credit report fine, declined on two credit cards? where am i going wrong??!!!

vanquish

hi, i am off backpacking for 3 and half months on the 29th of june and so put in place a debit card and credit card to provide me with cheap spending overseas. following the advice of MSE i got a nationwide debit card and then applied for the abbey zero credit card and was declined, so failing that i applied for the post office credit card and was also declined.

i was really confused so have got my free credit report through experian and that seems to show nothing wrong, i have no late payments, only 3 accounts, with only 2 active, both in the red, (though only just as i moving money back from matched betting accounts!). i have always been good with money and always pay on time and in full.

i have stated that i earn 350-400 a week dont think that is too little but i am starting to get worried now as i only have a week and a half left before leaving despite applying for the cards 2 weeks ago. (v.slow response from abbey)

so can anyone see or suggest where i may be going wrong? also would a credit score through experian show anything else useful??? any help appreciated!

hur575

First of all experian will not show everything from my experience, you can join Equifax for free month and cancel at the end of month to see if there is anything else. Also be very careful to apply to a lot of credit in short time that look very bad. Check that everything is fine first, also are you register in electoral??

Swans1912

vanquish wrote: »

I have stated that i earn 350-400 a week dont think that is too little but i am starting to get worried now as i only have a week and a half left before leaving despite applying for the cards 2 weeks ago. (v.slow response from abbey)

It can take a fair while to hear back from the credit card companies depending on how busy they are or if manual checks are required. The Abbey Zero card is fairly new so I would expect for Abbey to have a big sack of applications to get through.

They may be nothing wrong with your credit score but you simply don't match the kind of customer they want.... either you will not earn them enough money or they don't feel comfortable lending to you.

vanquish

yes i am on the electoral roll but i did only apply for the debit card about a month ago. i only have another lloyds tsb debit card so guess that may look bad but its gona be a real hassle if i dont get one. not so much for the money but more for the the easy use of a credit card when i cant use anything else. i may use equifax but to be honest i cant imagine what else is wrong if these are all clear.

if i do not meet their requirements the only other option i have is to maybe apply for the nationwide credit card. which is the only good one left. anyone have any tips on how to appear more eligible when applying for credit cards or is talk of that blasphemy on this forum?!

help appreciated guys! cheers.

Swans1912

vanquish wrote: »

anyone have any tips on how to appear more eligible when applying for credit cards or is talk of that blasphemy on this forum?!

Nothing that will help you short term, if the money is not the problem how about picking up a pre-pay charge card?