up your history

Maestro.

J0hncollins wrote: »

I am on the electoral roll

I should have a good history with them as I have never been in any debt or overdrawn. So you suggest just go in to a branch and appeal against them refusing me?

Write a letter to them detailing plus points about your history with the bank, and be honest about any negatives if there are any. Include the rejection letter that you got - if you got one - and a payslip/ polling card, or anything else relevant to why you're appealing.

I can't guarantee it works but many people on here have had success with appeals. I have appealed to my own bank in this manner because when I phoned them asking to apply for their CC, they credit checked me and outright refused, not taking into account my (largely perfect) 6 year history with them. I probably failed the credit check because my electoral roll status is for some reason not coming up on my credit record.

Experian_company_representative

If you were refused purely based on credit scoring then you have a legal right to ask them to reconsider and assess your application manually. That then gives you the opportunity to provide other information that supports your case. Lenders should also tell you the principle reason for saying no, under industry guidelines.

James Jones

Maestro.

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

If you were refused purely based on credit scoring then you have a legal right to ask them to reconsider and assess your application manually. That then gives you the opportunity to provide other information that supports your case. Lenders should also tell you the principle reason for saying no, under industry guidelines.

James Jones

Even if that "principle reason" is, 99% of the time, "we are unable to offer you a card because you did not meet our minimum requirement criteria"... not exactly descriptive is it?!

trikidy

Capital one sub prime card is good to help build up history.