Can't get a credit card

gadam · 20 November 2023 at 4:30PM

I am helping my wife build some credit but we're struggling. We have applied for 2/3 credit cards in recent months (even the ones where requirements are very low), and yet, she was declined. She is a homemaker so doesn't have an income. Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks

jlfrs01 · 20 November 2023 at 4:39PM

Perhaps take out a credit card in your name and add her as an additional cardholder? It won't help build her credit score but at least she'll be able to use a card if that's what is important to you/her.

CliveOfIndia · 20 November 2023 at 5:00PM

First question, why does she want a card? If it's just for the convenience of having a card then as above, just add her as an additional cardholder to your account.

If she has no actual income then getting a card can be tough. An oft-quoted mantra is to try her own bank - in the absence of any other data, they do at least have some internal data as to how she's been running her finances in the past.

Is she's struggling to get even a credit-builder card then see if she can start to build up some sort of credit history - a mobile phone contract, utility bills, that sort of thing.

But if she genuinely has no income of her own then she may find it hard to obtain a credit card. Think about it objectively - she could in theory amass a significant amount of debt then run off with the milkman, leaving the lenders out of pocket. I'm not saying this is a likely scenario, but lenders deal purely in figures and statistics, not emotions

gadam said:

We have applied for 2/3 credit cards in recent months

Don't go applying for any more for a while. Lots of hard searches in a short space of time make lenders very jittery, the inference being that you're desperate for credit and are unable to obtain any. Give it at least 6 months or so before she starts applying for anything else.

Check all 3 of her credit file, just to make sure there are no unexpected negative markers on there (there's a guide on the main MSE site to show how to obtain them all for free).