New to England: Credit Card denied

ichkatja

Hi there
we are new migrants (<3 months) in England with nicely paying jobs here. We have credit cards/lines of credits in Canada and Germany but we need a credit card here. However, our bank, Lloyds, denied us any credit cards - as we don't have a mortgage here. Would anyone have any suggestions/experience to share with us.

aj3001

Get on the electrol roll, try Barclary card inital or vanquis

techno_geek

You would need to register on the Electoral Roll, but you need to be a UK or Irish citizen, or a citizen of a Commonwealth country. If you meet these criteria, contact your local council who will help you do this.

If you can get on the Electoral Roll, wait 2 months from your confirmation letter date to apply for any forms of credit - this is to ensure your names appear on your credit files at the Credit Reference Agencies.

Capital One (www.capitalone.co.uk) offer a "Classic" Visa credit card - they might accept you once you're on the electoral roll.

Failing any of the above options, give it a few more months (until you've had your account at Lloyds for around 6 months), and then make an appointment to see your bank manager and ask whether he would be able to advise you or influence the process of getting a credit card or an overdraft facility on your account. Use any proof of your credit cards/lines of credit from elsewhere to your advantage, it may help your case!

I know how difficult it can be to find your feet (financially-speaking) in a foreign country - I now live 6 months of the year in France, and when I first moved there I couldn't get a loan at all, despite having several thousand Euros in my account and a decent salary!

nm1213

Talk with your bank manager once you have about 6 months of account activity under your belt.

I moved to the UK several months ago, and ran my lloyds current account perfectly for about 6 months. In addition, I had a contract phone with perfect payment history.

Despite the above, and a full time job that pays well, I got refused for a lloyds credit card when I applied online. I also was refused for a capital one, and even Vanquis!

I am apparently not eligible to be on the electorial roll. However, I paid for an equifax credit report, and entered a note on my credit file stating my ineligibility.

Slightly before the above, I applied for a Barclaycard and was accepted. Soon after, I printed out my credit report, got a letter of employment, 6 months worth of pay stubs, my rental agreement, utility bills, BT phone bills... all this into a neat package and went to see my bank manager.

Without even looking at anything, he approved me for a platinum card with an incredibly high limit. This was based on him reviewing my account activity while with me in his office and looking at proof of regular monthly income.

Moral of the story is to go see a person about this... they will hopefully be more reasonable than a computer.

sofa_surfer

Capital One 'opened the door' for me. After getting their Classic card (don't pay attention to the high APR rate, pay it off in full every month and it might as well have been 300% !), I was approved for First Direct, Nationwide and M&S credit cards within the next 6 months.
Needless to say, Cap One CC was dumped like an used paper tissue:whistle:
p.s.: I was not on the electoral roll when I was accepted for the above cards

bengal-stripe

techno_geek wrote: »

You would need to register on the Electoral Roll, but you need to be a UK or Irish citizen, or a citizen of a Commonwealth country.

Citizens of the European Union can register on the Electoral Roll and are entitled to vote in Local and European Elections
(but not in National ones).