HSBC Credit limit

MysteryCredit

I see a few people here that have been expecting decline letters but have been given very nice limits.

Could you please elaborate why you thought you may of been declined, missed payments or too many searched or ccjs etc?

It will be useful to others who think they have a poor history

RememberMe

I have a good history, however my reasons for being surprised at being accepted with such a generous limit are:

1. I opened three other credit accounts in February.

2. I also had a search the previous day from Nationwide for another CC (accepted with £2000 limit)

3. My available credit is actually more than my salary now.

deviousimp

Just in case you're interested:

Its been a good week! I'm a US citizen, so this is quite surprising for me!

I just called HSBC and I've been approved for £5500! They just need me to sign the forms and they'll send off my card. I'm surprised as American Express declined me! I've just started a job where I'll need to travel quite a bit. So I think I'll use it for travel expenses that are reimbursed within the month. I wanted to build my credit using a credit card, so in about a year I can buy a car. I have bad/no credit. My credit score is quite low, so to those who are worried about their credit score here is what I've done in a week.

In the last week I've applied for a credit card from: Capital One (Approved, £250 limit), Tesco Foundation (Approved, £250 limit), Aqua (Approved, £1,000 limit), Barclaycard (Approved, £1,000 limit), Nationwide (Approved, £2,900 limit), Lloyds (Approved, £4,000 limit), HSBC (Approved, £5,500 limit), American Express (Declined), M&S (Declined), and Halifax (Declined). This is almost half of my take home salary. I was also approved for overdraft (£2,000) after 5 years living in the UK as a student without any credit facility.

I'm going to use the Cap One, Tesco, and Aqua ones to build my credit, so I'll pay them off at the end of the month. The Lloyds, Nationwide, Barclays, and HSBC has 0% purchases so I'll use those for anything big I'd like to buy and pay off slowly. BTW, Lloyds has 0% purchases for 24 months! Nationwide is for 12 months, and Barclays for 25 months. As we know, HSBC is for 3 months.

MysteryCredit

Great added information. It really looks like HSBC aren't bothered with your search history and more account conduct. They seem very generous with limits!

concernedSaver

I just called HSBC and I've been approved for £5500!

Did you apply on the phone? I assume that applying online would result in receiving an approval/rejection letter sent at your address, is it different if you make the application through a rep on the phone? Did they tell you your application outcome right away?

I don't really need a credit card now, just intrigued by the very high limits in order to show a better credit availability and "look better" in future applications.

deviousimp

Nope, did it online but called for an update.

vinny_vimto

MysteryCredit wrote: »

I see a few people here that have been expecting decline letters but have been given very nice limits.

Could you please elaborate why you thought you may of been declined, missed payments or too many searched or ccjs etc?

It will be useful to others who think they have a poor history

I thought I would have been declined for a number of reasons

1. Very high usage of credit to availability (all 0%)
2. Opened 3 new accounts recently 2 x bank accounts 1 x credit card and closed 2 accounts so average age of accounts dropped massively
3. Already had 16k limit on 3 cards on a £25000 salary
4. Every soft search says decline , cap1 say no, nationwide quote £500 19.9%, declined for virgin card, natwest quote 6\10 chance and Halifax who I bank with quote a 2\10 chance of a card
5. I defaulted on a HSBC loan, overdraft and credit card this was 10 years ago though

But I have absolutely no missed or late payments on any account in past 6 years and have paid off £10,000 of debts last year :T:

browneyone

I still haven't received my card, the only thing I got was a letter of acceptance and asking for ID which was dated the 22nd, went into branch on the 30th with ID.

deviousimp

I received my contract two days ago, it was dated the 30th! I'm guessing its going to take another two weeks before I get my card. My letter didn't say how much my limit was, only reason I know is because I called.

hsnyldz

i applied 2 weeks ago as it said i have good chance on eligability checker, said contact you in 5 days same as most people. Didnt get any letters in the post so called them a few days ago and they said it had been declined which was not fun