applied for lloyds credit card refused

2shoes

I have 3 cards John Lewis credit card (10K limit), Tesco club-card (£9K limit) credit card and an American Express Everyday (4k limit), total credit limit of circa £23K. Im retired on about £35k per annum. I hardly use the John Lewis which has £10 limit. I've had the Amex everyday for a year soon and made about £150 cashback. my plan was to get the cashback next month and cancel the Amex and hopefully apply for another in 2 years time. This cunning master plan involved me applying for a Lloyd's Ultra card with 1% cashback. They refused me online saying something like i have too much credit now or similar.

So my latest thoughts are end the Amex when i get the cash back. end the John Lewis so I will have only the Tesco Club-card Credit Card (£9k limit). I thought about asking Tesco to lower my credit limit to say £5k.

This I thought I will appear to a credit agency as a 1 credit card with a £5k limit.

I am unsure of the ways credit agencies advise credit card providers as the Lloyd's Ultra seems to meet my needs but i was refused so I would appreciate the forums advice please.

grannypep

If you close some of your existing credit cards, there is no guarantee you'll be accepted for a new credit card by the provider you closed the existing card with or a different provider. Closing a credit card has a lag effect in that it isn't always immediately reported to credit reference agencies. Also, lending criteria varies between providers and different providers also adjust their own lending criteria from time to time. It's a dilemma. If you bank via an app, many banks/some building societies provide access to your credit file by clicking through to see it and this may give you additional information. Some credit card providers allow customers to apply for an exchange of credit card. For instance, this could mean you have a standard credit card but would prefer their other one that has no overseas transaction fees. It depends what providers are offering at any given time. You are also generally entitled to appeal against a refusal to approve a credit card and have a human eye cast over the decision. You generally have to explain why you disagree with the decline decision and offer reasons why you believe the appeal should be granted. There may now be a "hard" credit check by Lloyds in your credit file. Applying for credit in more than one place in a short period of time can be harmful to your credit rating. I'd probably see what your credit rating is, click the button that says something like "what factors are affecting my credit score" or "how can I improve my credit score" and take it from there. I hope you get this sorted

peteuk

Lloyds may have done a search on your credit file, if you are a Lloyds customer they may have done an internal search. If they searched your credit file, it will be noted as such. As far as I am aware they do not record if the application was successful or not, but obviously if it was successful then a full credit history would be visible on your file.

Sign up for a free trail of your credit file, to see if there is anything else on there that may affect your application. Note that there is three main providers (checkmyfile will access all three) Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The credit agencies do not advise the credit card providers, this is done internally by the provider.

flaneurs_lobster

You've only mentioned credit cards, any application for credit will have checked all your current outstanding agreements.

So mortgage? Bank or other loans? Overdrafts? HP?

wiseonesomeofthetime

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6683452/applied-for-lloyds-credit-card-refused

I should not overthink it too much as there appears to be little rational by many a decision by lenders in my experience.

I applied for the Lloyds Ultra CC when it first came out, despite already holding 6-7 credit cards at the time, including two with Lloyds themselves, and was, as expected, declined. My available credit at that point was about twice my annual gross pension. I do not carry balances on CCs unless 0% purchases card.

July, for reasons I cannot recall, I tried again, and this time was accepted, despite taking on more 0% CCs in the intervening period, meaning they now said "yes" when my aggregate available credit limit was 2.5x my annual pension!

I transferred what I could of the credit limit on my other non-0% CC to the Ultra and have now closed that one, leaving Ultra as my main daily card now.

I am a Halifax and Lloyds Bank current account customer and saver though, so whether that was a positive factor in their decision-making, I don't know.

I don't recommend applying for the Ultra within the next six months though.

2shoes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82137819#Comment_82137819

Thank You for this reply. This rejection was a surprise to me. In my ignorance I supposed that closing two of my cards and lowering the credit limit on the one card left would create room for other credit cards.

2shoes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82137828#Comment_82137828

I have just done free check with Experian. It gave 1246 out of 1250 score. It showed 1 hard search in the last 12 months. This was most likely my application for Amex which was approved on 30 Sept 2025 on the day I applied on line.

2shoes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82138103#Comment_82138103

No mortgage loans or overdraft commitments. However could this have a negative effect on me credit wise.

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82138402#Comment_82138402

An effect yes, not necessarily negative.

2shoes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82138277#Comment_82138277

Guilty as charged for over thinking LOL. I have two Halifax current accounts for a number of years with no problem. I think your 6 months advice sounds wise thank you.

grannypep

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82138376#Comment_82138376

I am a person who worked in banking for 40 years. I speak from my experience. I only tried to be helpful to the OP. I have no desire to get into a disagreement with you. I helped countless people over the years build their credit score. On the occasion it was a young person perhaps going to further or higher education, I used to suggest they come back with their parent or guardian so they'd have an understanding of why it was helpful to build a credit score. I often then suggested when the parent/guardian was present the young person buy a book or a t-shirt or some other item on the credit card every couple of months and pay it off in full perhaps with a direct debit so they'd build their credit score but not pay interest. Many of these young people got mortgages some years later, as my own children did, by building their credit score in this way. I have no idea why you have said my posts, intended to help people, are AI. They aren't.