HSBC credit card application "dropped"

Shovelfish

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has heard of a credit card application being "dropped"?

I recently applied for an HSBC 0% purchase credit card following MSE's pre-approved eligibility checker which scored me at 100%.

When I applied, I wasn't approved immediately but received a text a couple of days later to verify my identity and address. Once submitting my driving licence as evidence, I then received a text a week later requesting me to call HSBC to discuss my application further.

When I called HSBC (several times), I was told my application was "dropped" because the formatting of my current address was incorrect and the underwriter was unable to score my application. According to the call handler, the address was missing a county. Please bear in mind, the application form does NOT have a county field option (I subsequently checked the form) and my driving licence also does not list the county in my address. I have also applied for other credit cards whilst living at the same address without any problems. When I queried this, they just kept repeating the same message that my application had been "dropped" and the underwriter has since corrected the address on my personal file and I now need to complete a new application form. I asked why they couldn't use the same application form since the address was not incorrect, just formatted incorrectly, I was told the application has been "dropped" and there's nothing that can be done about this.

Given several credit card applications in a short space of time never looks good, I asked how this would affect my credit file and score but was given different answers by different call handlers. However, the main message that I received was as my application wasn't rejected, just "dropped", it won't affect my score. Only after insisting on speaking to someone senior, they are now filing a complaint on my behalf and have submitted a request to remove the credit search on my file from the previous application (both of which will take up to 8 weeks to resolve). I'm not sure what that means for my credit score and applying for another card within the same month?

Interestingly, checking my Experian account - my current address is listed WITH the county. I've tried to change this but Experian search by postcode and auto-populates the fields so there's no way of removing this. I know from experience my address appears slightly differently (with or without the county and sometimes the county is different) depending on the search function. Either way, the address is not incorrect - postcode and first line of address match in all cases so don't understand the problem of the missing county, especially given HSBC don't even list this as an option to complete.

I find the whole thing utterly bizarre!! Has anyone else experienced a similar thing? And I was wondering what I should do next? Given this awful experience, I really do not want to bank with HSBC but fear applying for another credit card with a different bank won't look good on my credit file. Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you

MattMattMattUK

Shovelfish said:

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has heard of a credit card application being "dropped"?

I recently applied for an HSBC 0% purchase credit card following MSE's pre-approved eligibility checker which scored me at 100%.

When I applied, I wasn't approved immediately but received a text a couple of days later to verify my identity and address. Once submitting my driving licence as evidence, I then received a text a week later requesting me to call HSBC to discuss my application further.

When I called HSBC (several times), I was told my application was "dropped" because the formatting of my current address was incorrect and the underwriter was unable to score my application. According to the call handler, the address was missing a county. Please bear in mind, the application form does NOT have a county field option (I subsequently checked the form) and my driving licence also does not list the county in my address. I have also applied for other credit cards whilst living at the same address without any problems. When I queried this, they just kept repeating the same message that my application had been "dropped" and the underwriter has since corrected the address on my personal file and I now need to complete a new application form. I asked why they couldn't use the same application form since the address was not incorrect, just formatted incorrectly, I was told the application has been "dropped" and there's nothing that can be done about this.

It happens sometimes, I know there are a lot of problems with some Scottish addresses, but it can happen elsewhere.

Shovelfish said:

Given several credit card applications in a short space of time never looks good, I asked how this would affect my credit file and score but was given different answers by different call handlers. However, the main message that I received was as my application wasn't rejected, just "dropped", it won't affect my score. Only after insisting on speaking to someone senior, they are now filing a complaint on my behalf and have submitted a request to remove the credit search on my file from the previous application (both of which will take up to 8 weeks to resolve). I'm not sure what that means for my credit score and applying for another card within the same month?

Your credit score is a made up and meaningless number, you can safely ignore it. I do not see how raising a complaint is going to achieve anything other than wasting people's time (yours and theirs). They are unlikely to remove the search from your credit report as it is factually correct. 

Shovelfish said:

Interestingly, checking my Experian account - my current address is listed WITH the county. I've tried to change this but Experian search by postcode and auto-populates the fields so there's no way of removing this. I know from experience my address appears slightly differently (with or without the county and sometimes the county is different) depending on the search function. Either way, the address is not incorrect - postcode and first line of address match in all cases so don't understand the problem of the missing county, especially given HSBC don't even list this as an option to complete.

Sometimes different systems conflict, it happens.

Shovelfish said:

I find the whole thing utterly bizarre!! Has anyone else experienced a similar thing? 

It is not utterly bizarre, just a conflict between different computer systems and different record formats. Other people will have experienced similar situations, but that is entirely irrelevant. 

Shovelfish said:

And I was wondering what I should do next? Given this awful experience, I really do not want to bank with HSBC but fear applying for another credit card with a different bank won't look good on my credit file. Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you

What you should do next depends on what you want to happen next. Why you were applying for a new credit card etc. You can either apply elsewhere, reapply with HSBC or not apply anywhere else, the choice is up to you. How other banks will treat the previous search varies based on what else is on your credit report, if you are carrying a lot of debt then they will be more cautious, if you have a ideal report then they will likely not care, reality will be somewhere in the middle.