What is the criteria for the Halifax Clarity card?

Jlawson118

My grandad got this card early this year to use abroad at no extra cost as he used his M&S credit card for a hotel upgrade one time and was charged a fortune in fees. I found this to be a good idea as I knew I would be travelling a lot this summer, and so I applied for one myself but wasn't accepted, though I was 19 (20 now) so I guessed it was because I was lacking credit history.

In the end, I was able to be accepted for the Aqua Advance, and later the Lloyds Avios card and these came in handy whilst I was away. And I liked the Lloyd Avios card in general, but for the £24 yearly fee, I wouldn't be using it to its full value.

I had a current account with Halifax at the time too but they just kept rejecting my clarity application. I know I probably sent off too many applications, but they do just seem the best card to use abroad. I haven't sent off an application since July and I don't plan to send any more for a while.
But anyway, I learnt from people on this forum that Halifax have a very high criteria for applications..

How high is it?

Superscrooge

As you made multiple applications you would appear desperate for credit and therefore high risk.

Check your credit file is in order and apply again six months after your last credit application and you should have a better chance of being accepted.

Dobbibill

This is where your previous applications for lots of different lines of credit are going to make you look like a high risk. Your Grandad would have had years of history that could be viewed to assess his risk. At 20 yo, you have 2 yrs maximum.

Wait and let time pass before you do any further applications of any sort.

DCFC79

No 1 knows the criteria for the card, just think about it. If the criteria was known then everyone would make sure they fulfill the criteria.

20aday

If Halifax are anything like Lloyds Bank you'll have your own internal score from 1-9 (or along those lines) where 1 is "excellent" and 9 is "highly unlikely".

Are the Halifax your main current account?

But as pointed out above no one knows their criteria and your credit history is limited.

Jlawson118

20aday wrote: »

If Halifax are anything like Lloyds Bank you'll have your own internal score from 1-9 (or along those lines) where 1 is "excellent" and 9 is "highly unlikely".

Are the Halifax your main current account?

But as pointed out above no one knows their criteria and your credit history is limited.

I did leave Halifax after another issue, but my main bank account is with First Direct. They just recently accepted me for their Gold Card with no issues whatsoever

Ben8282

Just curious about this 'fortune in fees' that you Grandfather was charged. Could you elaborate?
You really are a very fortunate 20 year old to be able to get Avios duo cards, a Barclaycard Freedom Rewards card (other thread) and a first direct gold card.

Nebulous2

Jlawson118 wrote: »

I did leave Halifax after another issue, but my main bank account is with First Direct. They just recently accepted me for their Gold Card with no issues whatsoever

How recently, if you haven't made an application since July?

I have seen quite a few of your posts on MSE now. You are keen to learn, are interested in getting the best deal and are paying attention to this, where many people don't.

I think in your enthusiasm you are overdoing it however. You can't build a history without giving it time. You are chopping and changing products, submitting a lot of applications and not building a consistent enough history with providers.

So slow it down! You are in too much of a hurry.

If you want to know your chances of getting cards try the eligibility checker on here, using a soft check, rather than a hard one, though remember a 90 per cent chance still means 1 in 10 people won't get it.

20aday

Nebulous2 wrote: »

How recently, if you haven't made an application since July?

I have seen quite a few of your posts on MSE now. You are keen to learn, are interested in getting the best deal and are paying attention to this, where many people don't.

I think in your enthusiasm you are overdoing it however. You can't build a history without giving it time. You are chopping and changing products, submitting a lot of applications and not building a consistent enough history with providers.

So slow it down! You are in too much of a hurry.

If you want to know your chances of getting cards try the eligibility checker on here, using a soft check, rather than a hard one, though remember a 90 per cent chance still means 1 in 10 people won't get it.

I agree with your post.

When I was considerably younger I used to apply for credit cards/loans left, right and centre to enable me to treat family and friends with no real means to repay the debts if something went wrong.

Something *did* go wrong and affected my credit history for eight years plus.

creditagenciesareajoke

I'd also love to know this, I'm on the electoral roll, couple of really old cards with long history of good management, phone/energy/tv accounts all on my file and managed perfectly, had no credit searches, my reports with all 3 agencies were all neat and tidy and I was a 5/10 for the eligibility calculator for this card.


I have a BoS current account and cc so thought that must be it. Ended up going elsewhere. Incidentally that meant I had 2 hard searches on my file and I rechecked the Halifax eligibility check and was down to a 3/10.

A4445

You could try the Creation Every Day Card it's got 0% on foreign transaction fees and it has an eligability checker.