Vanquis credit limit increase

tommy501

Hi,
I got the card to improve score, with 250 in september 2016. On the 4th month got an increase to 500. Then an increase to 1500 and an increase to 3000 starting in november 2017.

What I do is pay random amounts manually 100 here & 300 there, always keeping above half the credit limit on balance. Sometimes more than one payment per month.
My theory is they like you to be in a bit of debt but not too much & to look like you don't need the credit by paying way above the interest payment.

Which is ironic cos a lot of people with credit need the credit!!!

[Deleted User]

Try to stay under half your limit, and clear in full each month.

That way you will become more attractive to other lenders, and not be stuck with Vanquis for the rest of your life.

Hoogle

I have a very poor credit score mainly because I have nothing on credit except my broadband less than 6 months old so started looking and researching credit score boosting (please note the score is really not important lenders dont see that they only see your history of available credit and payments on time etc.) My whole purpose is to make myself credit worthy so I applied for a vanquis card 3 weeks ago along with aqua (Aqua accepted me but for some reason my Passport and driving license was not good enough ID due to my license being scratched badly and info is not clear so ordered a replacement just to get my card sent)

credit building cards are excellent if you use them right here is what I have found out on how to maximise your potential for increasing score (if this interests you but really shouldnt be a priority) and getting faster and bigger credit limit increases.

Maximize your score
SPend on your card pay it off before statement date = 0% utilization = maximum points

Increase credit limit
get close to your limit and clear balance when due use card regularly.

However to maximise your limit increase potential and score increase here is the trick.

Use your card as close to the limit without ever exceeding it in short periods of time and pay the balance in full repeat throughout the month. few days before your statement date make sure balance is paid in full so when your statement is produced you get the 0% utilization (based on just this card not counting anything else) maximum score after statement date repeat process but maybe you dont have to go so close to credit limit.

Credit card companies want you to spend it is how they make the money so they will offer you a bigger limit as long as they can see your proving not to be a risk.

My card is only 2 weeks old I have maxed it out 3 times now (within £10) and cleared it twice. This morning they phoned me to check everything was OK as they thought unusual activity as my spending was all different from £5 here to £80 shopping etc then cleared balance and transferred me to accounts where they have already increased my limit from November my new limit will be £500. I was expecting to have to wait for 4 months but instead as they can see I am paying it and after a long chat on what I was using the card for they were actually very nice people and have said they will monitor my account until christmas and as long as I have kept everything in order they will look at transferring me onto a better card.
I know subprime cards have a bad rep but to be fair from application and 2 encounters on the phone with them I actually really like the way vanquis work I am sure I am probably a rare case and people have nothing but problems but the nicer you are to them the more they seem to want to help. ANd by help I mean encourage you to spend money more to make them more money lol. They also said that my initial limit should have been £300 but for some reason the person doing my application lowered the suggested limit probably human error or he took what I said about not liking the idea of owing debt.

[Deleted User]

Vanquis say you have to use your limit to get an increase, in their investor documents & AGM etc they refer to people using about 65% of limit, because they worry about upping limits with unused credit, as it would only be drawn when consumers experience financial stress. (With their interest rates... they've got a point!).

Although in terms of being attractive to other lenders, lower is better as mentioned above. I don't think 65% will kill it though, particularly if you have a sub £2,000 limit and the income to support it - so I'm going to try and keep my utilisation about that to see if they increase me!

Of course they'll always be 'edge' cases, where someone maxes out every month and gets increases, and some where people using it for crisps only but get an increase - but with it being so documented in their investor documents, I think that's as close as you'll ever get to "from the horses mouth" regarding credit underwriting criteria!

Also mention (just confirmation really) of the Chrome Card being "nearer prime" and expansion of their business etc., so it's clearly scored differently than say the Granite or bog standard Vanquis

GM1880

Just had a discussion with Vanquis about my credit limit.

As it stands I have a Barclaycard Platinum with a £800 limit and a Vanquis with £500, the Barclaycard for just 2 months and the Vanquis for 9 month, no increases on either yet, so still at the starting limit.

The intention is to get to c.£2000 limit on one or other pretty quickly to use for card hire mainly. Given my current account is with Barclays and I have a ISA with them, hopefully they'll increase my limit pretty swiftly given they can see my income/savings.

But, had a word with Vanquis today to see when they'll next review my limit. They said the main reason I haven't is that I'm not going close to my limit. They said if I do, then pay it off, it'll mean I'll probably get a credit limit increase in January. I had though they would be more concerned about responsible use rather than maximum use, but either way, may be helpful for some of you?

[Deleted User]

GM1880 wrote: »

The intention is to get to c.£2000 limit on one or other pretty quickly to use for card hire mainly. Given my current account is with Barclays and I have a ISA with them, hopefully they'll increase my limit pretty swiftly given they can see my income/savings.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with your credit worthiness....

GM1880

!!! wrote: »

Which has absolutely nothing to do with your credit worthiness....

What doesn't?

If you're referring to how Barclays view me as a customer, one would imagine they will be more likely to grant me credit given they are able to verify my income whereas others would not have that benefit. That's the internal element of their scoring. Obviously other lenders would not be able to see it so wouldn't have any impact on their decision.

Anthorn

Given the experience of using a card I can probably work out what it is that promotes a limit increase because limit increases are relevant to the credit history especially pertaining to Clearscore. As a rule of thumb it's use your existing limit and you can count on a limit increase sooner or later. But I could never work out Vanquis. They appear to be haphazard with no real catalyst pointing to a limit increase.

When I had Vanquis I started with a limit of £250 which rapidly increased every few months, certainly shorter than the regulation 4 months, to £3,750 and stuck there and was still that amount when I closed it a year later.

Go figure.

GM1880

So, having made the error it seems of paying off the balance of my Vanquis before the statement date, I spoke to them and said my credit limit hadn't increased because I wasn't using the card. So, in the last two weeks went up to £450/£500 limit. Statement through today, paid off in full. 2 hours later got confirmation my credit limit's going up to £1500.

May or may not be useful for others.

[Deleted User]

Why were you paying it off before receiving the statement?