Nationwide Rejected Credit Card

anthony_saver

My first post on the forum, regarding an application to get my first credit card.

I've had a Nationwide Bank Account for 4 years. I earn ~£22,000 and the only credit I have against my name are my Student Loans and my Hire Purchase car loan (financed by BNP Paribas).

I applied for a Nationwide Credit Card - partially to have some protection when buying goods (faulty goods, companies going bust with my money etc...) but principally to build up a credit rating.

So I duly applied for their cash reward card - one of the cards mentioned in the articles on this site. I applied online and was instantly rejected!

The irony of it all, I'm trying to improve my credit rating and get rejected because of it!! ::)

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2 years ago

This isn't the first time I've been rejected for a card application. I applied for a round of cards 2 years ago: Nationwide (1st time) - rejected, Natwest - rejected, I was a bit miffed then, so I wrote to Experian and obtained my credit report.

OK, so my electoral role details weren't on the report. I got them to update my report with that after forwarding a letter from the council. I also disassociated my finances from my relatives (hmmm, my brother's been a bit silly...).

So, that's my credit report fixed. One last go, let's apply for a card with the cooperative bank - rejected. Gaaarrgghh! ???
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Fast forward back to now

So following my latest rejection, I checked with experian and yes, my electoral role details were still there. One other interesting note - they said I had no account details (no suprise since I don't have much credit).

So, my grand plan is to buy a house with a mortgage (but not now). My logic is that if I can't get a credit card because of credit scoring issues, how on earth am I going to get a mortgage in 2 years time??

Oh the perils of being a prudent saver ???

Any suggestions who to apply with?

Anthony

Galstonian

You could get credit other than a card - store cards or catalogues can help build history but I wouldn't apply to any other cards until you know why you are being rejected. Ask NW why the rejected you - if they say its because of your report from Experian explain that you have it and can't see anything wrong with it, they may tell you more then. If not then request a written explanation.
Mortgages are probably easier to get than credit cards since the debt is secured with an asset.

anthony_saver

I phoned up Nationwide credit services. The first person I spoke to wanted rejection code numbers. I needed to find that out from my online banking facility.

I duly got them and phoned up again. The next person, without needing the rejection codes, asked about my credit report and I told them about the fact that I didn't have any account details on my credit report.

"There's your problem" he said. He said that Nationwide wants to see evidence that I'm able to repay borrowed money promptly. Basically because I had no credit history, they saw no evidence that I was a safe risk to lend money to. This is despite me having savings with Nationwide and despite the fact that they are willing to provide an overdraft facility on my current account upto £1300 if I needed it.

In spite of that, they recommended Capital One on account of my credit score. Nationwide has a high minimum threshold for their credit scoring. They said Capital One has a low threshold.

So it seems I need a credit card from someone that likes people with low credit scores.

Now I'm not sure about Capital One. I've heard they employ devious tactics (e.g. you think you've paid off your balance statement in full, but some money is paid on purchases you make after your statement is issued - thereby enabling them to charge interest on the original purchase items).

Anyone have any good Credit Card recommendations for me? I'm looking at a low spending limit (perhaps £400), no banking fees - If I don't use it, I'm not paying anything, and an account that's easy to cancel when my credit score is good enough for a better credit card.

Anthony

pin

Capital One does have something called a "Classic Visa" which they target for people who want to "strengthen their credit history". The limit is up to £2.5k.

Would say go and apply for this and stay with it for about 6 - 8 months, this should build up your credit history, then apply for the Nationwide CC.

Look at http://www.capitalone.co.uk/web/templates/product_temp_01_001.jsp?page_id=103&context_id=2&pageId=103&product_id=42
for more info

Robert_Sterling_3

Why were you not on the Electoral Roll ?

mrtickle

He was. He said the problem was that the credit reports didn't mention it. It looks like it took a letter from the council to convince them that he was indeed on the ER. Extraordinary lengths to have to go to to correct someone else's (Experian's) mistake, but there you go.

Robert_Sterling_3

He did not say that he was on the Electoral Roll.
He said that he sent the Credit Reference Agency a letter from the council.
He did not say what was in the letter.

mrtickle

Well technically true, but that's splitting hairs. "my electoral role details weren't on the report" implies that he was on the ER. The only other correction I can think of is in the opposite direction - ie ask the council to write a letter to get yourself removed if you are falsly reported as being on the ER when you aren't.

Robert_Sterling_3

Rather than dealing with a middleman I will repeat my question to Anthony-Saver.

Why was your name not on the report from the Credit Reference Agency and what was briefly did the letter from the council say?

Rafter

Two ideas,

1) Take the details of your car loan (and proof you have made regular payments - presumably from your Nationwide account) to nationwide and try to get them to change their mind.

2) Try applying to one or two other banks and then switch to nationwide in 6 months time once you have built up a history. If you aren't using a credit card for credit, capital 1 shouldn't be a problem. Just avoid the card that offers no interest free period on purchases and make sure you pay the full balance by the due date.

Others who might have lower lending criteria include MBNA, Barclaycard (or anyone who offers risk based lending (different rate depending on your credit score).

anthony_saver

To answer Robert's question about the electoral role details:

Two years ago I was indeed registered on the Electoral Role. My credit report however didn't have my electoral role details.

I was told by Experian that recently (back in 2002) Councils were no longer under any obligation to provide electoral role listings to organisations that wanted them (e.g. marketing companies etc...). As such, my local council chose not to provide credit reference agencies with a copy of the electoral role. It meant my credit report had details of the previous occupants of my flat.

I asked Experian what evidence I would need to provide to prove that I was on the electoral role. They responded by saying they needed a headed letter from the local borough council confirming that I was on the electoral role.

I duly requested the council to provide me with such a letter and I explained why I needed this. The council sent me the letter which I then scanned in and emailled to Experian.

Experian got back to me saying that they had amended the electoral role details on my credit report and had also forwarded the information to reference agencies Equifax and Call Credit.
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I think I'll give Capital One a go, but I'll need go through their T's & C's with a very fine comb to find out all the ways they can trip me up.