Pre Approved, Maybe?

tomxlisa

Kept getting emails from capital one saying I’d been pre approved for a classic or balance transfer card, think it’s cause I did a quick check a few months back maybe, anyways I wasn’t interested but they kept sending the emails so I decided to go for the capital one balance transfer card as it was 6 months interest free I could move some money too it and save that way, so I applied and when I submit the application the website errored on me so instead of trying again I called them the next day to see if it had gone through which it had but they are saying it’s under review, I’m guessing this is a classic case of your pre approved until we delve deeper into your credit report and then maybe we won’t offer you a card after all type of case?. 

cymruchris

tomxlisa said:

Kept getting emails from capital one saying I’d been pre approved for a classic or balance transfer card, think it’s cause I did a quick check a few months back maybe, anyways I wasn’t interested but they kept sending the emails so I decided to go for the capital one balance transfer card as it was 6 months interest free I could move some money too it and save that way, so I applied and when I submit the application the website errored on me so instead of trying again I called them the next day to see if it had gone through which it had but they are saying it’s under review, I’m guessing this is a classic case of your pre approved until we delve deeper into your credit report and then maybe we won’t offer you a card after all type of case?. 

Pre-approved doesn't actually mean guaranteed. There's always small print - and in this case it's 'subject to final checks'. So they would have based their offer on the limited information they had about you, which on a full application would have allowed them to see more detailed information and then make a final decision.

Normally pre-approved does end up accepted - but there are exceptions.

Best off hanging on a few days and see what comes.

Volcane

In all but one case over the years I’ve been accepted when pre-approved but as said above it’s no guarantee.

its an industry secret but I’d love to know what extra info a hard check uncovers as opposed to a soft check.

tomxlisa

I’ve just had an email saying my card is on the way so assuming it got accepted in the end, I’ll have to call them tomorrow as I applied for the balance transfer card and I did put in the quick check how much I wanted to transfer and it said I was pre approved so I’m guessing for that amount as it says on the capital one website they will tell you if your balance amount is accepted before you apply so im hoping I haven’t got some rubbish low £200 limit as that’ll be no use to me and they might as well keep the card. 

CliveOfIndia

tomxlisa said:

im hoping I haven’t got some rubbish low £200 limit as that’ll be no use to me and they might as well keep the card. 

If the new card offer is at 0%, or at a substantially lower rate than your current debt, it's usually still worth transferring what you can - you'll still save yourself some money in interest payments.

I'll caveat that by saying that if the offer is only for 6 months and there's a balance transfer fee to pay, then you'll need to do the sums - any savings may be marginal at best.  But I guess every little helps, as they say

cymruchris

Also, applying for a card, getting it, and immediately closing it has a short term negative impact on your credit history. Other lenders won’t know who closed the account and why - only that it was closed as soon as it was opened. It might lead other lenders to think capital one discovered something nasty and pulled out. 

Better to keep the card for a year whether you use it or not. 

Nasqueron

Volcane said:

In all but one case over the years I’ve been accepted when pre-approved but as said above it’s no guarantee.

its an industry secret but I’d love to know what extra info a hard check uncovers as opposed to a soft check.

It's not an industry secret, it's freely available on the CRA sites

Soft check - basic look at certain top level info in a restricted fashion, including for employers, ID checks etc, not visible to other lenders that you have been checked as there is no outcome as you haven't applied
Hard check - full examination of all data on your credit history, shows to other lenders that an application was done including acceptance or rejection

https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/guides/searches-and-credit-checks.html

tomxlisa

Called them today and it’s a pathetic £200 what they think I can do with that on a balance stranger card is beyond me, I even put in what balance I needed on there so called quick check which says it’ll let you know if the balance you want to transfer is approved and it didn’t say no so guessed it was but she said once they do a hard check it’s then determined so basically the quick check thing and the (we will let you know if your balance you want to transfer is approved) is absolute rubbish, I’ve told her I’ll keep the card and marge it with my other capital one card instead of closing it completely and losing the £200, I suppose that was the hard check was worth it, or maybe I can merge my other capital one card with the new one making the £200 limit much more, and then I can use the 0% balance transfer option for my other cards, I wonder if I can do that, can’t see why not?. 

CliveOfIndia

tomxlisa said:

Called them today and it’s a pathetic £200 what they think I can do with that on a balance stranger card is beyond me

Don't put a personal slant on in.  It's not some person that "thinks" £200 is a useful limit or not.  They just run your data through their algorithms and the computer spits out a figure, end of story.

tomxlisa said:

I’ve told her I’ll keep the card and marge it with my other capital one card 

maybe I can merge my other capital one card with the new one making the £200 limit much more

I wonder if I can do that, can’t see why not?. 

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "merge".  You can't usually just take the available balance from one card and add it to another, if that's what you're thinking.  I guess there's a possibility they may do it manually if you close one of the cards.  Let's say you've got £1000 limit on your existing card and £200 on the new one - if you close one of them, they may be prepared to increase the limit on the other to be £1200.  But if their systems say that the maximum total credit they're willing to give you is £1200, there's not a lot you can do about it really - short of looking at other card providers.

tomxlisa

They normally let you merge the credit limits I’ve already done it with a capital one partner so hopefully they let me do it again, but yeah just annoying as £200 isn’t much use to me and I did put in the checker how much I needed and it did say it would say yes or no to the amount needed before doing a hard check, I would never had gone through having another hard check if I knew it had been £200 wouldn’t of been worth it, is what it is though I guess.