Refused a credit card, even bank cant believe it !

freestyler

Hi there

I have a student account which has been active for almost 4 years now and I've only gone past my overdraft limit once ; and that by about a £1 or something which i paid back quickly since I had a flex saver account with them and put almost all my savings in there and lived on my overdraft..however recently I applied for a credit card with the same bank [HSBC] and to even the surprise of the lady who was serving me, the credit score thing or whatever its called said I'd failed so they wouldnt give me one..I have quite a lot of direct debits since I pay for gas/electricity/water/TV/broadband etc [which i guessed would improve my credit score]..So I'm pretty confused now; and to make matters worse one of my Mums friend just opened a new account with them - and was offered a credit card straightaway !

freestyler

So can anyone give me some advice on whats going on here ? Is it coz banks prefer giving credit cards to people who actually get into debt [unlike me ]

Mr_Humperdinck

whats your behavioral score at the bank ?

freestyler

What is that ? Is that the same as credit score ? When I went to apply, the lady fed some of my debit card details into the system and then after a few minutes said that I was being refused on credit score grounds..

Mr_Humperdinck

freestyler wrote: »

What is that ? Is that the same as credit score ? When I went to apply, the lady fed some of my debit card details into the system and then after a few minutes said that I was being refused on credit score grounds..

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=5205354&highlight=score#post5205354

freestyler

Cheers mate,I will pop in and ask em..but does anyone know what the best way is to have a good credit rating [remember I'm still a student]

GeorgeUK

Are you on the electoral roll?

If not, you probably can't do much to improve your credit score other than keep meeting all your payments on time.

dazza.mk

It might be just due to a fact of a lack of credit history, as direct debits would only matter when they relate to items that are reported to credit reference agencies (only in as far as ensuring your redit refence reports will show that you pay bills on-time however).

From HSBC's Point of View the information they have if I understand your post correctly is that you are always in an overdraft situation, therefore they may be taking a 'cautious' view of your ability to handle more debt.

As far as having a good credit rating best things you can do are:
1. Get on the electoral role.
2. Build your credit history (initially possibly by using 'credit-builder' credit cards and store cards - although note these have VERY high APR's, so you need to be totally sure you can pay off 100% each month.)
3. Check your credit reference files for errors/inaccuracies (only really relevant when you've built a credit history).

freestyler

Oh I see, cheers...btw I do have 2 accounts with HSBC - flex saver and the normal student A/C...I do have quite a lot saved in my flex saver and just used my overdraft for daily use..so the bank must know that even though I'm always in my overdraft I'm doing this just to earn more interest on my savings and its not like I have no money at all and I'm just living on my overdraft ? So I dont really get how they could refuse me just on grounds that I'm always in my overdraft..

Idiophreak

When I was applying for a postgrad loan at HSBC, the computer came up and said I'd been refused on credit score. I had a bit of a go at them, then the woman went away, talked to the manager or something, then said they could do it for me.

(that said, I've never come across *anyone* quite as incompetent as the staff at HSBC, so whether you're supposed to be able to do this or not, I've no idea...)

I wouldn't worry too much. Make sure you're on the electoral roll, keep building your credit rating and I expect by the time you've got a bit of an income they'll be more helpful.

elite_2

Are you on the electoral role at your home or term time address? Does this match your bank address?