How long to have a credit card before applying for one with a better rate?

I ve had an aqua card since April and used it sensibly (about a 1/3 of my limit each month) and pay it off in full when I get paid each month, they offered me a higher credit limit three months ago which I accepted, but was wondering when do I apply for a second card to get a better rate or take advantage of having cash back of sorts?
Baring in mind,my sole reason for having credit cards is to improve my credit rating with the intention of us getting a joint mortgage in 2 years time.

Has your credit rating improved?

I ve had an aqua card since April and used it sensibly (about a 1/3 of my limit each month) and pay it off in full when I get paid each month, they offered me a higher credit limit three months ago which I accepted, but was wondering when do I apply for a second card to get a better rate or take advantage of having cash back of sorts?
Baring in mind,my sole reason for having credit cards is to improve my credit rating with the intention of us getting a joint mortgage in 2 years time.

I think newday cards (the owners of aqua), will only allow you to have one card with them. You can however get a credit builder credit card with capital one or vanquis, which are owned by separate banks. Assuming your credit reports are not bad, you could hopefully be accepted for one of these right away. But i would like to remind you that to get a mortgage, at least one of you needs to be earning full time. I am in a similar position with my wife.

BTW i was recently accepted for a barclaycard platinum, so i must be doing something right!

Taking out a second card will not necessarily improve your credit rating any further. Having a card with a sensible limit, having low credit utilisation (which obviously have if you've only used a third of your limit) and having a spotless payment history are more important. Your credit rating would actually take a small hit if you take out another card, as a credit search will be recorded. I would stick with managing one credit card well and, if you are looking to increase your score further, try taking out a different form of unsecured personal lending such as an overdraft or short term mainstream personal loan and manage that well.

I hadn't thought about having an overdraft,purely because my current account would charge to have one over £20 and interest free loans don't exist, do they? If it helped I would consider getting some furniture and paying that off over time?
My payment history is spotless since I turned 18 but my score is still considered "fair-good" although I know that's quite subjective,is it just a case of playing a long game and be patient as it gradually increases?

Essentially, yes. Furniture would be a good option, given it's short term fixed credit - you only need to meet the payments for 12 or 18 months and then you have a 'settled' account with a perfect payment history sat on your file for 6 years after the settlement date adding to your score. If you can show experience managing a range of credit commitments such as credit cards, overdrafts, personal loans, phone and utilities, then that's always going to produce a higher score than merely having lots of credit cards and paying them on time. As you know, there isn't really any such thing as a universal 'credit score' as each lender has their own criteria based on who they want to lend to so I wouldn't worry unduly about the exact score as reported by a credit reference agency - it's only a guide.


So long as you've checked the basics, i.e. you're on the electoral register, the information held is entirely correct, there's no linked addresses or financial associates there who shouldn't be there etc etc then you're doing everything right. The longer the accounts age with a good payment history, then the higher your credit score will go.

One other thing - I think you said you had a card from Luma? This is often a card associated with poor credit scores ( for those newly to the credit market, or those who've had payment problems in the past) so you might be advised to close that card account and open another with a more mainstream lender, such as your bank - it might just help, though this is more speculation than based on hard evidence.

Hope this helps.

That's very helpful thank you We plan to move soon, so a sofa on interest free credit could be easily doable. I had a student overdraft and used that well for two years then closed the account, all the utilities are in my name and the financial association with my fiance is correct (and shouldn't be doing my rating any harm, as he's 4 years older he has had more time to build a rating, hence the playing catch up as best as possible before we get a joint mortgage). The credit card is with new day, so you're right i could try and go with my bank, i was rejected for one with them last year, however at the time I was a student and i do now have a steady full time income paid into an account with them so hopefully that would play in my favour.

Yes, that sounds the most likely reason the bank rejected you last year. If you have a regular salary paid into the account, you don't have any payment problems such as unauthorised overdrafts/cheques or direct debits being returned unpaid etc then I'd be very surprised if they rejected you now! Best of luck.

Thank you No, i've never had a directed debit returned or unauthorised overdraft, so it's probably the income thing.

Yes, doubtless - you sound very clued up and on top of your financial commitments.

Essentially, yes. Furniture would be a good option, given it's short term fixed credit - you only need to meet the payments for 12 or 18 months and then you have a 'settled' account with a perfect payment history sat on your file for 6 years after the settlement date adding to your score. If you can show experience managing a range of credit commitments such as credit cards, overdrafts, personal loans, phone and utilities, then that's always going to produce a higher score than merely having lots of credit cards and paying them on time. As you know, there isn't really any such thing as a universal 'credit score' as each lender has their own criteria based on who they want to lend to so I wouldn't worry unduly about the exact score as reported by a credit reference agency - it's only a guide.


So long as you've checked the basics, i.e. you're on the electoral register, the information held is entirely correct, there's no linked addresses or financial associates there who shouldn't be there etc etc then you're doing everything right. The longer the accounts age with a good payment history, then the higher your credit score will go.

One other thing - I think you said you had a card from Aqua? This is often a card associated with poor credit scores ( for those newly to the credit market, or those who've had payment problems in the past) so you might be advised to close that card account and open another with a more mainstream lender, such as your bank - it might just help, though this is more speculation than based on hard evidence.

Hope this helps.

Whatever you do don't follow this advice. Banks judge your credit risk largely from the total credit you have available. Thus by all means attempt to get a new credit card with a mainstream account, but use that as to supplement the aqua card as opposed to replace it.

As I said already i have a barclaycard, and a total credit limit of £9110, despite only getting my first credit card two years ago. And I don't work, so i must be doing something right?

What are you talking about, this is utter nonsense! The more outstanding credit or available credit you have the lower your score becomes because each subsequent credit advance becomes more of a risk for non-payment as your debt to income level rises. And frankly if you've got a card with a £9,110 credit limit and no job you're not exactly responsible when it comes to credit! I'm also curious how you managed to get a card with such a high limit if you filled in the application form correctly - there is no way this would pass a standard credit scoring assessment.

outstanding and avaiable credit are two different things. My balance is now around £3000, with roughly £6000 available credit left over. A total of 9k available (when they are all pad off).

I used to subscribe to experian paid credit expert, as well as noddle and equifax (now clearscore), and it was this, experian, that told me that the total credit available, is what makes your score go up. The highest card i have s with marbles, another new day card, with a limit of £3300.

I understand where you are coming from. In that when i go in to my highstreet bank, they tell me to close down the credit cards, and reduce the limit. But this is not my experience.

This is totally incorrect. Having a high available credit limit reduces your credit score. Period. The point is that if you have high credit limits, even if you're not currently utilising them, there is the possibility that you could go out,max out all your credit cards and end up with a huge amount of unsecured personal borrowing. The best scores come from having sensible credit limits on only one or two cards and having a very low credit utilisation. The one thing which is recommended to do before applying for major credit like a mortgage is precisely to close down any cards which you're not using to reduce the amount of available credit you have. See this article which supports my point:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/cancel-unused-cards

You have now posted in this thread that you have a total available personal unsecured borrowing limit of at least £12,400 and no income. Does that sound like a good credit risk profile to a potential lender? If it's true, then it's got 'default' written all over it.

no my limit is about 9k not 12k, as i said earlier.

Credit scores are assessed by a number of factors, as you quite rightly recognised earlier. Do you really think Barclays would have accepted my online application for a barclaycard last month, without doing a credit check. and they gave me a limit of £1500, with reviews every six months. Do you really think they dish out credit cards without doing checks.

They do comprehensive credit checks, and look at the history of your spending and defaults, and missed payments (which i have had none) before determining whether to grant credit or not. But you already knew this?