Turned down for a credit card

Davek2000

My wife had an Virgin Atlantic Am Ex card for 18months and used it about twice a month or so. As soon as she bought something she paid it off the card so there was always a zero balance at the end of the charging period.

The card ran out and a new one didn't come through so she rang them up and asked them where her new card was. They said as it had lapsed by 4 weeks she would just have to answer a few questions and they would send a new card out.

Two weeks later came a letter saying she had been turned down as she "Didn't meet their lending criteria". She rang them up and asked them how they would give her a credit card 18months ago but not now. She was just told she didn't meet their lending criteria and the name of the 2 credit referance agencies they had used. I also checked all mine and her files with Equifax and Experian and everything was fine, we both have a credit score of 999 which i know doesn't mean much but it's a guide.

We got worried and checked the credit files but everything was 100%. We have had a mortgage for 20 years and never been late once with a payment. We have both had loans, credit cards in my case, and other forms of credit over the years. We have never been late with a single payment or over extended ourselves in any way.

In short the only reason they turned her down was because she paid off her card in full before the payment date. I have a Virgin Atlantic Am Ex card that i have had for about 5 years and i pretty much pay the whole lot off each month except for the odd month when i might just make the minimum payment through a Direct debit.

Can a credit card company turn you down just because you have always paid the card off before they get any interest out of you?

BugsyBrowne

Lol they haven't turned you down because you pay your statements in full or they don't earn money off you what gave you that silly idea?

[Deleted User]

Agreed. It's something of a myth that full payers don't get offered credit cards. There's something else about your wife that they don't like, but bottom line is that they can reject anyone they feel like. There's no automatic right to credit.

older_wiser

I thought bugsy was being sarcastic with his comments above lol

In my opinion and its only that an opinion i do believe that certain banks do have lending criteria where this is taken into consideration but thats only my view. unless we get your wifes full financial banckground which i don't advise you doing ! lol its impossible for us to say for certain why she was declind for the credit card.

giblet10

Has your wife applied for any other cards SINCE this happened? If she has, and been accepted, then might just be good old MBNA and their stellar customer service living up to their Which? guide ranking..

Alternatively, could be something you're not seeing such as a mistaken CIFAS put on without you knowing..

fozmcfc

Could be something within the 18 months that has changed.

Has your wife incoming been cut for instance?

Has she got other credit in the past 18 months or so, particularly in the past 6 months as too many applications for credit in a short time looks like desperation to lenders.

Particularly if she has applied for further credit, having credit even if unused could lead to a refusal, because there is a high level of credit available used or unused compared to income.

For instance someone might get accepted for a 0% credit card and at the end of the 0% period, have a zero balance and apply for another one.

After a while there may come a time when even though those cards have zero on them, the amount of credit usable on them is high compared to annual income and therefore a person could get refused for another 0% card.

themull1

BugsyBrowne wrote: »

Lol they haven't turned you down because you pay your statements in full or they don't earn money off you what gave you that silly idea?

Credit card companies can turn you down because you are not generating income for them.

Macca83_2

Could also be one of two things. The old virgin credit card is not in fact closed and the advisor thought he'd try his luck, boost his sales and open a New one... Or, there's a statutory waiting period between closing the old card and applying for a New one. In either case the system automatically declines as you don't meet the lending criteria.

CLAPTON

Davek2000 wrote: »

My wife had an Virgin Atlantic Am Ex card for 18months and used it about twice a month or so. As soon as she bought something she paid it off the card so there was always a zero balance at the end of the charging period.

The card ran out and a new one didn't come through so she rang them up and asked them where her new card was. They said as it had lapsed by 4 weeks she would just have to answer a few questions and they would send a new card out.

Two weeks later came a letter saying she had been turned down as she "Didn't meet their lending criteria". She rang them up and asked them how they would give her a credit card 18months ago but not now. She was just told she didn't meet their lending criteria and the name of the 2 credit referance agencies they had used. I also checked all mine and her files with Equifax and Experian and everything was fine, we both have a credit score of 999 which i know doesn't mean much but it's a guide.

We got worried and checked the credit files but everything was 100%. We have had a mortgage for 20 years and never been late once with a payment. We have both had loans, credit cards in my case, and other forms of credit over the years. We have never been late with a single payment or over extended ourselves in any way.

In short the only reason they turned her down was because she paid off her card in full before the payment date. I have a Virgin Atlantic Am Ex card that i have had for about 5 years and i pretty much pay the whole lot off each month except for the odd month when i might just make the minimum payment through a Direct debit.

Can a credit card company turn you down just because you have always paid the card off before they get any interest out of you?

it's unusually to pay off a card everytime you make a purchase rather than wait until the statement arrives.

maybe their commputer checks your statement balance to determine activity and is mislead into thinking there has been none.

of course it may have nothing to do with it but in my view it is best to use cards in the 'normal' way.
wiat until ststement arrives; then pay in full.

CLAPTON

themull1 wrote: »

Credit card companies can turn you down because you are not generating income for them.

over 50% of the population pay their CC statement in full every month.
CC companies make money on every transaction by charging the retailer.

BugsyBrowne

As clapton as said they make money on transaction in any case off the retailer.

When people do get turned down for credit the first thing they don't do is check their credit files, they have a great belief that because they've had credit before they automatically think they should be accepted for for everything they apply for.

If they do get turned down they are shocked and the best excuse to make them feel better is the same old cliche(they declined our application as we don't make them any money)