Girlfriend cant get a credit card.

[jimmy156]

Hello all,

Just wondering if any PH finance guru's can give some opinions as to why my girlfriend cant seem to get accepted for a credit card.

She is 24, has a mortgage, loan on car, has never missed payments on phone bills, direct debits etc, has been employed by the same company for 6-7 years and earns a decent wage. But has never been able to get a credit card!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

James

[bigandclever]

What do her credit reports have on them?

[Jazzer]

Might be something to do with an address or people associated with her.

Lots of applications over a short period of time will count against her.

As suggested though, she really needs to check her credit report.

Methinks she's run up debt in the past, much like my other half!!

[jimmy156]

Need to check the credit report, i have always found them a real hassle though tbh, but a necessery evil methinks.

Its not to do with past debts. She has never had any form of loan, credit card, store card etc, we have been together for most of our adult lives so i would know

[bigandclever]

The only thing you can do is get the reports and see if theres anything odd on them. Then appreciate that every lender will have their own scoring criteria, that you will never know the workings of.

[TRB]

I lived in a shared house with some other lads when I first moved to the area. One of them got in quite a pickle with his finances and it showed up on MY credit file. You can get them sorted out though, but you need to know in the first place.

[V8mate]

Jazzer said:

Might be something to do with an address or people associated with her.

'Same address' is no longer a credit reference item.

[bigandclever]

Address hasn't been linked for many, many years. Only a financial connection.

[Rickeh]

Maybe she's applying to cards with too low an APR? If she's struggling to get a credit card might be worth trying a card with a higher APR for people with low credit history?

Multiple checks in a short period is a good point too, credit companies hate that.

[Sarnie]

Debt to income ratio probably...

[jimmy156]

Sarnie said:

Debt to income ratio probably...

There is no debt other then a (joint) mortgage and finance on a car, both of which she was accepted for without problems. But she was refused credit cards before either (2 attempts before and one recently)

She earns more then i do and i have had no problems getting credits cards, i have a big students loan, overdraft, as well as other cards!

ETA: Rickeh, its a 0% purchase card she is after, most of which have circa 18% APR after the initial interest free period.

[Steffan]

Probability is that something on her credit report is causing the shyness with the card issuers. Check her credit file in the three agencies generally used in the UK. Several internet firms offer all three at once.

Short term I suggest applying for a poor history specialist credit card Vanquis or Capital One etc. The borrowing rate only matters if you intend to borrow. Use the card, pay off monthly and help build up the credit history.

Once you know what the problem is you can address that issue, This can take time hence my alternative specialist lender suggestion.

[acd80]

Is she registered on the electoral roll to the same address as she's applying for credit ? If she isn't, that's what will be causing the issues.

[Sir Bagalot]

As others have said get a credit report. The main two allow a 30 day free trial.

[TNTom]

www.noddle.co.uk free credit check, quite alot of PH users have recommended it. Give that a go.

[Terminator X]

Only costs 2 quid to get credit report, I got 2 recently just to check what's in there ... The amount of info they have will stun you!

TX.

[Pommygranite]

Maybe what she tells you and the reality are 2 different things. Maybe she's got past bad debts accrued after the mortgage was taken out.

[nosittap]

Sarnie said:

Debt to income ratio probably...

More than likely this.

Her credit repayment history is only part of the picture, she's probably failed the affordability part of the credit checks. If she has never had any previous loans or credit cards, she won't have much or a proven track record for the lender to make a fully informed decision either. Credit card lending criteria are much more strict these days, that's why payday loans are so 'popular' these days.

It looks like she has only been approved for secured loans (house and car), which have different underwriting methods.

Unless there is something adverse on her credit file then credit building credit card may be the way forward.

[big_boz]

Having worked in the credit card industry for 10 years,

Get a credit report (both Experian and Equifax do this quite cheaply)

Any number of factors can be contributing and no one will tell you what they are when they decline you so all you can do is check your report, and you could also get a credit score.

Has she tried to get a card with the bank who she has her current account with? chances are if they wont give her one at a decent rate then no-one will. You could go for one of the silly APR cards (Vanquis is one), but make sure it is always paid off in full, and use this to build some history, the fact she has not had a credit card in the past will be adverse to some lenders.

Being brutally honest though if she can't get accepted, more than likely the Risk is too high and she should not have one.......the root of the "Credit Crunch"

[Soovy]

jimmy156 said:

She has never had any form of loan, credit card, store card etc, we have been together for most of our adult lives so i would know