I finally got approved for a foundational credit card!
After about a full year of making a conceited effort, I finally got approved for a credit-building credit card, with no previous credit history (only occasional minor dips into student overdraft, all of which never incurred any charges). Yippee! 
I applied twice, 3 months apart, for a credit card that my soft check said I had a 90% approval for, and was rejected both times
I went into my usual bank branch and asked for some advice and a tender suggested I look at Experion and reviewing my own credit score. After that I signed up for Experion and used a bunch of their credit-improving stuff before I finally applied again recently (another 3 months later) and was able to get preapproved for a (different) credit card.
All of this for something I don't even want, lol! I just want to build my credit score so I have better odds of being approved for a mortgage in a couple years.
If you have a similar experience to me, keep trying (at least 3 months apart is usually recommended so you don't flag as having too many recent "hard checks") - in my case I think it was directly related to the fact I had a very long address history (my credit report couldn't quite keep up with where i'd been and when) because i've moved house a lot of times and didn't have a constant "parent's home address" while at Uni (as both my parents moved during my 1st year).
Because i'd recently moved a lot I also hadn't been picked up by the electoral roll yet (despite registering) as it takes a little while to go through, and that can also have an impact on your credit score.
Basically, if you find yourself in the same position as me, just be persistent and patient and consider doing a check on your own score with a service like Experion (or one of the others), since sometimes it's not obvious what's going wrong. I also used "Boost" which connected to my current account and was able to boost my score by proving some regular responsible spending habits. Now I can finally stop paying them £15/pm, lol. (Just in case there was any doubt I might be shilling for them!)
I applied twice, 3 months apart, for a credit card that my soft check said I had a 90% approval for, and was rejected both times
I went into my usual bank branch and asked for some advice and a tender suggested I look at Experion and reviewing my own credit score. After that I signed up for Experion and used a bunch of their credit-improving stuff before I finally applied again recently (another 3 months later) and was able to get preapproved for a (different) credit card. All of this for something I don't even want, lol! I just want to build my credit score so I have better odds of being approved for a mortgage in a couple years.
If you have a similar experience to me, keep trying (at least 3 months apart is usually recommended so you don't flag as having too many recent "hard checks") - in my case I think it was directly related to the fact I had a very long address history (my credit report couldn't quite keep up with where i'd been and when) because i've moved house a lot of times and didn't have a constant "parent's home address" while at Uni (as both my parents moved during my 1st year).
Because i'd recently moved a lot I also hadn't been picked up by the electoral roll yet (despite registering) as it takes a little while to go through, and that can also have an impact on your credit score.
Basically, if you find yourself in the same position as me, just be persistent and patient and consider doing a check on your own score with a service like Experion (or one of the others), since sometimes it's not obvious what's going wrong. I also used "Boost" which connected to my current account and was able to boost my score by proving some regular responsible spending habits. Now I can finally stop paying them £15/pm, lol. (Just in case there was any doubt I might be shilling for them!)
Reply 1
I want a credit card but after doing uni my credit history must be absolutely cooked I rarely spend money when at home so it was at 700 before starting university but now I have a student account in a 500 pound overdraft so yeah my credit history must be cooked
Original post
by shimmyjimmyfor2I want a credit card but after doing uni my credit history must be absolutely cooked I rarely spend money when at home so it was at 700 before starting university but now I have a student account in a 500 pound overdraft so yeah my credit history must be cooked
Have a look! It might not be as bad as you think. You can access your credit score for free, you'll just need to have some of your banking information on hand as they typically ask you some tricky security questions. And once you know, you can start doing something about it
(edited 10 months ago)
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