CRA Variations & New card application.

paddylad

I am on the long winded route of trying to build up a decent credit history and getting a credit card to help with this. But i am quite concerned with the differences between my Experian and Equifax credit reports. The Experian report looks fine and has all my past credit and communications listed and the credit score was just on the cusp of going into good, this helped me upgrade my basic bank account into a current account. The Equifax report on the other hand is horrible and has a lot of information missing, dealing with them seems to be long winded and painful, and am thinking of just cancelling my membership. Bearing this in mind can anyone recommend a decent credit card to start with that uses experian and any ideas how long i should wait to apply seeing as i have just had a search last week to get the current account?

guesswho2000

The majority search Experian, some search both, only a few (Barclaycard, Creation/Sygma not sure of any others) search only Equifax. Nationwide search only Experian, verified by me and many others, also for me Halifax and Amex searched only Experian; Capital One, Natwest & RBS searched both.

You don't say who you bank with or what sort of agreements/history you already have? This could have an impact on your likelihood of acceptance too.

paddylad

Thanks for your reply, I bank with halifax, and yes they only searched experian which probably explains why i got accepted for the current account. I have virgin media broadband etc, just settled a 1 year interest free credit with vision express. Settled a capital one account about 4 years ago. Always seem to get refused for mobile phone contracts but again searches for them were done through equifax. I think it might be a tad early to apply for a halifax credit card after just getting the reward account, was looking at that barclaycard initial but if they only use equifax looks like i'm stumped for a card at the moment.

guesswho2000

paddylad wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, I bank with halifax, and yes they only searched experian which probably explains why i got accepted for the current account. I have virgin media broadband etc, just settled a 1 year interest free credit with vision express. Settled a capital one account about 4 years ago. Always seem to get refused for mobile phone contracts but again searches for them were done through equifax. I think it might be a tad early to apply for a halifax credit card after just getting the reward account, was looking at that barclaycard initial but if they only use equifax looks like i'm stumped for a card at the moment.

Not sure on the vision express or virgin media being reported to CRAs, I've never had finance from vision ex and my broadband (Orange) doesn't report, but current accounts and your capital one account should appear, unless the capital one account was really old, i.e. opened prior to 1999/2000?

Mobile contract wise, I've never been accepted for T-Mobile, never tried Vodafone but never been refused O2 or Orange - so might be dependent on who you're applying to, also maybe try a SIM only contract for a few months - their scoring is much easier - then once you've had that for a few months, they may let you upgrade to a normal 12-18-24 month contract with a handset.

As for credit cards, if it's a decent card, and your report is up to scratch with experian, try Nationwide. As for Halifax, I got the Clarity card before I had the current account, and had no other accounts with Halifax. If it's credit building you're after (as you mentioned BC initial), try Vanquis, Aqua or Capital One (you mentioned you had settled a CapOne card, did you have adverse with them before, defaulted, missed payments etc? If so, try one of the others first!) you'd get a low limit and terrible APR, but it's a start.

paddylad

The capital one card was opened in 2006 and settled in 2008 but i did have a couple of missed payments, i was younger then and knew absolutely notjing about credit building etc. Virgin media is showing on Experian but not Equifax. The vision express credit was done through Ikano finance and is showing on both credit reports. I'm thinking Nationwide and Halifax credit cards might be a bit ambitious right now. But wondering if Capital one might be an option again, the last 10 months payments were all up to date with them. Just wondering now how long i should wait to apply or just go for it now? Thanks for your help btw.

guesswho2000

No problem! A couple of missed payments so long ago might not be such an issue now, you could try for the Capital One card now, if they decline they might offer you their secured card, which involves paying a security deposit but then they'll issue you with a credit card which will build your rating just like any other. After 6-12 months of managing that you could then apply for another (better) one with them.

If you don't have many recent searches on your file, you may as well apply for it now - one application won't hurt your file anyway, and if you get the card then bonus! :beer: