How accurate is MSE's Eligibility Checker?

cymruchris

I had a 0 percent chance of getting a Virgin credit card across all of the comparison style eligibility checkers (including the MSE one) - I tried the eligibility checker on Virgin's own website - and it was approved immediately. 

I also had a 0 percent chance of getting a Sainsburys credit card - again tried the Sainsburys site - and it was also approved immediately.

I also had a 40-70 percent chance of getting an Amex across the various eligibility checkers - but on the Amex direct websites checker - they gave me 0.5 out of 10 (5 percent) - so didn't apply.

It works both ways - but the best option always in my view is to use a credit card providers own eligibility checker. It's just a shame that some banks still don't use them - HSBC/John Lewis/Tesco etc.

adamp87

cymruchris said:

I had a 0 percent chance of getting a Virgin credit card across all of the comparison style eligibility checkers (including the MSE one) - I tried the eligibility checker on Virgin's own website - and it was approved immediately. 

I also had a 0 percent chance of getting a Sainsburys credit card - again tried the Sainsburys site - and it was also approved immediately.

I also had a 40-70 percent chance of getting an Amex across the various eligibility checkers - but on the Amex direct websites checker - they gave me 0.5 out of 10 (5 percent) - so didn't apply.

It works both ways - but the best option always in my view is to use a credit card providers own eligibility checker. It's just a shame that some banks still don't use them - HSBC/John Lewis/Tesco etc.

HSBC had one over the past 12 months and then suddenly got rid of it again. 

horsewithnoname

just told me I had a 0% chance of getting the Virgin 0% for 12 months with no fee card. I applied anyway and got one with a £6000 limit

Not very helpful

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81973108#Comment_81973108

So the situation appears not to have changed in the 5+ years since this thread was active!

horsewithnoname

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81973146#Comment_81973146

ha ha I didn’t notice that, I just searched for a thread on it, but yeah; 5 years on and still the same 😁