Denied First Ever credit Card

Branagorn

My girlfriend is looking to purchase her first home either this year or next. And myself and her family think it would help immensely if she were to get a credit card to help build her credit score, as she’s never had one before.

She has only one current account, and I’m pretty sure the only ‘credit’ facilities she would have for her score would be her overdraft, and her mobile phone bill.  Everything else would be in her parents name (despite being nearly 30).  So she’s nothing that would make her score bad, but equally nothing really boosting it either.

I suggested she get a Tesco’s credit card, as she works for Tesco (pharmacy), so she ends up doing a lot of shopping there, the extra points would be good etc.

We ran the eligibility checker on Tesco’s website, and she got a 95% chance of being accepted for their purchases card.  Excellent!….so we thought. 

She applied, and was rejected.  Not a great first step into the world of credit cards.

We have tried calling to get advise directly from them,  but it’s the weekend, and they never answered, so we’ll try again on Monday. But in lieu of that.  Is there any advise we can be given.  Should be simply be looking to apply elsewhere?  She is wondering if she’d be better off getting a credit card with her current account provider (Santander).   But I’m also hesitant to suggest doing that so soon after rejection.  Tesco said they won’t let her apply again for another 6 months!
 

DiseasedBunny

They won’t tell you why she was rejected, the only thing she could do is get a sub prime Credit card, like aqua, though the apr is ridiculous so make sure dhe pays it off fully every month 

anotheruser

All depends on the application.
I've been denied for one but accepted for another the next day.

If the application asks "what do you want this card for", what did you choose?

Don't always trust the Checker on here either - my 95% chance of being accepted was the one that rejected me.

Did you go through the credit card website directly or a link from here?

Santander know her as a customer so possibly easier to get a credit card there but better to speak to them if possible.  If asked, don't make the limit stupidly high, just £2000 or something small.  Some CC applications ask how much limit you want, others give you a limit.

Make sure you report back here to help others in the future.

[Deleted User]

Drop all reference to the gimmick "score", no lender ever sees it, no decision is ever made based on the nonsense number they generate.

Build a credit history by being responsible - get on the electoral roll, get a very basic credit builder card like Vanquis or Capital One (pay in full every month after the statement is generated), SIM only basic mobile contract, then leave it a while to build up a history.

Don't waste time trying to get a prime card, with no history it'll almost certainly not happen.

WillPS

Deleted_User said:

Don't waste time trying to get a prime card, with no history it'll almost certainly not happen.

My fiancée applied for an Amex card last year having never had a credit card before. Despite her salary at the time being 4-figures from a part time job at Tesco she was immediately accepted for the Nectar credit card with a £12k limit (more than they've ever given me!).

I wonder if her history with Amex as a supplemental cardholder on my accounts was helpful.

Alex9384

If she wants to buy a house this year, isn't it a bit late to start building history?
If it was me, I would try one more application elsewhere (but do their eligibility check first) and if accepted, use the card regularly for the next 12 months or so.

theoretica

My first credit card I looked around for the one with the best perks - and got turned down.  So I asked my own bank who immediately gave me one with a high limit, I presumed because they could see more about my finances than my extremely sparse credit record.  So I would suggest looking to her bank, especially if the online banking is offering her a card.

Stuart_W

As others have said, for a first credit card for the purpose of demonstrating good credit management, don't worry about interest rate or rewards. Try own bank first as they know you. After that,  I have never heard of anyone in employment with no adverse credit history being rejected by cashplus, abysmal interest rate but if paid in full each month it still costs absolutely nothing. Plenty of other options too. Just don't ever be fooled into any "creditbuilder" type products with fees attached. 

https://www.cashplus.com/credit-card/

steffangl

As others have said I suspect Santander will accept her - make sure on the electoral role and that the personal details are inputted accurately on any application form.

As for mortgages - I wouldn't worry about not having a 'credit history' as such.  They will do a credit check to look for bad credit, late payments, defaults etc., but as long as nothing bad shows the acceptance is a much more of a manual thing based on affordability.  They will look at income via payslips and monthly spending/outgoings on bank statements to issue an offer.