Any idea why I’m being accepted?

ryaan

So I don’t want to be that person, but I can’t seem to understand why I have been accepted for several credit cards.

Brief history; I was accepted for a HSBC card 2 years ago (£6k limit) with an Equifax score of 171.
Prior that, I had only held poorer limit cards, such as Marbles (£600) and a couple of Capital One cards (£200 each).
I haven’t missed a payment on anything in about 40 months. I had a terrible history up until I decided to get my life together a few years ago . 
My credit score is increasing, albeit very gradually. It now sits on 333 (Equifax) and 540 (Experian, which I believe it right at the high end of Very Poor).

In the past couple of years as well, Ive used things like Very, Argos card, Next, rolling monthly sim contracts etc and paid them all off religiously. 
To me, I’m doing everything right, and it’s showing. 
I even called HSBC a couple of months ago and requested my £6k limit to be raised to £8k. They ran a credit check, and all was well. They increased it. 

Anyway, I checked my eligibility on Experian for balance transfer cards, and I owe about £3k on my HSBC, costing me roughly £60 a month in interest. 
It said I had a 70% chance of a 18 month balance transfer card from Barclaycard. 
So I applied, and got it. £6.2k limit. 


What I don’t understand is how I initially got the large £6k card, increased it to £8k, then got another £6k from Barclaycard (from what I’ve read as well, they are notoriously hard to get, almost impossible with a score below 700).

Any idea on what’s happening here? Are they trying to set me up to fail so they will benefit, or are they seeing my lack of missed payments and trusting me? 

[Deleted User]

It's because you're believing your credit score means something.  It doesn't. It's purely a gimmick for your own entertainment.

Lenders never see it and will score you against their own criteria. So the answer is that you're being accepted because you're within their risk criteria.

ryaan

Deleted_User said:

It's because you're believing your credit score means something.  It doesn't. It's purely a gimmick for your own entertainment.

Lenders never see it and will score you against their own criteria. So the answer is that you're being accepted because you're within their risk criteria.

So, they don’t see me as a risk, and that’s why they are happy to lend me that amount?

[Deleted User]

Correct. Or more accurately, they see you as a sufficiently low risk to lend you money. 

The notion that they are 'setting you up to fail' relies on them wanting to lose money. That's unlikely, at best.

MalMonroe

Deleted_User said:

It's because you're believing your credit score means something.  It doesn't. It's purely a gimmick for your own entertainment.

Lenders never see it and will score you against their own criteria. So the answer is that you're being accepted because you're within their risk criteria.

I have just been told over the phone by a Nationwide 'consultant' that they DO, in fact, take the credit score number into account when deciding who to give credit cards to. He told me quite categorically that lenders DO see your scores as well as all the other information that's available to them on your credit score. 

So NOW who do I believe? All the people on this forum who say it's just a made up number that nobody takes notice of, or a 'professional consultant' who does this for a living?

He actually had the nerve to tell me that my Experian credit score was probably 'middle of the road'. I've just checked and it's excellent. Didn't get the card by the way and am now seriously considering moving my current account since it was my own bank I applied with!!

Bitterly disappointed. And also, feel like complaining to Nationwide because their 'consultant' made a lot of (incorrect) assumptions but his mind was already made up. I wasn't getting a card.

cymruchris

MalMonroe said:

Deleted_User said:

It's because you're believing your credit score means something.  It doesn't. It's purely a gimmick for your own entertainment.

Lenders never see it and will score you against their own criteria. So the answer is that you're being accepted because you're within their risk criteria.

I have just been told over the phone by a Nationwide 'consultant' that they DO, in fact, take the credit score number into account when deciding who to give credit cards to. He told me quite categorically that lenders DO see your scores as well as all the other information that's available to them on your credit score. 

So NOW who do I believe? All the people on this forum who say it's just a made up number that nobody takes notice of, or a 'professional consultant' who does this for a living?

He actually had the nerve to tell me that my Experian credit score was probably 'middle of the road'. I've just checked and it's excellent. Didn't get the card by the way and am now seriously considering moving my current account since it was my own bank I applied with!!

Bitterly disappointed. And also, feel like complaining to Nationwide because their 'consultant' made a lot of (incorrect) assumptions but his mind was already made up. I wasn't getting a card.

They might take their own credit 'score' into account - that they make up with the 'data' available on your credit file. So when he refers to seeing a credit score - it's likely that's an internal thing rather than the 'actual made-up score' that we see when we access our account. Did you ask him what number yours was so that you could check that it corresponded with what you saw? 

He probably said your score was middle of the road because of the above - their criteria produced a number - and you came out average. Your made-up score is showing as excellent. So you can see that's how the difference likely comes about. 

dr_adidas01

MalMonroe said:

Deleted_User said:

It's because you're believing your credit score means something.  It doesn't. It's purely a gimmick for your own entertainment.

Lenders never see it and will score you against their own criteria. So the answer is that you're being accepted because you're within their risk criteria.

I have just been told over the phone by a Nationwide 'consultant' that they DO, in fact, take the credit score number into account when deciding who to give credit cards to. He told me quite categorically that lenders DO see your scores as well as all the other information that's available to them on your credit score. 

So NOW who do I believe? All the people on this forum who say it's just a made up number that nobody takes notice of, or a 'professional consultant' who does this for a living?

He actually had the nerve to tell me that my Experian credit score was probably 'middle of the road'. I've just checked and it's excellent. Didn't get the card by the way and am now seriously considering moving my current account since it was my own bank I applied with!!

Bitterly disappointed. And also, feel like complaining to Nationwide because their 'consultant' made a lot of (incorrect) assumptions but his mind was already made up. I wasn't getting a card.

I think the person you were talking to was talking rubbish as they don’t see the score the lender gives. 

They were probably referring to the score Nationwide used to score you against there lending criteria, which to them may mean that you are a middle of the road type of customer. 

I think Nationwide have an eligibility checker to see if you are eligible for a credit card and what your limit will be, did you use this? 

Your Excellent score as you have discovered means absolutely nothing at all. As the OP on this thread has proved the magic
mystery number given means nothing, it’s all about your credit history. 

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

Deleted_User said:

It's because you're believing your credit score means something.  It doesn't. It's purely a gimmick for your own entertainment.

Lenders never see it and will score you against their own criteria. So the answer is that you're being accepted because you're within their risk criteria.

So NOW who do I believe? All the people on this forum who say it's just a made up number that nobody takes notice of, or a 'professional consultant' who does this for a living?

That's the beauty of free will.  You can believe in, or indeed post, whatever nonsense you like.

phillw

ryaan said:

Are they trying to set me up to fail so they will benefit, or are they seeing my lack of missed payments and trusting me? 

Probably a little bit of both. They don't want to lend money to people if they aren't going to pay it back, but the chance of an odd late fee and interest here and there allows them to overlook a few indiscretions. They still make money back if you don't fail though, so the important thing is to not fail.
Each lender will "score" you slightly differently (they may not use an actual score) based on whatever they think is a good idea based on your credit history, the credit score you see is based on how each CRA have guessed that most lenders will score you. There are some pro's and con's to looking at it but certainly it doesn't give an indication whether an individual lender will lend to you (and I don't remember seeing anyone claim that it would).