What credit cards would I be eligible for?

Stephen_C.

I'm a 20-year-old student about to start a work placement year with a salary around £16,000. So far I have only had one credit card: the student MasterCard that came with my student bank account.

I would love to have an AMEX or some other kind of cashback/rewards card, but I don't want to apply only to get rejected and have this hurt my credit rating.

I have had my student credit card for just over a year and have paid off the statement in full each month.

Which (if any) good credit cards would I have a chance of being approved for?

According to the MSE pre-applying tool, the only card I'm eligible for is the Capital One Classic Extra - which is no better than what I have now.

Thanks.

geekonthepc

Now you're no longer a student, it might be worth applying for a new card with your current bank - they will be best placed to give you a good card as they have the most information about your income and spending habits.

You're not going to have a heck of a lot of credit history except for the one card - how long did you have it for and did you use it regularly?

If it were me, I'd be looking towards the Barclaycard freedom rewards or something along the line - the great thing about BC is that you can do a preapplication check to see how likely you are to get the card.

Stephen_C.

geekonthepc wrote: »

Now you're no longer a student, it might be worth applying for a new card with your current bank - they will be best placed to give you a good card as they have the most information about your income and spending habits.

You're not going to have a heck of a lot of credit history except for the one card - how long did you have it for and did you use it regularly?

If it were me, I'd be looking towards the Barclaycard freedom rewards or something along the line - the great thing about BC is that you can do a preapplication check to see how likely you are to get the card.

Thanks for the advice. I will probably go into the branch soon to discuss increasing my overdraft limit too, as that hasn't changed since my first year of uni. That said, my bank is Lloyds and they don't have the best selection of rewards cards - just the Avios Duo.

I've had the card 1 year and 1 month and still using it regularly - I probably spend about £400-500 a month on it with a £750 credit limit.

By the way, does it look bad to do too many of these pre-application checks in one go? i.e. the MSE check, MoneySupermarket, and Barclaycard all in one day?

Edit: I did the Barclaycard check anyway and it turns out that I have a "very good chance" with the two rewards cards - now to decide between Cashback or Freedom!

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Stephen_C. wrote: »

I don't want to apply only to get rejected and have this hurt my credit rating.

A rejection will not be shown on your credit report, only the fact that a search has been performed.

geekonthepc

Stephen_C. wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I will probably go into the branch soon to discuss increasing my overdraft limit too, as that hasn't changed since my first year of uni. That said, my bank is Lloyds and they don't have the best selection of rewards cards - just the Avios Duo.

I've had the card 1 year and 1 month and still using it regularly - I probably spend about £400-500 a month on it with a £750 credit limit.

By the way, does it look bad to do too many of these pre-application checks in one go? i.e. the MSE check, MoneySupermarket, and Barclaycard all in one day?

Edit: I did the Barclaycard check anyway and it turns out that I have a "very good chance" with the two rewards cards - now to decide between Cashback or Freedom!

You can do as many pre-applications as you want- they won't show up to lenders. It's formal applications you want to limit - no more than 3 in a 6 month period ideally.