Cant get a new credit card

Isthisforreal99

chiefcrust1983 said:

TransUnion score is good 610/710, MSE affordability score is excellent 77/100.

Ignore all that gimmicky stuff, no lender ever sees it. Go through your credit report with a fine tooth comb.

You say you are on the electoral register - is this reflected on your report. All payments showing as up to date? Nothing in the 'Public Information' section? How many hard searches.

For whatever reason there is something on your file that lenders don't like.

chiefcrust1983

Isthisforreal99 said:

chiefcrust1983 said:

TransUnion score is good 610/710, MSE affordability score is excellent 77/100.

Ignore all that gimmicky stuff, no lender ever sees it. Go through your credit report with a fine tooth comb.

You say you are on the electoral register - is this reflected on your report. All payments showing as up to date? Nothing in the 'Public Information' section? How many hard searches.

For whatever reason there is something on your file that lenders don't like.

Everything looks fine, all up to date, I have 1 hard search which is the car finance, I'll start using the credit card more (clearing when statement comes in) and try again in a few months

born_again

martinbainbridge1975 said:

something doesn't add up, maybe worth looking into the details on credit reports and look for any errors/issues

have you looked at mse credit club and credit karma which are linked to transunion

OP said
 income 35k, debt (car) 17k + £4K CC limit

So I'm going to say Affordability.

Isthisforreal99

born_again said:

martinbainbridge1975 said:

something doesn't add up, maybe worth looking into the details on credit reports and look for any errors/issues

have you looked at mse credit club and credit karma which are linked to transunion

OP said
 income 35k, debt (car) 17k + £4K CC limit

So I'm going to say Affordability.

As someone with £77k available credit (£14k utilised) on a £47k salary with zero issues getting new credit cards I wonder if I am unusual.

Nasqueron

Kim_13 said:

With a £4,000 limit, I would be putting all of your food shopping/insurances/general spending on them. Using £100 only and waiting for the statement could look like you don’t trust yourself to borrow a bigger figure and repay it, so if you don’t, why should a card issuer? Use £100 and pay it back is standard subprime credit behaviour, as they only have small limits and doing otherwise would put them over, 

Unless you have any evidence to support this, I call nonsense on this

I have a Halifax card from 20+ years ago that has no real benefits, I periodically put a small purchase on (limit is £7500) and switched it to the Clarity a little while back and again only use it abroad which is rare. I have had no problems getting credit like new BT cards, more BT offers etc. I don't buy for a second the idea not spending very much will make lenders think you don't trust yourself, more likely they see you as responsible and sensible for not spending a lot or going near your limit

born_again

Isthisforreal99 said:

born_again said:

martinbainbridge1975 said:

something doesn't add up, maybe worth looking into the details on credit reports and look for any errors/issues

have you looked at mse credit club and credit karma which are linked to transunion

OP said
 income 35k, debt (car) 17k + £4K CC limit

So I'm going to say Affordability.

As someone with £77k available credit (£14k utilised) on a £47k salary with zero issues getting new credit cards I wonder if I am unusual.

I think many older people are like you (& me). As rules were less strict years ago, & co's have never looked back & addressed this.
But these days, with more people claiming they should never have had the credit due to affordability, lenders are tightening up.

martinbainbridge1975

born_again said:

martinbainbridge1975 said:

something doesn't add up, maybe worth looking into the details on credit reports and look for any errors/issues

have you looked at mse credit club and credit karma which are linked to transunion

OP said
 income 35k, debt (car) 17k + £4K CC limit

So I'm going to say Affordability.

not so sure about the availability,  I have a lower salary than the above a bigger car loan and more than 4k credit limits

I am baffled by it, but I think the credit reports have something there potentially, helped someone a few years ago there where missed payments logged and he had the statement showing the direct debits coming out on the right date

could be anything

Kim_13

Nasqueron said:

Kim_13 said:

With a £4,000 limit, I would be putting all of your food shopping/insurances/general spending on them. Using £100 only and waiting for the statement could look like you don’t trust yourself to borrow a bigger figure and repay it, so if you don’t, why should a card issuer? Use £100 and pay it back is standard subprime credit behaviour, as they only have small limits and doing otherwise would put them over, 

Unless you have any evidence to support this, I call nonsense on this

I have a Halifax card from 20+ years ago that has no real benefits, I periodically put a small purchase on (limit is £7500) and switched it to the Clarity a little while back and again only use it abroad which is rare. I have had no problems getting credit like new BT cards, more BT offers etc. I don't buy for a second the idea not spending very much will make lenders think you don't trust yourself, more likely they see you as responsible and sensible for not spending a lot or going near your limit

Leaving a card largely unused is of course going to be a non-issue if you are demonstrating your creditworthiness using other newer cards, but I got the impression that the card in question was the OPs only card.

While maxing out your available credit is bad, barely using it is the same. 

The_Groat_Counter

I think the OP's issue is quite simple, and has already been pointed out by others (and noted by the OP)...

The OP had been paying off the credit card before the end of month statement had been generated - this, unfortunately for the OP, does nothing in terms of creating any 'goodness' in their credit file history. (The OP is far from the only person to have made this mis-step I should add!)

The best thing to do is to have the full monthly statement balance taken automatically by Direct Debit.

Just to say, this chap - Sasha Yanshin - made several pretty interesting videos about how UK credit cards work early in his YouTube days (4/5/6 years back), having previously worked in the credit card industry a fair bit. His YT channel subsequently shifted more towards investment chat/opinions etc (presumably to get the clicks/views - I guess a YouTuber's gotta relentlessly YouTube!), but I found those early videos quite enlightening about how credit cards work 'under the bonnet', ditto about how best to build up a good credit history.

This particular video is about the best time to pay off your credit card:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jovI7YeejE 

Nasqueron

Kim_13 said:

Nasqueron said:

Kim_13 said:

With a £4,000 limit, I would be putting all of your food shopping/insurances/general spending on them. Using £100 only and waiting for the statement could look like you don’t trust yourself to borrow a bigger figure and repay it, so if you don’t, why should a card issuer? Use £100 and pay it back is standard subprime credit behaviour, as they only have small limits and doing otherwise would put them over, 

Unless you have any evidence to support this, I call nonsense on this

I have a Halifax card from 20+ years ago that has no real benefits, I periodically put a small purchase on (limit is £7500) and switched it to the Clarity a little while back and again only use it abroad which is rare. I have had no problems getting credit like new BT cards, more BT offers etc. I don't buy for a second the idea not spending very much will make lenders think you don't trust yourself, more likely they see you as responsible and sensible for not spending a lot or going near your limit

Leaving a card largely unused is of course going to be a non-issue if you are demonstrating your creditworthiness using other newer cards, but I got the impression that the card in question was the OPs only card.

While maxing out your available credit is bad, barely using it is the same. 

As I said, unless you have evidence to support the claim that banks think you spending small amounts every month is you being a credit risk, it should be ignored. 

Maxing your card and paying back in full every month is not an issue as it demonstrates you can manage your spending well and the issuer gets lots of fees