Rebuilding credit worthiness - time to apply for second Credit Card...?

AbundantBudget

Some_Guy said:

Might give Zopa a go.

Why not to try eligibility checker on this site, it won't make you any harm? You always can go for the sub prime card if not accepted for anything better. And Post Office card is JaJa now and not Capital One anymore but a lot of people complain about it. It might be worse that C1.

cymruchris

AbundantBudget said:

Some_Guy said:

Might give Zopa a go.

Why not to try eligibility checker on this site, it won't make you any harm? You always can go for the sub prime card if not accepted for anything better. And Post Office card is JaJa now and not Capital One anymore but a lot of people complain about it. It might be worse that C1.

It's better to use the eligibility checkers directly on the credit card providers own websites. 

The comparison sites look at your general data on a soft search, and then compare that data with other people with similar circumstances to see what percentage chance you have of getting the card.

If you go direct to lender - they are measuring you against their own criteria - and so you are likely to get a much more accurate indication of whether you'll be accepted. 

You can of course check eligibility all over the place - but as an example - on one comparison site I'm given an 80 percent chance of getting an Amex, on another 40 percent, on another 10 percent and on Amex direct my chance is 0.5 out of 10. I know which figure I'd trust. (Amex was in my bankruptcy some time ago and they're known to be very selective in allowing people to have another card). 

AbundantBudget

cymruchris said:

AbundantBudget said:

Some_Guy said:

Might give Zopa a go.

Why not to try eligibility checker on this site, it won't make you any harm? You always can go for the sub prime card if not accepted for anything better. And Post Office card is JaJa now and not Capital One anymore but a lot of people complain about it. It might be worse that C1.

It's better to use the eligibility checkers directly on the credit card providers own websites. 

The comparison sites look at your general data on a soft search, and then compare that data with other people with similar circumstances to see what percentage chance you have of getting the card.

If you go direct to lender - they are measuring you against their own criteria - and so you are likely to get a much more accurate indication of whether you'll be accepted. 

You can of course check eligibility all over the place - but as an example - on one comparison site I'm given an 80 percent chance of getting an Amex, on another 40 percent, on another 10 percent and on Amex direct my chance is 0.5 out of 10. I know which figure I'd trust. (Amex was in my bankruptcy some time ago and they're known to be very selective in allowing people to have another card). 

You are right but the comparison site will give some reassurance which I think OP lacks. And then they can try the provider's checker once they are more confident that they can get something better and with higher limit than Vanquis (which is absolutely horrible in my opinion) or Zopa 

cymruchris

AbundantBudget said:

cymruchris said:

AbundantBudget said:

Some_Guy said:

Might give Zopa a go.

Why not to try eligibility checker on this site, it won't make you any harm? You always can go for the sub prime card if not accepted for anything better. And Post Office card is JaJa now and not Capital One anymore but a lot of people complain about it. It might be worse that C1.

It's better to use the eligibility checkers directly on the credit card providers own websites. 

The comparison sites look at your general data on a soft search, and then compare that data with other people with similar circumstances to see what percentage chance you have of getting the card.

If you go direct to lender - they are measuring you against their own criteria - and so you are likely to get a much more accurate indication of whether you'll be accepted. 

You can of course check eligibility all over the place - but as an example - on one comparison site I'm given an 80 percent chance of getting an Amex, on another 40 percent, on another 10 percent and on Amex direct my chance is 0.5 out of 10. I know which figure I'd trust. (Amex was in my bankruptcy some time ago and they're known to be very selective in allowing people to have another card). 

You are right but the comparison site will give some reassurance which I think OP lacks. And then they can try the provider's checker once they are more confident that they can get something better and with higher limit than Vanquis (which is absolutely horrible in my opinion) or Zopa 

If you're paying in full every month by direct debit - it doesn't really matter where the card comes from - as long as you're not paying interest. I've had quite a positive experience with Vanquis - it was my first credit card after bankruptcy. The few times I needed to call them, they were incredibly helpful, and easy to get hold of. The limit started low, understandably, but over the months rose to a reasonable limit. I keep the card now, as it's my oldest credit account. It's a good starting point for anyone that wants to improve history further, but it's on the strict condition that you pay it in full every month without fail. 

The comparison sites though as mentioned might not give any re-assurance - as they previously said that I was 0% likely to get a virgin card - but virgin eligibility said approved - and now I have one. Also Sainsburys showed as 10% likely - and again the sainsburys own eligibility checker said approved - and now I have one. So I really have no confidence at all in the group comparison websites. Far better to try a few credit card providers direct (eligibility checkers only - not full applications)

Some_Guy

AbundantBudget said:

[...] And Post Office card is JaJa now and not Capital One anymore but a lot of people complain about it. It might be worse that C1.

Just on this particular issue...

New PO Credit cards cards are issued by Capital One...

www.postoffice.co.uk/credit-card

"Capital One is the exclusive lender and issuer of all new Post Office Credit Cards, for which Post Office acts as credit broker."

Old PO credit cards "whose accounts opened prior to 28 June 2019. [...] Your Post Office Credit Card switched to Jaja on 3 October 2020."

jaja.co.uk/existing-customers/

Some_Guy

cymruchris said:

It's better to use the eligibility checkers directly on the credit card providers own websites. 

The comparison sites look at your general data on a soft search, and then compare that data with other people with similar circumstances to see what percentage chance you have of getting the card.

If you go direct to lender - they are measuring you against their own criteria - and so you are likely to get a much more accurate indication of whether you'll be accepted.

Thanks @cymruchris. I've gone down the route of using the eligibility checkers. Tried Virgin Money who said no, almost a bit too quickly! I do have a basic current account with them, the 'Essential Current Account' (which is I think on the old Northern Rock platform - new accounts are now on the Clydesdale Bank platform), but I don't use it as my main account. However the impression I get is that they're not all that joined-up as a business, and given the fast reply I doubt there was any time for internal cross-checking. For what it's worth I note they push rejectees towards Capital One... not for me this time!

Then tried Zopa's eligibility checker - again a no, though not quite so quickly. Bit of a shame, I liked the look of them. Somewhat oddly I don't think their eligibility checker even asked for my previous address details.

Then I tried Vanquis...

cymruchris said:

Try Vanquis - they're usually a safe bet for someone around your credit profile (Use their eligibility checker on their website - don't use comparison sites). If it comes back with 100% then give it a go (they can still say no - but it's rare if it comes up as pre-approved). 

Vanquis's eligibility checker came back with a message saying something broadly affirmative, though a percentage wasn't given. I ticked the boxes to go-ahead with a full application, then I got a message saying...

"Thank you! We'll be in touch soon. We'll attempt to contact you in the next 48 hours to finalise your application."

Definitely preferable to a no! Though I'm not massiively wild about the idea of being poised to get a call to discuss my financial matters (not least as I'll be in work on Monday where I can't really take such a call), but I guess this feeling might hark back to my financial bad times when financial institutions calling me generally wasn't a call I was keen to take (afraid I unwisely took the head-in-sand approach for a while back then - not to be repeated!).

Just as a broader thought, I'm thinking that actually running a screen recorder might not be such a bad idea when submitting information into eligibility checkers - I am being consistent and have made notes of what info I gave, but there's just that thought in the back of my mind that I might have made some daft mistake, despite double checking it. That said, taking a step back I can easily see why I'd get rejections, perhaps especially more so in the current economic climate.

cymruchris

Don't be too worried about the brand of credit card at this stage - fingers crossed Vanquis will come back in the positive. If they do - it's a step further forwards on getting a decent history behind you. Keep us updated as to how you get on once you've heard from them. Interestingly I was about to start a thread on Zopa who have this new 'score' alongside some indicators of how you're doing in terms of product eligibility. They tell me that I'm either 'Good' or 'Great' in each of their key qualifying areas - and then also tell me that my score is 4/10. So don't worry if X company doesn't like you - but Y company does - stick with Y company in the short term as you build up your history. 

Some_Guy

cymruchris said:

Don't be too worried about the brand of credit card at this stage - fingers crossed Vanquis will come back in the positive. If they do - it's a step further forwards on getting a decent history behind you. Keep us updated as to how you get on once you've heard from them. Interestingly I was about to start a thread on Zopa who have this new 'score' alongside some indicators of how you're doing in terms of product eligibility. They tell me that I'm either 'Good' or 'Great' in each of their key qualifying areas - and then also tell me that my score is 4/10. So don't worry if X company doesn't like you - but Y company does - stick with Y company in the short term as you build up your history. 

A (slightly belated) update - Vanquis did indeed come back in the positive. I applied on the Saturday evening, and got a text stating the application had been approved the following Tuesday in the mid-morning, with an email saying the same that Tuesday evening. So a bit over 48 hours until they got in contact, but they didn't want to speak about my application or any further information, rather it was just a message that said application had been successful.

So that's all good - I do remember thinking I'd be a bit peeved if they turned me down, given that Aqua (NewDay) had accepted me a year and a bit ago. Presumably my application was referred to a human to be OK'd hence the slight delay, and of course the '48 hours' that Vanquis quoted for a response included all of Sunday when I'd expect most if not all such human decision makers not to be working. (And there's Covid of course... so either working from home or fewer in the office.)

I was expecting my credit limit to start at the low end, but actually it's a little higher than that. I can't recall what my starting credit level was with Aqua, but they offered several raises over the first year (which I accepted each time). Just trying to work out what my strategy with Vanquis should be - should I divert spending from Aqua to go through this new Vanquis card, and should I use a good portion of the credit limit each month to push for a credit limit increase?

(Just to be clear, all spending will continue to be within my means and I'll pay off the balance in full each and every month.)