Asda Credit Card Application Denied.

kbfanclub

Applied for the Asda Credit Card and was denied immediately. TBH I only applied to get the £20 cash reward.

To clarify, I have an excellent credit rating and never been denied anything before. I have 17 guaranteed cards on Clearscore but as I say the main reason was for the £20.

The annoying thing is that there is no way to find out why it was declined or even contact anyone about it. The only thing that came in was an email saying to check my credit rating with Transunion which I did and it is on the same level as Clearscore. Transunion say they can only check for errors in their report (zero) and  Asda Money would have the final say.

However, there is no one at Asda Money that can discuss anything to do with applications. One person said to use Live Chat in the credit card app (impossible because you can't sign up to the app without a card!!) or fill out an online form which then specifically says not to use for anything to do with credit card applications.

So, absolutely stuck and will just forget about the application but would have liked to know what happened. Unless anyone has any suggestions.

MorningcoffeeIV

Check your credit files.

Not your credit rating.

cymruchris

Did you complete the eligibility checker first directly on their website or go straight into an application?

There are a myriad of reasons why they might turn you down if you're not one of their target customers.

Having an 'excellent' credit rating doesn't really mean anything. If you're talking about your 'score' - only you see that - and it's only a general indication of creditworthiness at best. Sometimes is wildly inaccurate. Having 17 'guaranteed' credit cards doesn't actually mean you'll get any of them - it's an algorithm calculating a 'best-guess' scenario based on your data compared to similar people's data - but it's not guaranteed. 

Do you have existing credit cards? Are they paid off in full every month?

If you're carrying a balance over a long period, only making minimum payments - that can be a reason a lender might turn you down.

Are you on the electoral roll? Any recent big financial changes to your credit history?  Any missed payments? Any mortgage recorded? Total credit limit as a percentage of salary? The list goes on  

kbfanclub

MorningcoffeeIV said:

Check your credit files.

Not your credit rating.

Can't see anything unusual. One hard check in the last six months.

cymruchris said:

Did you complete the eligibility checker first directly on their website or go straight into an application? YES, DENIED AND WOULDN'T LET ME GO FURTHER.

There are a myriad of reasons why they might turn you down if you're not one of their target customers.

Having an 'excellent' credit rating doesn't really mean anything. If you're talking about your 'score' - only you see that - and it's only a general indication of creditworthiness at best. Sometimes is wildly inaccurate. Having 17 'guaranteed' credit cards doesn't actually mean you'll get any of them - it's an algorithm calculating a 'best-guess' scenario based on your data compared to similar people's data - but it's not guaranteed. 

Do you have existing credit cards? YES Are they paid off in full every month? YES

If you're carrying a balance over a long period, only making minimum payments - that can be a reason a lender might turn you down.

Are you on the electoral roll? YES Any recent big financial changes to your credit history? NO BIG CHANGES. OPENED FIRST DIRECT ACCOUNT FOR THE 7% INTEREST. HARD CHECK BY HSBC AS ABOVE.  Any missed payments? NO Any mortgage recorded? ZERO MORTGAGE Total credit limit as a percentage of salary? AROUND 20% AND ONLY AROUND 3% OF THAT USED. The list goes on  

Ebe_Scrooge

As above, there can be many reasons why an application for credit is declined.  And each lender will have different acceptance criteria, which is one reason why the CRA's assessment of your credit-worthiness and likelihood of acceptance is next to useless - they cannot possibly know what the acceptance criteria for any given lender are.

Yes, check your credit files to make sure there's nothing untoward in there, but in the absence of any black marks, it's just that you don't meet Asda's criteria.  And they will not (indeed cannot) tell you which of their criteria you failed.

cymruchris

Seems like there isn't anything adverse on your history as such, but as above, Asda (well the card provider) sets the criteria and not everyone will qualify. On this occasion they've not wanted you as their customer for whatever reason they have, but you'll never know what that is.

If you want to 'satisfy' your curiosity - go DIRECTLY to some of the card providers that are part of your '17 guaranteed cards' - (so if Virgin was one, go to the Virgin credit card website) and try try their eligibility checkers just to see if you get an 'approved' or 'denied' response. (Soft check eligibility won't harm your credit history - just don't go ahead to 'FULL' application submission).

If you're generally getting 'Yes we will likely approve you' messages - then it's likely an Asda card provider decision. If you're finding they're all saying 'No' - then there may be an underlying reason that needs further investigation.

It's possible, depending on how many accounts you have on your credit file that you may have a 'thin' file (you mention there's no mortgage) - is your mobile phone on there? Utilities? Sometimes having a limited credit footprint can also be a reason for a decline - even if you pay everything you do have on time, every month without fail. 

martinbainbridge1975

Ebe_Scrooge said:

As above, there can be many reasons why an application for credit is declined.  And each lender will have different acceptance criteria, which is one reason why the CRA's assessment of your credit-worthiness and likelihood of acceptance is next to useless - they cannot possibly know what the acceptance criteria for any given lender are.

Yes, check your credit files to make sure there's nothing untoward in there, but in the absence of any black marks, it's just that you don't meet Asda's criteria.  And they will not (indeed cannot) tell you which of their criteria you failed.

not always necessarily the case, I have asked for reasons before and been given a reason for decline.

certain companies put up the brick wall and wont give a reason, if you get the right person on the phone information can be forthcoming but not always.

inspectorperez

kbfanclub said:

Applied for the Asda Credit Card and was denied immediately. TBH I only applied to get the £20 cash reward.

To clarify, I have an excellent credit rating and never been denied anything before. I have 17 guaranteed cards on Clearscore but as I say the main reason was for the £20.

The annoying thing is that there is no way to find out why it was declined or even contact anyone about it. The only thing that came in was an email saying to check my credit rating with Transunion which I did and it is on the same level as Clearscore. Transunion say they can only check for errors in their report (zero) and  Asda Money would have the final say.

However, there is no one at Asda Money that can discuss anything to do with applications. One person said to use Live Chat in the credit card app (impossible because you can't sign up to the app without a card!!) or fill out an online form which then specifically says not to use for anything to do with credit card applications.

So, absolutely stuck and will just forget about the application but would have liked to know what happened. Unless anyone has any suggestions.

Same here.

My take for what it's worth is that I pay off the full balance each month on all my credit cards and that is not the sort of customer they are looking for.

Ebe_Scrooge

inspectorperez said:

My take for what it's worth is that I pay off the full balance each month on all my credit cards and that is not the sort of customer they are looking for.

I'd be surprised if that, in itself, was the reason.  They like people who use the card regularly and always pay in full.  Sure, they're not getting any interest out of you, but they make plenty of money from the merchant fees they charge the retailer every time you use the card.  And a steady income stream with none of the hassle or expense of chasing you for payment is a sound business model.

If you don't use the card very much then that's a different matter - they incur a cost by providing you with a line of credit, and if you don't use it then they don't get much income from merchant fees.

superbigal

Lucky escape for Asda

WillPS

Ebe_Scrooge said:

inspectorperez said:

My take for what it's worth is that I pay off the full balance each month on all my credit cards and that is not the sort of customer they are looking for.

I'd be surprised if that, in itself, was the reason.  They like people who use the card regularly and always pay in full.  Sure, they're not getting any interest out of you, but they make plenty of money from the merchant fees they charge the retailer every time you use the card. 

No they don't. The merchant fees are between the retailer and their acquiring bank, the only portion which could get back to the card issuer is the interchange fees which are capped at 0.3% for UK cards used in the UK. Mastercard will also take part of that revenue.

Jaja are paying rewards to the value of 0.3% on all spend as well. Perhaps Asda give them a discount on the credit but even still this certainly won't be costing Jaja nothing.

There is no money to be made for Visa/Mastercard card issuers from "merchant fees".