Late comer...

Julest_2

My mum is recently widowed and at the age of 74 now needs a credit card. My late father dealt with all the finances and the problem i'm finding is that as she has never had a loan or credit card before I cant seem to find a company that will issue a card to her presumably because she doesn't have a credit rating.

Any suggestions?

CLAPTON

does she have an income?

opinions4u

Her own bank?

Julest_2

Yes, she has state and occupational pensions as well other smaller incomes such as interest/dividends from investments.

planteria

yes, whoever she banks with is a good place to start.
if she can get credit it is a good idea to make purchases using a credit card, as long as paid in full each month.

gb12345

If she doesn't get anywhere with her own bank then try one of the sub-prime cards http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards. The APRs are high, but as long as she repays in full every month that won't matter.

want_to_save

capital one have a starter card i believe for people with no or low credit ratings v high APR but if you are going to pay it off each month then that should be ok

Julest_2

Thanks everyone for the advise. I've tried the capital one starter card but even that requires that you've previously had a credit card!! I'll get my mum to phone her bank and see if they will issue one