Santander 0%....What a joke!!

TheMortgageAdviser

Having used the credit card checked on MSE.com, it suggested that there was good grounds to try and apply for Santander's 0% on purchases credit card.
To be fair, I used this out of interest, but as I am a Mortgage Adviser with excellent credit (it has to be to do my job and run my own regulated financial services business) and a respectable income, no other borrowing except for a very small mortgage....not to mention a current account with Santander too....I didn't anticipate any problems.
Imagine my surprise this morning...a full two weeks after my online application (without so much as an email acknowledgement that they were even processing it during all of that time!)....I got a letter to say that I had been declined for a credit card! And then, for my information, details of how to check my credit with Experian etc. etc.
Apparently I have 30 days to appeal the decision. Santander....you are not worth my time or effort. I will be removing all of my banking from them with immediate effect to a bank that does appreciate good business.
It would appear the "sausage factory" mentality of "the computer says no" is alive and well!

eskbanker

Surely as a mortgage advisor you must be familiar with the principle that lenders can effectively pick and choose the borrowers they accept at their own discretion - ultimately the indicative 'advice' from MSE, Experian, etc, counts for nothing!

Ant.Evs

If your credit file is as wonderful as you state then i guess that they think you will simply make them no money or it could be that you do not have any or a small amount of credit account open thus minimising your history.

Just because you have no defaults or bad debt does not make your Credit File Perfect.

Sabbathdei

I bank with Santander and they gave me a 123 credit card without me even applying for it, I was guaranteed to be accepted.

TheMortgageAdviser

As a mortgage adviser you are right, I am very familiar with the rules of credit scoring etc. and spend hours every week talking to my clients on the subject! And knowing what the situation is and my own situation this is why I was so surprised to have the answer I got from them. I don't really care as such as I was just having one to be prudent but that's beside the point.
I think the point is you are right that the indicative advice doesn't count for a lot and that lenders pick and choose over who they think they are going to make money out of. The bottom line is that they don't want someone like me who will pay off every penny in full on time and never pay interest and then won't use the card once the rate shoots up! They are they to make money but sometimes lose sight of the wider picture and the fact that they have now lost my banking and the prospect of my business banking due to this decision. But hey....they don't care! They're busy making lots of money and paying big fat bonuses from the profits they make out of their other customers!

CherlokHomes

TheMortgageAdviser wrote: »

As a mortgage adviser you are right, I am very familiar with the rules of credit scoring etc. and spend hours every week talking to my clients on the subject! And knowing what the situation is and my own situation this is why I was so surprised to have the answer I got from them. I don't really care as such as I was just having one to be prudent but that's beside the point.
I think the point is you are right that the indicative advice doesn't count for a lot and that lenders pick and choose over who they think they are going to make money out of. The bottom line is that they don't want someone like me who will pay off every penny in full on time and never pay interest and then won't use the card once the rate shoots up! They are they to make money but sometimes lose sight of the wider picture and the fact that they have now lost my banking and the prospect of my business banking due to this decision. But hey....they don't care! They're busy making lots of money and paying big fat bonuses from the profits they make out of their other customers!

Many of us on here never get turned down for credit yet always pay in full and we pass the credit scoring.

Work on your credit history and soon you'll be able to pass the lenders scoring just like many of us do:)

RichL74

So you applied for a card you didnt need or want purely for the fun of it?

zerog

FOREVER21 wrote: »

I wonder if he gives similar advice to his clients, if so he won't be in business very long!

Why not? 50% of people have below average intelligence.

TheMortgageAdviser

CherlokHomes wrote: »

Many of us on here never get turned down for credit yet always pay in full and we pass the credit scoring.

Work on your credit history and soon you'll be able to pass the lenders scoring just like many of us do:)

Oh dear me! But hey thanks for the advice!! The fact that I own a business (and employ staff) that is fully authorised and regulated by the FCA should maybe give you a clue to my credit history! But hey thanks...."I'll work on it"!!

TheMortgageAdviser

zerog wrote: »

Why not? 50% of people have below average intelligence.

You said it!! And reading the replies to my post I believe this statement more than ever!!

TheMortgageAdviser

RichL74 wrote: »

So you applied for a card you didnt need or want purely for the fun of it?

Trust me....I have better things to do for "fun"....it was purely for economy and being sensible with money...i.e. at 0% I can put big purchases on there and keep the money in my bank for longer earning interest! An MSE principal!