Credit Score + Buy Now Pay Later listed as a credit card?

CreditScoreNovice

I had a rather good credit rating on ClearScore at 478 which is classed as 'excellent' and I was trying to increase my credit score a bit more as I'm looking to get a mortgage within the next 18 months or so. I have done Buy Now Pay Later schemes in the past and they have always helped my credit score. However this time on Curry's they use someone called "Creation Finance" and unlike other BNPL schemes they did a hard search on my account and it took my credit score down by 11 points. Which took me to 467, still this is classed as "excellent" so no big deal. However, my credit score has been updated for the month and it has taken yet another hit and gone down to 452! This is still a good credit rating but now I'm disappointed and rather gutted to be honest, as I could afford what I purchased anyhow, but the offer was there, I could afford it and I thought it could help me in the long run. I was at my highest credit score rating ever too 478 was amazing! 

So I log in to ClearScore and take a deeper look, Credit Financial Services is listed as a CREDIT CARD on my account! What?! My phone purchase from Apple is listed as a "loan" why isn't Creation listed as a loan? I fear that now it looks like I have another credit card with a £5K limit! I understand Currys/Creation do this as it means you don't have to re-apply if you were to purchase something else from them and you effectively have £5K to purchase with. 

What my question is is, if anyone has used Creation or another financial service, whereby the BNPL is listed as a credit card, what will happen when I purchase the goods and the money that I owe to Creation returns to 0? 

How can I increase my credit score by more than just buying things on BNPL? (this is NOT a regular occurance I might add). I don't require a loan or anything like that so I'm really struggling on ideas on how to increase my Credit score.  I have however since moved to purchasing things using my credit card and not my debit and that has helped a bit. 

Furthermore, my phone from Apple is due to be paid off in May. Will this increase my credit score? I'll have no more outstanding debt with Barclays then. Will this also happen when I pay off my Currys purchase in July? As I'll have no more outstanding debt with Creation then. 

 

CreditScoreNovice

Realised you can't edit anything. 
I know Credit Score doesn't mean much and have read the stickies but I'd like to still have a good credit score as it helps with lenders if and when I go to purchase a mortgage. A high credit score may not mean much but if it's high across the board (across different credit score providers, Experian, Clear Score etc etc) it will certainly put me in a better position than if I were to just not care about it. 

[Deleted User]

Your personal score is only seen by you. A lender will never see it.

Just to make it clear - your "score" is a marketing gimmick. No lender will ever see it. No decision on your mortgage will ever be made based on the score you see.

Forget the score, stop worrying about it. 

Lenders, again, do not see the score as you would know if you read the stickies. It does not help with lenders as they never see it.

Any change in your circumstances will change the novelty score up or down, again IT MEANS NOTHING

A hard search for a credit application is perfectly normal and whatever changes are made to your fictional score are irrelevant - lenders want to see responsible use of credit, such as paying a credit card off in full every month

CreditScoreNovice

Deleted_User said:

Your personal score is only seen by you. A lender will never see it.

Just to make it clear - your "score" is a marketing gimmick. No lender will ever see it. No decision on your mortgage will ever be made based on the score you see.

Forget the score, stop worrying about it. 

Lenders, again, do not see the score as you would know if you read the stickies. It does not help with lenders as they never see it.

Any change in your circumstances will change the novelty score up or down, again IT MEANS NOTHING

A hard search for a credit application is perfectly normal and whatever changes are made to your fictional score are irrelevant - lenders want to see responsible use of credit, such as paying a credit card off in full every month

They may not see it but a poor rating means I'll be rejected as stated below no? (I would post the link but I'm not allowed) A rating which I see is a good indicator of if I'll be accepted by them, regardless if they see it or not, ideally you'd want it to be as high as possible. Keeping an eye on it is better than just ignoring it no?

• Mortgages
  
  If your credit score is poor, you'll be rejected. It really is that simple. If you're planning to get a new mortgage or remortgage, it's worth starting to manage your credit file at least a year in advance. 

This is good, I like the sound of that, as I always without fail pay off my credit card in full every single month and my direct debits get paid on time and in full too. 

dr_adidas01

CreditScoreNovice said:

Deleted_User said:

Your personal score is only seen by you. A lender will never see it.

Just to make it clear - your "score" is a marketing gimmick. No lender will ever see it. No decision on your mortgage will ever be made based on the score you see.

Forget the score, stop worrying about it. 

Lenders, again, do not see the score as you would know if you read the stickies. It does not help with lenders as they never see it.

Any change in your circumstances will change the novelty score up or down, again IT MEANS NOTHING

A hard search for a credit application is perfectly normal and whatever changes are made to your fictional score are irrelevant - lenders want to see responsible use of credit, such as paying a credit card off in full every month

They may not see it but a poor rating means I'll be rejected as stated below no? (I would post the link but I'm not allowed) A rating which I see is a good indicator of if I'll be accepted by them, regardless if they see it or not, ideally you'd want it to be as high as possible. Keeping an eye on it is better than just ignoring it no?

• Mortgages
  
  If your credit score is poor, you'll be rejected. It really is that simple. If you're planning to get a new mortgage or remortgage, it's worth starting to manage your credit file at least a year in advance. 

This is good, I like the sound of that, as I always without fail pay off my credit card in full every single month and my direct debits get paid on time and in full too. 

You might want to read the sticky on this particular forum that says "What your credit score really means"

There have been lots of threads recently where people with a so called 999 Experian score or excellent scores have been declined for everything from a Sim only contract to credit cards and loans

There have been others who have shown that they have a score of 560 which is considered poor to Experian or 300 on Equifax again considered poor, who have been accepted for everything they have applied for and have been given very large limits.

What is important is your credit history and how you have managed them overtime, yes you are right you should be preparing your credit files and correcting errors for up to a year in advance of applying for a mortgage, however the majority of people only find out something is wrong when there mortgage is declined based on information from the CRA's.

ratechaser

CreditScoreNovice said:

Deleted_User said:

Your personal score is only seen by you. A lender will never see it.

Just to make it clear - your "score" is a marketing gimmick. No lender will ever see it. No decision on your mortgage will ever be made based on the score you see.

Forget the score, stop worrying about it. 

Lenders, again, do not see the score as you would know if you read the stickies. It does not help with lenders as they never see it.

Any change in your circumstances will change the novelty score up or down, again IT MEANS NOTHING

A hard search for a credit application is perfectly normal and whatever changes are made to your fictional score are irrelevant - lenders want to see responsible use of credit, such as paying a credit card off in full every month

They may not see it but a poor rating means I'll be rejected as stated below no? (I would post the link but I'm not allowed) A rating which I see is a good indicator of if I'll be accepted by them, regardless if they see it or not, ideally you'd want it to be as high as possible. Keeping an eye on it is better than just ignoring it no?

• Mortgages
  
  If your credit score is poor, you'll be rejected. It really is that simple. If you're planning to get a new mortgage or remortgage, it's worth starting to manage your credit file at least a year in advance. 

This is good, I like the sound of that, as I always without fail pay off my credit card in full every single month and my direct debits get paid on time and in full too. 

Oh lord give me strength... OP, that quote you added looks like it came from section 10 of this link:

http://www.sirius-hull.co.uk/files/dal/Credit_Scores_Boost_Your_Credit_Rating.pdf

I can see that section 9 makes it clear that the CRAs score is a marketing gimmick, and what this quote is referring to is the lenders own scoring process - which is based on information in your file.

Clear enough?

[Deleted User]

CreditScoreNovice said:

Deleted_User said:

Your personal score is only seen by you. A lender will never see it.

Just to make it clear - your "score" is a marketing gimmick. No lender will ever see it. No decision on your mortgage will ever be made based on the score you see.

Forget the score, stop worrying about it. 

Lenders, again, do not see the score as you would know if you read the stickies. It does not help with lenders as they never see it.

Any change in your circumstances will change the novelty score up or down, again IT MEANS NOTHING

A hard search for a credit application is perfectly normal and whatever changes are made to your fictional score are irrelevant - lenders want to see responsible use of credit, such as paying a credit card off in full every month

They may not see it but a poor rating means I'll be rejected as stated below no? (I would post the link but I'm not allowed) A rating which I see is a good indicator of if I'll be accepted by them, regardless if they see it or not, ideally you'd want it to be as high as possible. Keeping an eye on it is better than just ignoring it no?

• Mortgages
  
  If your credit score is poor, you'll be rejected. It really is that simple. If you're planning to get a new mortgage or remortgage, it's worth starting to manage your credit file at least a year in advance. 

This is good, I like the sound of that, as I always without fail pay off my credit card in full every single month and my direct debits get paid on time and in full too. 

No. Just No. The credit reference agencies don't know your income and don't lend money, what they score you is a novelty

Ebe_Scrooge

CreditScoreNovice said:

I know Credit Score doesn't mean much anything and have read the stickies so you already know this but I'd like to still have a good credit score as it helps with lenders if and when I go to purchase a mortgage no it doesn't. A high credit score may does not mean much anything but if it's high across the board (across different credit score providers, Experian, Clear Score etc etc) it will certainly put me in a better position than if I were to just not care about it No it won't

Corrected that for you.

To reiterate what you've already been told umpteen times, the score given to you by the CRAs means absolutely Jack Smelly-Stuff.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  Sweet Fanny Adams.  It's not used by any lender - actually, they can't even see it.

What they do see is the historical data contained within your credit files.  They take that information, churn it through their algorithms, and come up with their own INTERNAL score.  Each lender has their own algorithms, based on their preferred target customers, risk appetite, and a host of other parameters.  Their criteria are confidential and commercially sensitive, so it's no good asking "what does bank xyz look for in a customer" as you'll never be able to find out.

Oh, and your CRA score is meaningless - did I mention that?