New to the UK: Getting a credit card

The_Insane_Baron

Hi everyone,

I moved to the UK in August 2024 and I have been struggling since then with the UK's credit system. A friend recommended me this forum for advice (already a while ago) and I have seen some threads.

So here are some details:

When I arrived amongst the first things I tried to do was get a Barclaycard, and the lady at the bank told me that it would not be possible to get it without 2 years of local addresses, however, other lenders might consider me with just 6 months.

Meanwhile I got an account with Monzo. I earn close to £60k a year, and I also started by transferring ~£50k from abroad to fill the account (and in my mind show stability). After a few back and forth with Monzo they agreed to give me a credit card around month 5 of being here.

Now my problem is that I cannot get any other credit card anywhere. I wanted to get an AMEX gold for the rewards, but was refused for "internal score failure", and they refuse to give more details. I have no morgages, no debts, no dependants. I don't see how I keep getting stalled whenever a credit score is needed. 

Is there anything I am missing?

(added detail: initially Experian had some of my details wrong which even led to rental car companies refusing to rent me a car for not being able to find me. This has been fixed now so I know that the credit agencies have my details correctly)

Cheers,

Someone who is going insane with this credit system

eskbanker

There aren't any shortcuts, it's just a case of gradually building up a UK credit history - eventually you'll perhaps be eligible for premium products but you have to 'walk before you run'.

CliveOfIndia

As a new-comer to the UK, you'll struggle to get a "prime" credit card for a while.  You'll need to evidence income, address stability, registration on the ER, all sorts of things.  You'll struggle to get one of the "prime" cards like BC or Amex Gold until you've built up a credit history.  Start off with one of the sub-prime cards, use it responsibly, then try again after a year or two.

DullGreyGuy

The_Insane_Baron said:

I moved to the UK in August 2024 and I have been struggling since then with the UK's credit system. A friend recommended me this forum for advice (already a while ago) and I have seen some threads.

So here are some details:

When I arrived amongst the first things I tried to do was get a Barclaycard, and the lady at the bank told me that it would not be possible to get it without 2 years of local addresses, however, other lenders might consider me with just 6 months.

Meanwhile I got an account with Monzo. I earn close to £60k a year, and I also started by transferring ~£50k from abroad to fill the account (and in my mind show stability). After a few back and forth with Monzo they agreed to give me a credit card around month 5 of being here.

Now my problem is that I cannot get any other credit card anywhere. I wanted to get an AMEX gold for the rewards, but was refused for "internal score failure", and they refuse to give more details. I have no morgages, no debts, no dependants. I don't see how I keep getting stalled whenever a credit score is needed. 

Is there anything I am missing?

(added detail: initially Experian had some of my details wrong which even led to rental car companies refusing to rent me a car for not being able to find me. This has been fixed now so I know that the credit agencies have my details correctly)

Where have you come from?
Who did you bank with there? Do they operate in the UK?

Some banks operate a country switching service, certainly Citi and AmEx do, HSBC certainly used to, however these may be limited to their premium tier customers but effectively they open accounts/cards in your new country of residence based on your past performance with them in your former country. 

Outside of that it's simply a case of building history. You can try and get say a contract mobile phone which reports to the CRAs. Until you hit 2 years pickings are going to be thin but after that things should improve. 

I know in the US you have an actual credit score, lenders ask the CRAs what your score is and then combine that with their own data and make a decision. The UK is totally different, the CRAs do market a "score" to consumers but this isnt what lenders use, instead lenders have their own algorithm that they run over the data in the CRAs and so one lender may see someone with a "good score" whereas another lender using the same data may see them as "poor" simply because of the difference in opinion between the lenders. 

enthusiasticsaver

I think you need to wait until you have the 2 years of a stable address.  I don't agree with going for sub prime cards.  What is the advantage of that?  It will not make one of the prime ones accept you.  You have a Monzo card so just use that responsibly for the next year and then do a soft eligibility check for a prime card. Do you rent or own your house?  You say having no mortgage is a good thing but in a lenders eyes it makes you more desirable as it shows you making payments when due. Same goes for debts.  Use the credit card and pay it off in full each month.  

Hoenir

Building credit history takes time there's no short cuts unfortunately.   

lr1277

Well there was one potential shortcut but unfortunately I think it is too late now.

If you have an account in good standing in your originating country, Amex have a system where they will open an account in your destination country without waiting for your credit file to build up. But you should have asked Amex in your originating country before you moved. Some details here:

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/customer-service/global-card-relationship/

If you are not aware, Amex is not as widely accepted in the UK as Visa and Mastercard nor as widelyh accepted as in the US. Depends on where you want to spend with your Amex. Though the fans of Amex will say it is accepted in many places and where it isn't, you could try Paypal linked to Amex.

Finally in terms of building up your credit file, one of the water companies that supplied me was on my credit file. I don't know which utilities update your credit file. Btw it was Anglian Water.

Nasqueron

enthusiasticsaver said:

I think you need to wait until you have the 2 years of a stable address.  I don't agree with going for sub prime cards.  What is the advantage of that? It will not make one of the prime ones accept you.  You have a Monzo card so just use that responsibly for the next year and then do a soft eligibility check for a prime card. Do you rent or own your house?  You say having no mortgage is a good thing but in a lenders eyes it makes you more desirable as it shows you making payments when due. Same goes for debts.  Use the credit card and pay it off in full each month.  

It builds up a credit history showing you can borrow, pay on time etc which will, in fact, help you become more attractive to prime lenders

daveyjp

You have a credit card, use it and eventually others will become available.

A current account with a large high street bank may improve your chances,  

PRAISETHESUN

I had the exact same issues when I first moved to the UK. Many lenders had issues accepting my foreign address history, so I was locked out of any credit until I was here for approx. 12 months and found a lender who was willing to lend. Even then, I was limited to "sub-prime" cards for the first year or two after that (my first credit card had a limit with a whopping £250 limit, even with a fairly strong income).

As above, there are no shortcuts unfortunately. A thin credit history is considered by many lenders equally as bad as poor credit history. Ultimately you need to demonstrate an ability to manage credit responsibly, spending and paying off your CC on time. After a year or two of this, you should hopefully find yourself becoming eligible for better cards with higher limits. Amex in particular are one of the more picky lenders, so you might find you struggle with them for a while.

gt94sss2

Depending on what country you lived in before moving to the UK, HSBC UK are willing to offer credit cards to people new to the UK - based on your overseas credit record.

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/credit-cards/