Uni student credit card questions! Please help!

espruso

Hi everyone,

I am going to uni this september, and although I do not have a part time job now I am going to try to get one to support myself financially.

Currently, my dad is helping me and I have a student loan all approved and a maintanance loan too. I've been with my bank (Santander UK) for possibly two years now.

I today tried to apply for a Halifax student credit card as I thought the APR rate was much lower than another card I saw from Barclaycard.

I am NOT planning to use this card, I just want one to maybe purchase one item with and pay it off in full at the end of the month to build a credit rating.

I was unfortunately declined. I am not sure if that is because my income was not high enough (I entered the amount that my Dad is giving me and my maintanence loan) or that I don't currently work. I put occupation as student.

I signed up before however to Experian to get a credit report as I thought that would be a sensible thing to do. However, I'm not really sure that was... Would that have affected my application? I have to wait to get my PIN before I can get this, but I'll cancel this as soon as I have it as I don't want to pay £14.99 a month.

Also, I am looking now to take out a mobile phone contract. Would my application for a credit card being declined, and my request for a credit report have any impact? I don't want to apply to be declined again and have two failed applications on my credit report.

I am really not sure what to do. Thank you for any advice and help, this is really appreciated. I feel a little beaten as I want to build up a good credit report for the future, but I feel that this is very difficult!

espruso

CLAPTON

do you actually have a student a/c with santander?

espruso

Hi,

Yes I do. I changed this on friday to take the student account. I don't think they have a student credit card

[Deleted User]

they may offer you a cc as part of the student a/c deal though,if i were you i would wait till you get to uni then see someone at the uni branch(or the nearest to if not one on campus),by then some of you student loan and grant will have been paid in

fracturedsun

I agree with the above poster it may help to wait until you get to uni, then they can see the payments going into your account. The bank you have your credit card with is much more likely to approve you for a card particularly as a student. Also bank branches in University towns are used to dealing with students and will probably be able to direct you to the best deals to suit you more easily.

If you are planning to pay it off every month then the APR doesn't matter... if you pay it off in full before the due date the interest is 0 (this does mean you have to be strict about what you spend though so be careful).

espruso

Thank you for your replies.

I agree and I will wait and see what my bank says when I go to uni.

I understand totally that the banks don't want to give green light to spending a fortune, but I just want to get on the credit building ladder responsibly!

If Santander say no, I think I'll try HSBC as they have a dedicated student credit card with the account. Or can I just specifically request a credit limit of just £250 to prove to them I don't want to rack up a debt?

Shelldean

My daughter is just about to start her 2nd yr at uni, and she was given a credit card and an overdraft by her bank HSBC. This was based on just her income, of loan and grant.
In fact they offered her quite a large limit on her credit card which she declined and asked for asmaller one, as she is using it purely to build a credit record for when she leaves uni.

So it might not be your income that is the problem?

edited to add she did already bank with HSBC.

espruso

Thank you for all your replies!

I did speak with Santander today to discuss the student account and about a credit card. They did say I was able to take a card with them and I did apply... but unfortunately this was declined.

She did phone me back and said it might be due to income needs to be at the level required for a little while longer. (It hasn't been at £7500 in the past)

One very quick question, I believe that applying for credit cards and then if they are declined this has a negative effect on the credit rating? I have signed up for Experian (for a free trial to see my report) but how long do these rejections affect the credit rating? Is there anything I could do now with my student account to improve this?

I just want to show that I am responsible with money and that I can build up a good credit rating for the future.

unimaginative_user_name

If I've understood the system correctly the rejection itself won't actually appear on the report, just the application. Too many applications too close together will make creditors nervous about giving you a card as you would look desperate.

I would run your account for a while now, try and stay out of your overdraft and just show Santander that you can handle your finances well. In a few months try again when they can see that your not just applying for a card because you've exhausted all other options. Presumably your loans and/or grants haven't gone into your account yet so your bank can't be sure what your income will be.