Ball park credit score for credit card acceptance?

TheBoobie1987

Hello all,
Now i know that the credit score isn't the only thing that lenders will go on when accepting applications for credit cards. But the score is all we have to go on to an extent when we are trying to improve our credit. I monitor my score across all three major credit referencing agencies, and it is slowly but surely increasing which is great, but still i show as not eligible for credit cards on eligibility checkers. Given that so much of the advice on improving your credit score is to take out a credit card and to try and not exceed 30% of the limit, it would be handy to be able to get one! So my question is what sort of ball park credit score should put me in the eligibility range? Experian for instance runs from 0-999, what would be the lowest threshold to be accepted for even a credit builder credit card? I know that the scores range differently from each agency, So if anyone knows these thresholds it would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Willing2Learn

Hi TheBoobie1987 and welcome to the forum

There is no 'ball park figure' for your 'credit score' requirement. Lenders do not use your 'credit score' and they don't see it either.

A lender only considers the data in your three credit files, added to the data you submit in your application, added to the data they may already hold on you as a returning or existing customer.

Do you have any negative data in your three credit files?
Are you on the Electoral Register at your current address?

[Deleted User]

The score isn’t what the lender goes on at all.

As you’ve seen even with an increasing score you’re still not eligible for credit cards and the like.

PRAISETHESUN

As above, I would not focus on the score at all - it is not used by anyone as a measure of creditworthiness, so there is no "minimum/acceptable" score you need to get access to good credit deals. You need to instead focus on building and maintaining positive credit history.

After making sure you are enrolled at your current address and there is nothing negative on all reports from all 3 CRAs, the best way in my opinion to build positive history is to start with a sub-prime credit card (Aqua, Marble, Capital One, etc) and manage that properly. Use an eligibility checker to see which card you may be eligible for before you apply. The limits will be tiny (mine was £250 at first) but you only need to put a few quid on it each month and pay it off in full for it to start to have an effect. Over time this will demonstrate you can manage credit properly, and you should start to get offers for increases and become eligible for better cards.

gionnetto

TheBoobie1987 wrote: »

Hello all,
Now i know that the credit score isn't the only thing that lenders will go on when accepting applications for credit cards. But the score is all we have to go on to an extent when we are trying to improve our credit. I monitor my score across all three major credit referencing agencies, and it is slowly but surely increasing which is great, but still i show as not eligible for credit cards on eligibility checkers. Given that so much of the advice on improving your credit score is to take out a credit card and to try and not exceed 30% of the limit, it would be handy to be able to get one! So my question is what sort of ball park credit score should put me in the eligibility range? Experian for instance runs from 0-999, what would be the lowest threshold to be accepted for even a credit builder credit card? I know that the scores range differently from each agency, So if anyone knows these thresholds it would be great.

Thanks in advance!

When it comes to scores, yes, lowering your credit utilization below 20% gets you higher chances to be accepted.
Remember, however, that different lenders cater to different score bands, and different risk bands as well. If you've been in the UK for at least 6 months, have no CCJs in the past 12-18 months, and are on the Electoral Roll, you can still try Vanquis as your last resort. There are also requirements about your income, length of employment, and some lenders also ask about your rent/mortgage payments.

Also, you don't mention if you have any of the following:
*current account
*utilities
*mobile or broadband
*loans

[Deleted User]

gionnetto wrote: »

When it comes to scores, yes, lowering your credit utilization below 20% gets you higher chances to be accepted.
Remember, however, that different lenders cater to different score bands, and different risk bands as well. If you've been in the UK for at least 6 months, have no CCJs in the past 12-18 months, and are on the Electoral Roll, you can still try Vanquis as your last resort. There are also requirements about your income, length of employment, and some lenders also ask about your rent/mortgage payments.

Also, you don't mention if you have any of the following:
*current account
*utilities
*mobile or broadband
*loans

Absolute rubbish.

Utilisation plays no part especially if you’re on a promo and/or clearing balances in full each month.

And by “score bands” I assume (hope) you referring to their own confidential internal scoring systems and not the made up CRA scores.

System

!!! wrote: »

Utilisation plays no part

Yes. It. Can.

[Deleted User]

beany_bot wrote: »

Yes. It. Can.

No, it doesn't when you're paying off in full each month since it balances out

System

It's all over the web and I have been told as much first hand by someone who works for a big UK lender.

Just ignore the word "score" and change it for "worthiness" or "history" if you prefer. It doesnt change the meat of it.

[Deleted User]

They just copy and paste the "advice" from the CRA websites since it references the "scores" and "alert" levels.

If the balance is paid in full it balances the totals out so doesn't form a factor in lending as they will see the balance as paid off, thus knocking the utilisation down to zero.

FACT.

System

!!! wrote: »

They just copy and paste the "advice" from the CRA websites since it references the "scores" and "alert" levels.

If the balance is paid in full it balances the totals out so doesn't form a factor in lending as they will see the balance as paid off, thus knocking the utilisation down to zero.

FACT.

Nope. Still wrong.
The payment due balance is zero after it is paid yes. But the lenders can still see what your bill (statement) WAS at the time of generation (regardless if you carry a balance or pay in full). And if this is high compared to your overall available credit. then it reflects badly and its this figure that makes your credit utilisation picture. Your statement figure. Regardless of what happens at the moment you pay your bill. The statement figure has still been generated and documented.

So if you have £10,000 available credit and spend £9,500. Regardless of whether you pay it off completely or not. Your generated bill will still be £9,500 on your credit reports. And lenders can see you used nearly all your available credit.

Again, Try google or asking someone who knows what they are talking about.