Getting First Credit Card w/ No Prev. Debt

Robin_TBW

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Since you are asking about your credit score, then you need to be aware that most typical lenders never see and never use your 'credit score'. For instance, a potential mortgage lender, (from let's say a high street bank), scores you against their independent criteria and policies, using the data held in your credit file(s), added to the data you submit in your credit application, added to the data they may already hold on you as an existing or returning customer.

I think you get my drift. It is all about the data and nothing to do with your 'credit score'.

Interesting. See, this is something I'm consistently told the opposite of, albeit from people who only ever buy houses, never sell them or know about the intricasies of the financial instituation behind the deals.

I'm always told "you need a good credit score to get a good mortgage" and that's it. Apparently that's all there is to it other than obviously having a salary that's workable within the property price you want to look towards.

Willing2Learn

You are scored against the creditors lending criteria and policies. So the score that is used by the mortgage lender is for internal use only. They never get to see the 'credit score' that you see.

The only time your Credit Reference Agency 'credit score' is useful is when (and if) there is a sudden and significant drop. This could indicate that negative data has been recorded on your credit file(s). In that instance, you would look at your credit file, checking all the data for accuracy...

Gerry1

Robin_TBW wrote: »

I guess that ultimately, I'm used to the idea of using a service and paying for that service at the end of a certain period

That's just what happens with a credit card ! You use a service, they send you a bill at end of the month or whenever and you pay typically within 25 days.

You might find the Aqua Reward card worth investigating because it pays 0.5% cashback and doesn't charge extra for foreign usage. You might also find the added Section 75 protection useful if something goes wrong: you won't get that with cash !

Nebulous2

A credit card could certainly help build a credit history, but there are lots of other things you can do to make yourself acceptable to a mortgage lender. Make sure you are on the electoral roll. Build as big a deposit as you can. Don’t push to the highest possible multiple of earnings for the house you buy. Be in stable employment. Credit card companies expect you to work your way up, to get better cards and higher limits. A mortgage lender doesn’t. In some ways a mortgage is easier to get than a prime credit card.

virgo17

Robin_TBW wrote: »

It's not that I don't trust myself, I just don't like the idea of borrowing money and something going wrong, a statement not turning up, etc. etc.

That scenario can be mitigated by setting up a direct debit to pay the card in full each month. That's what many people, including our family do. The chances of a statement not turning up and the direct debit failing at the same time must be extremely low odds.

In any event, online access to the card providers site will not only allow you to see each statement but to check that spending on the card is in order as well as detecting any irregularities.