Suddenly only getting rejections

baileywin

Hi,

I've been applying for financial products recently (no more than usual) but I'm suddenly getting rejected and I can't understand why. Would anyone be able to offer some advice?

I'll put all of the relevant information here, hope theres not too much...

I've had financial services since I was 18, so bank accounts, multiple credit cards, phone contacts etc.

I'm 22 and have a decent-ish wage (£21.5k). Been in my job around 7 months, previously part time retail / student for a couple of years at near minimum wage.

I've been at my current address for 6 months, and I'm on the electoral role (is there any way to check that I am 100%?) at this address. I've updated all my accounts to have this new address listed against them. Previous address was for around 21 years.

I have not knowingly overstated income etc on any applications (i.e. risk of national hunter).

I've had cards like the Amex Platinum Rewards, Santander 123, Aqua card, Luma card, CapitalOne etc (just saying this to point out previously I had no problem applying for credit), with the Amex & Luma cards applied for at my current address. I've slimmed down the number of cards I have from before so I'm surprised I'm having problems.

I currently have the following:
Credit Cards:
Amex Platinum Rewards (£3,000 limit),
Aqua (£750 limit, will be closed at the end of the month),
Luma (£1,500 limit),
Barclaycard Freedo Rewards (2,500 limit).

Bank Accounts:
Santander 123 Account (~5 years),
Nationwide FlexDirect Account (about 2 months),
Halifax Rewards Account (Joint, about 3 months),
Halifax Student Account (£1,500 overdrawn, 0% interest, about 4 years).

I've never missed a payment or defaulted, and my credit report (with noddle at least) has no anomalies. It used to say "4/5" but it now says "3/5" (I know it doesn't mean anything - but I don't know why it's changed)

I recently applied for a CapitalOne cashback card (the basic one) and got rejected. I found this odd as a couple of years ago I had a similar card from them (there bottom rung cashback card), and my girlfriend applied (with no history but a phone contact and bank account) and was accepted.

I applied for a FirstDirect Current & Regular Savings account and was also rejected - which was really odd, as I can't see a bank account being much of a risk?

I applied for a Nationwide Select cashback card today, thinking theres no way I could be rejected for a £500 limit and I already have an account with them - rejected again!

I'm really confused. Does anyone have any ideas?

Sorry for the length of the post - more detail never hurts!

rb10

1. On your Noddle report, have you been through every detail with a fine tooth comb, to ensure it is accurate and correct?

2. It's worth spending £2 to get your credit reports from Experian and Equifax, to ensure they too are completely correct.

3. Check on all three reports to ensure your electoral roll registration is showing - this is a key reason for rejections.

4. You give the limits of your cards, are any of the balances particularly high?

5. If everything looks ok, then you could try submitting an appeal to Nationwide/FD/Capital One. As you've had three rejections in a short space of time, I'd suggest not applying for anything more just yet.

baileywin

rb10 wrote: »

1. On your Noddle report, have you been through every detail with a fine tooth comb, to ensure it is accurate and correct?

Yes.

rb10 wrote: »

2. It's worth spending £2 to get your credit reports from Experian and Equifax, to ensure they too are completely correct.

Ok I will think about this.

rb10 wrote: »

4. You give the limits of your cards, are any of the balances particularly high?

Not really, no - they are all paid off in full each months and typically no more than £1k on the Amex and the rest are rarely used.

rb10 wrote: »

5. If everything looks ok, then you could try submitting an appeal to Nationwide/FD/Capital One. As you've had three rejections in a short space of time, I'd suggest not applying for anything more just yet.

If I do contact them are they likely to provide any more information?

rb10

baileywin wrote: »

If I do contact them are they likely to provide any more information?

No, but it will result in a human looking at your application and assessing your creditworthiness. It may result in them overturning their decision.

londonTiger

baileywin wrote: »

Not really, no - they are all paid off in full each months and typically no more than £1k on the Amex and the rest are rarely used.

That's not necessirily a good thing, the credit report will show a low average balance or maybe even jsut £0 because that is the statement balance.

Not necessarily a good thing, why would a credit card company want to issue you with a card when you have 4 already which you are not spending any money on? Seems like a waste of paper & administration to give you a cc account.

The best debtors are those that actually owe money and have a balance over a semi-longish period and repay slowly and regularly. Paying everything off on a CC each month is not looked on as a positive for lenders - they make no money off you. In fact you cost them money.

The aqua card might be regarded as a negative point against you, after closing it typically takes at least another month for the credit file to update and then the "burning coal" will need to simmer off into the distant past to no longer be a sleight in your record.

longtermplanner

You have a joint account ... what is your partner's credit record like?

Thrugelmir

Multiple credit cards and bank accounts with a considerable amount of available/utilised credit every month. In an era of responsible lending the question would be why you require more. The possible intention you have for doing so.

rb10

londonTiger wrote: »

The best debtors are those that actually owe money and have a balance over a semi-longish period and repay slowly and regularly. Paying everything off on a CC each month is not looked on as a positive for lenders - they make no money off you. In fact you cost them money.

Those that spend a lot and repay in full would also make the card provider money - banks get a lot of income from 'interchange', i.e. the money paid by retailers when you use a card in their store.

londonTiger wrote: »

The aqua card might be regarded as a negative point against you

Why? No other lender will be able to see that this card is with Aqua. I do not believe it would do any harm at all.

The point about the joint account is a very good one, that I overlooked in my previous post.

londonTiger

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Multiple credit cards and bank accounts with a considerable amount of available/utilised credit every month. In an era of responsible lending the question would be why you require more. The possible intention you have for doing so.

Yeah, I'm sure there have been cases where someone has slowly opened more and more credit accounts prior to being told they have terminal cancer and then one day just spent all the money at once weeks before their "expiry" and blown all the money :rotfl:

YorkshireBoy

londonTiger wrote: »

That's not necessirily a good thing, the credit report will show a low average balance or maybe even jsut £0 because that is the statement balance.

I'd imagine the OP is making use of the up to 50 days interest free? If that's the case there will always be a balance/spend to report each month to the CRAs.

Not necessarily a good thing, why would a credit card company want to issue you with a card when you have 4 already which you are not spending any money on? Seems like a waste of paper & administration to give you a cc account.

Agree. They may think 4 cards is ample. Then again, I've had up to 10 cards at a time so there's no 'one size fits all'.

Paying everything off on a CC each month is not looked on as a positive for lenders - they make no money off you. In fact you cost them money.

They'll make a percentage from the merchant fees. Not a lot maybe, but enough to get by! I believe some 60% of UK cardholders settle their bills in full each month? If that is the case then that blows your argument out of the water.

The aqua card might be regarded as a negative point against you, after closing it typically takes at least another month for the credit file to update and then the "burning coal" will need to simmer off into the distant past to no longer be a sleight in your record.

You're assuming the name of the card provider is shown on the copy of your CRA file that the lenders see when they search your file? That isn't the case...it's just shown as a 'credit card' (although a £750 limit might indicate it's a sub-prime card).

londonTiger

rb10 wrote: »

Those that spend a lot and repay in full would also make the card provider money - banks get a lot of income from 'interchange', i.e. the money paid by retailers when you use a card in their store.

Assuming you spend every penny of your salary (which you won't you have to use cash, pay rent on debit card etc) would not leave much. Say from your £1425 take home wages about £800 is spent on credit cards a month for your purchases.

split by 5 ways now, that's £160 per card. The interchage will be tiny (typical rate is 1.5% handling charge for business owners, split three ways between merchant, visa & MBNA isn't much on £160). Let's not forget the CC loses interest on their deposit when you spend money and do not get to charge interest.

Pretty sure the credit cards are losing money in your situation and they have overheads too just like any business.