I've got a credit card with a limit of £50 🥺

born_again

km1500 said:

are you sure that's the credit limit and not the annual fee ?!

Barclaycard Forward comes with a personalised credit limit based on what you can afford -

So no, not a fee. 

https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/forward

MrFrugalFever

Barclaycard are good in many ways but can be downright insulting in others such as in your case with an outrageously small credit limit.

I would try to not go over £20 spend per statement polling and after 6 months they will likely review and raise. Its a case of playing the slow game with them. Besides the laughable limit the biggest issue you will face from a lenders perspective is if you go over £20 spend you are then over 30% usage, if you spend all £50 and that polls on statement day then you are at 100% usage which does not work in your favour.

I have heard that upon initial application they can start with a very low limit and then a month or two later they will increase it, especially for someone of a young age (18-20) or with a very thin credit history.

daivid

The sensible suggestions have been made - controlled spending then see what is offered in 6months ish. Barclaycard allow you to request to change to another type of card e.g. 0% spend to Reward Card, if the Barclaycard forward allows this too in time you could get a very useful card. My silly suggestion is to frame it as a £50 limit is impressive!

maxvince

Thank you very much for your advice, it's been very helpful for me.  I'll strive to keep a relatively low level of expenditure, and guarantee timely repayment in order to acquire a higher credit limit. Once again, thank you for your valuable advice, I appreciate it greatly. 🙏😊

Nasqueron

MrFrugalFever said:

Barclaycard are good in many ways but can be downright insulting in others such as in your case with an outrageously small credit limit.

I would try to not go over £20 spend per statement polling and after 6 months they will likely review and raise. Its a case of playing the slow game with them. Besides the laughable limit the biggest issue you will face from a lenders perspective is if you go over £20 spend you are then over 30% usage, if you spend all £50 and that polls on statement day then you are at 100% usage which does not work in your favour.

I have heard that upon initial application they can start with a very low limit and then a month or two later they will increase it, especially for someone of a young age (18-20) or with a very thin credit history.

The utilisation thing is largely an invention of the CRAs and their "improvement" services to sell you stuff to change the mythical score. If a card is used to the limit and paid in full every month, particularly for a single starter card, the utilisation is neither here nor there, not least because OP would need to spend months, even a year or so, building up a solid record before worrying about any other card. I had warnings about utilisation periodically on the free CRA services because, shock horror, BT cards are filled initially. I've got over 90% on at least one card and still got another BT card fine from Tesco (also over 90% now) 

CliveOfIndia

Nasqueron said:

MrFrugalFever said:

Barclaycard are good in many ways but can be downright insulting in others such as in your case with an outrageously small credit limit.

I would try to not go over £20 spend per statement polling and after 6 months they will likely review and raise. Its a case of playing the slow game with them. Besides the laughable limit the biggest issue you will face from a lenders perspective is if you go over £20 spend you are then over 30% usage, if you spend all £50 and that polls on statement day then you are at 100% usage which does not work in your favour.

I have heard that upon initial application they can start with a very low limit and then a month or two later they will increase it, especially for someone of a young age (18-20) or with a very thin credit history.

The utilisation thing is largely an invention of the CRAs

This is spot on.  If you're carrying a balance from month to month then high utilisation is certainly a cause for concern - (a) because it's costing you a lot of interest and (b) because it gives the impression that you're living on credit.

But if you're always clearing the full balance every month without fail (which is what you should always be aiming to do for any card) then the utilisation percentage is of no concern at all.  It is, as you rightly say, only the CRAs that'll start dishing out dire warnings, and pretty much most of what they tell you can be ignored.

born_again

The most important thing here is to pay in full each month.

enthusiasticsaver

I agree with the above.  Credit utilisation does not matter if you are clearing it each month. What concerns the lenders is if the utilisation percentage is high and very little movement in balance over a period of time. I personally would not go over 90% as it would worry me if a stray spend took me over the limit. 

ForumUser7

CliveOfIndia said:

Nasqueron said:

MrFrugalFever said:

Barclaycard are good in many ways but can be downright insulting in others such as in your case with an outrageously small credit limit.

I would try to not go over £20 spend per statement polling and after 6 months they will likely review and raise. Its a case of playing the slow game with them. Besides the laughable limit the biggest issue you will face from a lenders perspective is if you go over £20 spend you are then over 30% usage, if you spend all £50 and that polls on statement day then you are at 100% usage which does not work in your favour.

I have heard that upon initial application they can start with a very low limit and then a month or two later they will increase it, especially for someone of a young age (18-20) or with a very thin credit history.

The utilisation thing is largely an invention of the CRAs

This is spot on.  If you're carrying a balance from month to month then high utilisation is certainly a cause for concern - (a) because it's costing you a lot of interest and (b) because it gives the impression that you're living on credit.

But if you're always clearing the full balance every month without fail (which is what you should always be aiming to do for any card) then the utilisation percentage is of no concern at all.  It is, as you rightly say, only the CRAs that'll start dishing out dire warnings, and pretty much most of what they tell you can be ignored.

So it’s fine to max out a credit card as long as you pay it in full upon the statement being produced?

CliveOfIndia

ForumUser7 said:

CliveOfIndia said:

Nasqueron said:

MrFrugalFever said:

Barclaycard are good in many ways but can be downright insulting in others such as in your case with an outrageously small credit limit.

I would try to not go over £20 spend per statement polling and after 6 months they will likely review and raise. Its a case of playing the slow game with them. Besides the laughable limit the biggest issue you will face from a lenders perspective is if you go over £20 spend you are then over 30% usage, if you spend all £50 and that polls on statement day then you are at 100% usage which does not work in your favour.

I have heard that upon initial application they can start with a very low limit and then a month or two later they will increase it, especially for someone of a young age (18-20) or with a very thin credit history.

The utilisation thing is largely an invention of the CRAs

This is spot on.  If you're carrying a balance from month to month then high utilisation is certainly a cause for concern - (a) because it's costing you a lot of interest and (b) because it gives the impression that you're living on credit.

But if you're always clearing the full balance every month without fail (which is what you should always be aiming to do for any card) then the utilisation percentage is of no concern at all.  It is, as you rightly say, only the CRAs that'll start dishing out dire warnings, and pretty much most of what they tell you can be ignored.

So it’s fine to max out a credit card as long as you pay it in full upon the statement being produced?

Absolutely.

OK, perhaps it's a good idea not to max it out completely, purely to give yourself a little bit of buffer-space for something unexpected.  For instance, making a purchase which unexpectedly gets treated as a cash-like transaction and which incurs a fee.

But in terms of the effect on your credit history yes - spend as much as you like, as long as you absolutely, definitely, always repay it in full every month (after the statement is produced but before the "payment due" date, which is typically around 3 weeks or so later).

There's even an argument to say that the card company likes you to use the card a lot.  They'll be making money on every transaction you make by way of the percentage they charge the retailer, even if you personally pay them nothing (no interest or fees or anything).  Although, obviously never ever spend more than you can afford to repay when the bill comes in !