Declined for Capital One, but v.clean credit history

mjwraw

Just received a letter declining my application for the 4% Capital One card. Very confused because I've never had a problem with credit in the past whatsoever, so I've just taken advantage of the free trial on Experian to get my full credit report, which seems to be absolutely spot on.

I have three current credit cards for which I have never missed a payment, with a combined credit of £24000. I have just recently moved my £106000 mortgage (always move at the end of two year deals to best available one at the time) but have never missed a mortgage payment, (have often overpaid in the past in fact).

I have been a 0% 'card tart' since about 1998, so of course there were loads of previous cards, but all showing settled, and every single one was a 'green 0'. I've a very settled residency history (current address 7 years, previous address 6 years) and am (and always have been) on the electoral roll.

As such I cannot see how I could not have a good enough credit score for them, or are they declining me simply because I don't look like a very profitable customer, having carried a 0% balance of between £3000 and £6000 for nearly ten years without paying a penny of interest, and paying off the card I use for day-to-day spending in full every month ??? If so this seems quite unfair to me............

mrcol

Join the club, if you have a look round at other threads Cap 1 turn down a lot of people. They turned me down and when i checked i found i have a near perfect credit report.
I have been a card tart in the past, i wonder if thats what they dont like. Maybe they think we are no good for making them a profit, they are right lol.

bigstevex

I'm a member too, 3 times over the past 5 years i've applied, rejected every time! 100% perfect credit history! Plenty of accounts/cards, never missed a payment etc too.

I think they don't like people who pay as they can't make as much profit!

jamalfatty

You say you've got 3 cards with a combined limit of £24k, what is your balance on these? If its minimal this would probably have been a contributing factor in their decision - why would they grant you further credit if your not using that which you've already got, or they may see you as being overexposed if they give you more.

mjwraw

I've got about £5200 on my 0% card, which I pay just over the monthly minimum on, a 0.5% cash back card for monthly spending which I average about £1200 a month on but clear monthly, and the other card I use exclusively for internet shopping so it can vary from nothing to perhaps £50, again cleared monthly, so I guess there is a lot of unused credit, so do you think if I reduce the card limits to closer fit my needs, (could probably run with a £3k limit on my monthly card and a £1k limit on my internet card, so probably make the total nearer £10k), then that would help my general credit-worthiness, because if so then it's worth doing ?

jamalfatty

mjwraw wrote: »

I've got about £5200 on my 0% card, which I pay just over the monthly minimum on, a 0.5% cash back card for monthly spending which I average about £1200 a month on but clear monthly, and the other card I use exclusively for internet shopping so it can vary from nothing to perhaps £50, again cleared monthly, so I guess there is a lot of unused credit, so do you think if I reduce the card limits to closer fit my needs, (could probably run with a £3k limit on my monthly card and a £1k limit on my internet card, so probably make the total nearer £10k), then that would help my general credit-worthiness, because if so then it's worth doing ?

I cant tell you what to do as it may not be that reason thats preventing you getting the new card, but I would bet it would have some influence on it. You may be at the upper limit of what they think a reasonable amount of credit is for someone in your circumstances.

[Deleted User]

Why are people always suprised to be rejected, you should alway see a Credit Card facility as a privilege, not a right.

If you have other cards which arent being used, they are going to want to give you one. Personally i think its a good thing, what with personal debt in the country increasing £1million a minute and all.

bigstevex

From some reading of their website, to get a platinum card

(excellent credit rating) you need....

Credit card with a limit of at least £5K
Had a credit card for at least 5 years,
Never missed more than 2 payments on a card/loan
Overall credit card balances of less than £10K
No previous defaults ccjs or current arrears

For a good Rating card you need...

Existing loans and overdrafts
had a card for least 3 years
No previous credit defaults ccjs etc

And for a 'needs strengthening card, you can have any type of history really!

mjwraw

Right, made some interesting discoveries when I looked closely at my Experian credit report. Looks like I've had a credit card account with Halifax since 2003 with a credit limit of £8200, which was never closed properly because there was an 11p balance on it !!! Add that to my three current cards and I had what to my mind seems like a pretty high total credit limit (approx. £26k).

So, I've properly closed this, and also reduced the credit limit on my internet only card to £500, so my total is now £9500. Is it worth re-applying, and if so should I leave it for a length of time first ?

lynn2

You have to wait 6 months before applying again...

"Please note, if your application is unsuccessful, we will not be able to consider you for a Capital One card for the next 6 months"

I was declined a card also, so I went for the Halifax card and was accepted straight away.

http://www.halifaxcards.co.uk/drtv/index.html

jojo1978_3

Instead of waiting for the 6 moths to pass, you could write to their appeals address, explaining what action you have taken and ask the to "review your declined application".
They get back to you within a month to let you know whether they were able to overturn the decline.