Building my credit further as I have hit a wall.

rbjh

Hi, I am looking for some advice on credit building. I have been building my credit history for 2 years now but seem to have hit a wall.
To date this is what i have and my limits:
Halifax current account with £4000 available overdraft.
Vanquis card with £500 limit
Capital one classic with £500 limit
Capital one progress with £500 limit
American Express Green no fixed limit but been told that I can put around £5000-£5500 per month before they start asking questions.
On application:
American Express Green card US dollars.

Myself:
I am 19 almost 20 been building my history for 2 years and have a perfect credit history, no defaults or missed payments, etc. I also have a T-mobile contract for £36 per month.

But I seem to have hit a wall. Capital one credit cards have not changed my limit since I got them. Vanquis doubled my limit to £500 after the first month but nothing since.
My overdraft increase request now get rejected so am stuck at £4K limit.
I never carry a balance on any of my cards and always pay them off in full each month. When I apply for other cards such as the capital one aspire or 0% interest on purchases cards I get automatically rejected by there online system.

So where can I go from here to improve my credit some more? Are there and cards better than my crappy capital one's and vanquis cards that would progress my credit history? I am looking for card with benefits. The only time I now use my capital one or vanquis is when the place does not take AMEX which I earn reward points on so unless the new cards offer me more than the points I won't really use them.

Thanks in advance

izools

1) How much do you owe in comparison to your limits? If you could list the balance on each account that would help.

2) How old is your newest account?

3) how many credit searches have there been against you in the last six months?

rbjh

halifax always ends the month positive but may slip into the overdraft for a day or so when all the cards are paid off as the money goes out on the 13th every month maybe £300 or so.
vanquis, usually put £50 or so on, only use it if they don't take amex and don't have the capital one's with me.
Capital one classic £120ish
Capital one progress £0
Amex £2500-3600 ish (it replaces my debit card which i don't use)

My newest account is the amex which i got in September.
17 searches 16 of which from car insurance companies.

izools

any car insurance searches are unrecorded so won't be seen by other lenders.

This means you've only got one "new" account (under six months old)
One credit search footprint in the last six months
And a very low debt to limit ratio

All good.

Have you had a look on your credit file to see whether there's any inaccurate data? Any adverse data that shouldn't be there? Also, the Amex card, does it show a limit against the account on your credit file?

I am guessing from your rolling Amex balance and gargantuan overdraft limit that you are on an above average income, especially for your age?

TBH the only thing I can see causing an issue is that you don't have credit history dating back three years. Prime lenders like to see at least 36 months of repayment history so they have a full picture of your historic management of credit accounts.

Just sit tight, continue using your accounts just as you are, don't apply for anything else or open new accounts in the mean time, and once you have 36+ months of credit history you should be approved for pretty much whatever you apply for but once you are, close those Capital One accounts.

The small limits on them won't be helping applications you make elsewhere.

rbjh

Thanks for the replies. I use noddle to keep an eye on my credit file. So will check that all the searches are correct. The amex does not show a credit limit on the file. The overdraft is funny because when I started this credit building they would not even give me £50 lol.
I have no idea what the average income is so don't know if I am above it. Does closing a credit card account have any negative effects on your credit file? If not I might close the capital one classic card now and start using the progress as the limit on that is up for review soon although the classic is visa and progress is MasterCard.
Amex told me before I applied for the US dollar card that as an existing member are am very likely to be accepted, especially after the pack of bank statement I sent them for my financial review. Do charge cards in US dollars show on your credit file? I also have a current account with Citibank in US dollars but do not have an overdraft on that at the moment.

Tixy

What is it you are actually aiming for? not just getting a good rating - but wanting something specific.
Is it that you want a 0% purchase card to buy something in particular?

You mention that your limits have not been increased - but it sounds like you are barely using your cards - so they wouldn't see a need to increase your limits.

Same with your overdraft - why did you apply for a greater overdraft than £4k? (especially if you are barely using it).

maninthestreet

So what is your annual gross income....and why do you see increasing the amount you can be in debt as a postive thing?

grumbler

rbjh wrote: »

...
But I seem to have hit a wall. Capital one credit cards have not changed my limit since I got them. Vanquis doubled my limit to £500 after the first month but nothing since.
My overdraft increase request now get rejected so am stuck at £4K limit.

Why on earth do you want to increase the limits of useless cards? This doesn't help with improving your credit score, but leaves credit searches in your files. And £4K is a very big overdraft limit for a 20y.o. Why do you want more?

...I am looking for card with benefits.

Get Aqua Reward.

jo-bo

The overdraft with Halifax is the worst one to have, the daily charges are £3 a day! If you feel the need to have such a large overdraft and you might need to use it a few days a month, I suggest you switch banks.

rbjh

I did not know increasing the the limit on the crap cards would not improve my score. In that case I will forget about them and leave them as they are for now. My "goal" would be to get a visa or mastercard that gives me something as at the moment when i pay by amex I get points and extra warranty. My others don't offer me anything so I hate paying with them. I would like a card that offers me something like cashback, rewards, etc.
Whenever I apply for a bigger overdraft limit it does not show as an extra search on my file, I have simply used this to gauge how much my bank "like" me. I always thought getting the biggest limit you can was beneficial to your credit history?

My annual income is changeable as I am self employed but I expect to make around £35,000 this year.

BTW the fees are not £3 per day, it £1 upto £1999, £2 for £2000-£2999 and £3 for over £3000. So I only pay £1 per day when I slip into it as you only pay for what you use. I have been with halifax since I was 6 when I got one of them kiddy savings accounts which I think plays a part in my overdraft.

Anthorn

It could be that the wall you've encountered is built on a foundation of maxed-out credit. So in that case you could be approaching the problem from the wrong end: You should be looking at reducing credit so it can be increased later.

I think that an extra account wouldn't do any harm and jdwilliams.co.uk is useful for some members of this forum including myself. It's very easy to get, just register, order something on your personal account and whammo another account on your CRA file.

Personally, I don't see any other area of improvement.