What information gives the eligibility checker their percentage of acceptance?

Brie

Ok - so just as an idle thought I wondered what my chances are of getting the zero fee for BTs Sainsbury card that's mentioned on this week's MSE email.

I put in my name, address, my income, household income, amount paid monthly for mortgage.  Result came back as zero.

I'm not surprised or particularly bothered by this as I know a lot more about my financial situation than I was asked to disclose.  So what other info is being accessed? 

I'm assuming there must be an instant link to my credit file somewhere?  Last time I looked at my credit file my mortgage wasn't listed and nothing about the credit cards I have other than the fact that there was no defaults/lates/issues.  No money figures anywhere.  So how would the checker know I'm not credit worthy??

mcpitman

Presumably as your credit file seems a bit off, then you don't have any history when they do a credit check/footprint.

Brie

I don't think that my credit file is off, just that there's very little info.  So how does the eligibility checker determine anything?  Just wanting to know what it links to is all.

Brie

fyi - I've got credit cards, not all used, mortgage etc, no defaults or late payments, rarely pay interest, voter's list etc etc

current address 4 years, previous 16.

Ebe_Scrooge

Bear in mind that an eligibility checker usually only does a soft search, so it doesn't see the more in-depth data that a hard search (when you actually make an application) would reveal.  So, by their very nature, they can only ever be a guide as to your likelihood of being accepted.

When you say your mortgage isn't showing on your credit file, have you checked all 3?  Some lenders report to all 3 CRAs, some only report to 1 or 2.  So it's quite possible that your mortgage lender doesn't report to whichever CRA you're checking.  That's why it's always recommended to check a 3 CRAs if you want to get a true picture of what's being reported about you.