Applying for Credit Cards as Graduate with Little Credit History

zoozee

Hi,
I graduated from university last year and have been considering getting a credit card. I've never been in debt, never had an overdraft enabled on my current account, never taken out a loan with a bank, never owed any money really (minus the humungous student loan of course). I'm aware there's probably not much credit history on my file. I've had a few household bills to my name at uni and rented acommodation the past 4 years and that's about it really.

I don't need a credit card for the money, I want it because:
1) I feel like I need to start building up some sort of credit history.
2) I'll be travelling soon so I thought it was an ideal time to get a credit card with 0 fees abroad.

I've been looking around and the two I'm interested in are the Post Office Platinum card and Halifax Clarity.
I'm leaning more towards Halifax Clarity from reviews and also because the money saving expert's own 'Can you get this card' rating tells me I have 7/10 chance for Halifax and 4/10 for Post Office.

I'm a little worried I'm going to end up applying and just get rejected because of my lack of credit history. All that's going to result in is me looking bad on my credit file I guess? And I'm going to have to switch rented accommodation soon and I'm worried this might effect any tenancy applications I will need to make.

At uni, I moved address every year (as most do). I then finished uni and moved address again to start a new job. So in the past 5 years I've had 5 different addresses....

When I put this into Halifax's own pre-eligibility checker it says I have a 5/10 chance of getting it.

I'm wondering whether I should be putting the uni addresses down, because they were temporary addresses after all, but they were still addresses.
If I only put my new address down and my parents address which was really my permanent address while I was at uni then my chances go up to 7/10.

Not sure what the correct thing to do is though. If I put my address history for the past 3 years then technically that doesn't even include my permanent home address of 18 years because I was at uni and that seems a bit strange to me.

I'm going to head into a Halifax branch soon and ask for advice. Just wondered if anyone had any on here? Maybe even whether it's a good idea to be getting a credit card? Or alternatives to paying abroad if I shouldn't get one?

I've applied for a statutory credit report from Experian but I'm thinking I need to apply sooner rather than later - I'm going on holiday in a month and I'm not sure how long it would take to actually get the credit card after applying and the Experian report takes another week to come.

Thanks!

zoozee

Just thought that I might add....
I'm not planning to spend more than I can afford on the credit card. I'm quite good with money and I'll be paying it off in full each month. It's much more just to get a credit history. Also, I now work full time in a graduate role with what's probably classed as a higher than average salary - not sure if that highers my chances of getting it!

Thanks again!

bigadaj

Might be best to apply with the bank you hold your current account with, they have your financial history and may be more likely to say yes.

Also if you've not held credit before then don't go for premium cards staright away as you need to build up your file.

Aqua offer a card with cashback and no foreign exchange fees which might be worth looking at. This would, bud your file and whilst the Apr would be high, so long as you pay off in full every month it won't cost you anything.