Unable to get a credit card. help please

penyekz

Hi, I'm new to this board and would like some advice please.

I currently hold cards from HSBC, Lloyds, halifax and barclaycard and they were approved when i was a student. I now need a card with a cashback program as I usually use it for all my shopping. I've applied to citibank, scottish widows, mbna, amex, and life-finance and they have all been declined and I'm just annoyed now.

I've check my credit file with checkmyfile.com and can't see anything derogatory in it. I've never missed a payment on anything!

Here's the unusual bit:
I'm a home owner and have a mortgage with scottish widows. I earn around £45,000 a year. And I've been a resident in the UK for about 10 years although I'm not a citizen.

The only thing I can see that is against me is that I'm not on the electoral roll as 1. I've just moved in a few months ago and 2. my house is a new build property and it takes some time for my name to appear there.

In my applications, I've sent in documents to support my case including pay slips, bank statements, mortgage statements, BT bills. I can't see why my application isn't approved... especially with scottish widows! Why would they approve a mortgage for a large sum but not on a measly credit card??

Any advice would be much appreciated.

penyekz

can anyone offer advice?

grumbler

penyekz wrote:

I currently hold cards from HSBC, Lloyds, halifax and barclaycard and they were approved when i was a student.

May be you have big credit limits on these cards. High level of available credit (as compared to your income minus mortgage payments) is against you.

I now need a card with a cashback program as I usually use it for all my shopping. I've applied to citibank, scottish widows, mbna, amex, and life-finance and they have all been declined and I'm just annoyed now.

Too many applications in a short period of time is bad. Take a break for at least 6 months. You can try to appeal against regections though.

I've been a resident in the UK for about 10 years although I'm not a citizen... The only thing I can see that is against me is that I'm not on the electoral roll as 1.

I know a lot of people with shorter period of residency that are not on the electoral roll and don't have any problems with CCs.

I've just moved in a few months ago and 2. my house is a new build property and it takes some time for my name to appear there.

This is important and bad even if the house was old.

Why would they approve a mortgage for a large sum but not on a measly credit card??

Difference between mortgage and CC is very big. For example, you can get a good mortgage deal with having no credit history.

HTH

jonesMUFCforever

How far apart were your applications for the ones that you were declined?
If they were close together this might have affected your chances because of the constant searches registered against your credit file.
Can you also disclose whether all your other cards are debt free or have they balances o/s?
Consider that some companies will only let you have one card from their 'family' of associates. If you have a LTSB card this might might be the reason why you can't get a Scottish Widows one as the companies are linked.
Can you also please confirm your nationality status as some banks have a definite rule that you have to be a UK citizen before they will lend to you. If you have been here 10 years and presumably, because you have a mortgage, you intend to stay consider applying for at least dual nationality.
As for cashback consider swapping your LTSB card for their new Amex rewards card where they award points for £ spent that build up for you to buy various high street vouchers.
Eric

grumbler

ejones999 wrote:

Can you also please confirm your nationality status as some banks have a definite rule that you have to be a UK citizen before they will lend to you. If you have been here 10 years and presumably, because you have a mortgage, you intend to stay consider applying for at least dual nationality.

It is clear: OP is resident and non-citizen. Some other countries do not allow dual nationality.
MBNA and Amex definitely do not have any rules against non-citizens. I don't know about citibank, scottish widows and life-finance though.

I fully agree with all your other points, just want to clarify that you meant Lloyds TSB Rewards American Express® Credit Card

penyekz

My credit limits are around £15-20000 in total from all the cards. Have recently cleared a balance transfer so now I don't have any outstanding balances other than my monthly expenditure and thats on a halifax card with a measley 0.25% cashback.

Amex & citibank applied a year ago. MBNA 5-6 months ago.

scottish widows applied 2 months ago and life-finance 3 weeks ago. I have tried to appeal to the majority of them to no success.

I've tried appealing to my applications but scottish widows and life-finance declined me anyway. Could it be because i hold a lloyds platinum and advance card? The lloyds amex card isn't as good as the rest in terms of cashback and i fear if i apply yet again, it may affect my credit rating.

The only "thing" i can think of is that my prior jobs required me to move every 6 months thus changing addresses but i thought this should be sorted since i own my own home now.

yorkshire_ria

You've applied for cards & mortgages relatively frequently. The searches will show on your credit reference agency file. From the lenders view, they won't know whether you've been approved or not. Data at this level is not shared due to data protection. So from the outside, it could appear that you're credit hungry and there's a risk your debts are running away. I'm not saying they are, just how your credit file may be interpreted at a distance. With lots of stuff in the papers about 'responsible lending' and bad debts, acceptance criteria are tightening.

The other factors, like not being on the electoral role, will also contribute.

The thing most likely to improve your chances is stop applying for at least 6 months & during this time, get on the electoral role. You can do this by going along in person to your local council. Hopefully, your house will also be showing on databases in 6 months & you'll stand a much better chance.

Apply before & I'd guess you'll get the current response. Hope this helps

jonesMUFCforever

grumbler wrote:

I fully agree with all your other points, just want to clarify that you meant Lloyds TSB Rewards American Express® Credit Card

Yes that's the one.
Eric

jonesMUFCforever

Quote from grumbler : It is clear: OP is resident and non-citizen. Some other countries do not allow dual nationality.

In that case as OP looks like he/she is sticking around why not apply for full nationality here.
Eric

CTT_2

Why not go for the Lloyds amex card which offers cash back and you can close your existing lloyds card and transfer credit limit to the cash back card. I did this and transferred my credit limit 15k to the new card and they have given me 0 percent on bt's for 6 months.

Joe_Bloggs

Ditch the cards you are not using as their credit limit hampers the credit limit that other cards could give you. You could request a lower limit from cards that have been held a long time but are now a liability. Wait a month for the closure/reduction of available credit to percolate through the system and perhaps apply for a 0% purchase card. If you transfer the equivalent amount of cash made with your purchase card to a good savings account you can easily beat the rate paid by a purchase rebate card.
J_B.