Student applying for Aqua reward Credit card? And a incorrect credit reports

iAMaLONDONER

I'm 18, a student. I have a £500 (intrest/fee-free overdraft) with my student account.I only used it briefly in early September and have no intention of using it any time soon!
I also have a £26p/month contract and a student credit card(with the same bank as my student account) with a £750 credit limit. I only got this credit card last week when I was offered it when I went into my bank to get documents certified to open a Savings account (the irony ,I know!). In the terms and conditions you should have to wait 6 months to get a credit card with a student account but I only opened my account last month! Athough I had an under-19's account with them since April and was offered a Gold account when I turned 18-which I declined as I wanted to keep the intrest and didn't want to pay to have a bank account.

However I applied for the Aqua reward credit card 2 weeks ago but was declined :mad:.However I think the basis of this may have been flawed as my Callcredit report only mentions the T-mobile contract and my Equifax report is completely empty! I will be soon getting my Experian credit report. They said they used Experian and declined me for having a low credit score- ironically for a company that claims to provide credit for those with low credit scores!

Btw I don't want credit cards to spend a lot of money-not all! I want to improve my credit score and get £100 a year via Aqua cashback card!

I also signed up to the electoral register at the beginning of October and have been told I could have to wait as long as January till it appears on my credit report!!

Also I have tried to sign up to use Noddle for free credit report but it won't verify me-regardless of whether I use my credit or debit card! Any advice on that?

How long should I wait till I should apply again?

InsideInsurance

6 months is the rule of thumb.

So, recent credit applications sound like they have included a current account, credit card and mobile phone contract (plus now a second credit card). All of the accounts are either brand new and not yet reported or going to be virtually brand new and so no signs of payments being made etc.

One part of the problem is a lack of history, another is about number of new products, another is number of new applications, another is not being on the ER yet.

Whilst they are aimed at the low score even low score companies have a limit as to just how low they will go. Your best bet is to stop, show you can use and manage what you have to date and then considering reapplying once you have built up some history.

iAMaLONDONER

I hear that. Interestingly checkmyfile (hopefully I can sort out these problems before my 30 day trial is over) are matching me to 7 credit cards already! Though not the only credit card I actually want. Though I'll wait till Spring 2013!

And I think another part of the problem could be that the credit agencies aren't saying the right things! I've called up equifax , callcredit , my bank and mobile company and basically have been told to wait till as long as January for things to sort themselves out. But the problem is I won't have free access to my credit reports by then!!

Would have loved to get some cashback on Christmas spending with that card- though ahh well. I guess Merlene Ottey had to wait 13 years to get her world championship gold!

InsideInsurance

And this is, in part, how they start to get you into paying for their services.

The problem is that the CRA is a snapshot in time. For large banks etc they start producing the data weeks in advance and certain processes (eg closing accounts) can also take a couple of weeks internally. So if you settle a loan it could, if your "unlucky" be 3 months from when you make the payment until its showing as settled on your CRA file.

At the same time you can use it to your advantage. If your the sort that frequently dips into your overdraft near "month end" but can control when "month end" is then it is possible to ensure that your always out of the overdraft by the date the bank runs their process thus giving the illusion that your never touching the OD even though you could be living in it for 3 weeks of the month.

Building a good credit history is a long term process. Generally its best to cycle the free offers from CRAs (Equifax allow you to repeat it) rather than using them all at once

callum9999

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

I hear that. Interestingly checkmyfile (hopefully I can sort out these problems before my 30 day trial is over) are matching me to 7 credit cards already! Though not the only credit card I actually want. Though I'll wait till Spring 2013!

And I think another part of the problem could be that the credit agencies aren't saying the right things! I've called up equifax , callcredit , my bank and mobile company and basically have been told to wait till as long as January for things to sort themselves out. But the problem is I won't have free access to my credit reports by then!!

You don't need free credit reports, they will be there. It's not a bonus feature that banks are doing for you, it's something they want to do - so it will get done! (And when it is, it should be backdated).

The only thing I'd do is get one every now and again to check that your information is right (i.e. people aren't opening stuff in your name etc.) - but to be honest, I probably wouldn't bother at all if Capital One weren't giving me my credit reports for free!

iAMaLONDONER

@ InsideInsurance Thanks for that-it's good to know I can use Eqyuifax free again some time. Too late for the others, hopefully Noddle will soon allow me to use them! I see about the delay in updating these things- seems like patience is a commodity I need in industrial amounts!

@calum9999 I heard about that,sounds like a good freebie especially with Experian charging £14.99 a month for the privillege of using there services normally! I know that whether I do anything or not credit reports will be there- I just want to make sure they say the correct (right) things!

callum9999

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

@ InsideInsurance Thanks for that-it's good to know I can use Eqyuifax free again some time. Too late for the others, hopefully Noddle will soon allow me to use them! I see about the delay in updating these things- seems like patience is a commodity I need in industrial amounts!

@calum9999 I heard about that,sounds like a good freebie especially with Experian charging £14.99 a month for the privillege of using there services normally! I know that whether I do anything or not credit reports will be there- I just want to make sure they say the correct (right) things!

I really wouldn't worry about it. They are right virtually all the time - and in this case it's likely just your lack of history (even if they were there, a few months is nothing). I'd personally only worry if you try again in 6+ months time and still can't get a sub-prime card.

Noddle is good but they get their info from Call Credit - which don't appear particularly comprehensive (it's the smallest credit agency out of the big 3), so not all of your accounts may appear on there anyway.

rartherinv

Until you are searchable on the electoral roll and have a decent income it's probably best to stick with your bank.

Your bank has the information that you are a student (banks love fresh meat) and that you have an overdraft which is being adhered to, so you are a good target for them, they will want to lend you more.

Aqua on the other hand does not know you are a student, they cannot see this from credit file (even if you put this as your occupation on forms the computer will probably not factor it in with their credit scoring) and it will just be measuring your income VS debt available/used (among other things) which is probably very high as you are busy studying. Also, not being on the electoral roll is a killer for new credit applications because many lenders view it as the main proof that you are who you say you are, so if you aren't on it then maybe you aren't who you say you are? ...high risk... rejected...

in their eyes there is probably not much difference between you and a homeless person on Jobseekers

iAMaLONDONER

They updated my credit report (experian) to show I am on electoral roll.

I see though I guess it'd difficult to get even jobseekers allowance without an address or a bank account lool

iAMaLONDONER

rartherinv wrote: »

Until you are searchable on the electoral roll and have a decent income it's probably best to stick with your bank.

Your bank has the information that you are a student (banks love fresh meat) and that you have an overdraft which is being adhered to, so you are a good target for them, they will want to lend you more.

Aqua on the other hand does not know you are a student, they cannot see this from credit file (even if you put this as your occupation on forms the computer will probably not factor it in with their credit scoring) and it will just be measuring your income VS debt available/used (among other things) which is probably very high as you are busy studying. Also, not being on the electoral roll is a killer for new credit applications because many lenders view it as the main proof that you are who you say you are, so if you aren't on it then maybe you aren't who you say you are? ...high risk... rejected...

in their eyes there is probably not much difference between you and a homeless person on Jobseekers

Things have improved

My debt/income level is below 25% as I have a part time job!

I got a Luma card with 3 months interest free last month