At the weekend I applied for a Nationwide credit card as I want to build up my credit rating. I have 2 friends who work for Nationwide and they both told me that given my salary and lack of debt I wouldn't have a problem getting it.

So I applied, and was almost instantly declined. When I phoned to ask why they said they could not tell me but to contact Experian who are the company they use and I would be able to see my credit report.

Well I got it today and I am now even more confused than ever.



and on my accounts I have "In the last 36 months the number of status 1-2 (Repayments up to 3 months behind, bounced cheques, direct debits or standing orders have bounced 2 months in a row, over the overdraft limit for up to 3 months) is 0 and the number of status 3+ is 0 (more than 3 months behind etc)", my other account (which is my O2 contract) has the same thing but for the last 10 months (since I only opened it then). Both have "Satisfactory" status.

My address and previous address show correctly, I have no "Gone Away Information Network" (moving without telling companies that you owe money to) nor repossessions.

My final score is 772, which is about average, since I have no real credit, it says that the only negative factor is that I am not registered to vote at my current address but at my previous one, but that most lenders would expect only a small proportion of people with my credit rating to experience repayment problems.

So the only reason I can possibly see for being declined is that I was not a big risk, which is just ridiculous. Can anyone think of any other possible reason?

You should get a letter within 30 days detailing the specific reason, but I'd guess "Limited credit history" will be the reason. It's actually good to carry a balance on something long enough for your credit reports to reflect such. A revolving credit line (eg. credit card), auto loans, etc. are the best way to establish real credit. Things such as cell phones aren't really taken into consideration unless you don't pay them.

Maybe there's another bank with "looser" credit standards willing to take a chance? Worse case scenario, you establish a secured credit card, carry a small balance and pay it off for 6 months... then you should be golden.

Thanks, I know that a "revolving" credit line is a good way to establish a credit rating which is why I was applying for a credit card in the first place since I currently have nothing to "carry" a credit balance on. I have applied for a Barclaycard OnePulse instead, just wanted a card with the bank I am trying to move to so that it made things a little easier.

I'll keep an eye out for a letter explaining the reasons but since they said they can't tell me I wasn't expecting one.

I am considering buying a Macbook Pro in the next few months, do you think buying that on credit would be a good way to increase my rating?


It just annoys me that my brother, who earns less than half of what I do, is thousands of £ in debt and has debt collectors chasing him has had no problem getting credit in the past, hell he even got it on his 18th birthday yet I was turned down for credit once before (4 years ago) when I was earning about as much as he is now. It just feels that I am being rejected for not being an irresponsible jackass with my money.

That has to be irritating. Be careful now because if you apply for a credit card more than once in a short period of time, the chances of being decline increases significantly.

I believe it also depends on what credit card you apply for. A low interest credit card will be much harder to get than the ones with an average APR. I wonder if it could also be because you have 2 credit accounts open with no debt on them? Because they could be wondering why you are applying for a credit card when you already have 2 accounts which can be used instead. I read somewhere that this can be seen as a warning sign to lenders because they become wary that you will max them all out.

You would get some great advice at the moneysavingexpert.com forum so give them a try.

2 credit accounts just means my overdraft and phone contract according to the report since I have no other lines of credit, the only other account I have is a savings account.

It would help for sure but a credit card is better if you use it regularly. If the credit file shows that you are regularly borrowing credit and paying it back it will be good for your credit rating, particularly if you show borrow a large amount and pay it off quickly.



I think that most likely is due to timing. Until a few months ago it was easy to get credit but now the banks are really tightening their belts. People are finding it harder to borrow money now. Even the housing market is slowing down mostly because the banks are rejecting mortgages.

It could be that perhaps the interest rate on the card you applied for was low? Some companies are also more stricter than others. I remember reading a few years back that Capital One is a good place to start for those applying for their first credit card.

Keep in mind Lindy, he's in the UK, so credit laws may be different. Here, by law, they MUST send you a letter within 30 days explaining why you were denied (the company that denied you, not the credit bureau). I don't know that much about UK credit laws (but I know just about all I care to know about US credit laws).

You could try posting on one of my favorite sites - creditboards.com. They're very much geared towards the US, but they have tons of active users and I'd venture to guess several will know enough about the UK to give you advice.

@Jaime, generally (at least here) if you apply for a card that they determine they don't want to give you, they will offer you a "worse" card (e.g. higher interest rate) in it's place. The card you apply for often doesn't matter much.

I was in the same situation in the UK. Applied for a credit card from my own bank, who I have been with for 10 years and have never once gone overdrawn by any amount, and they refuse me. My brother who was thousands in debt could get any credit he wanted. Annoys the hell out of me that credit works backwards to how it should.

Hopefully that is the way here as well. When I unsuccessfully applied for one about 8 years ago I never received an explanation letter or alternative offers. All I was told was to go to Experian to look at my credit file but a lot may have changed over the years.

It's quite a game. It took me forever to get credit experience. I got a few offers from companies wanting to give me a card if I paid some annual and/or monthly fee. No thanks. My first real card was a Capital One card. Low limit, high rate, but no annual fees. I was pretty excited about it. Years later, after a car and a mortgage, I probably get at least one card offer a day.

The credit score thing is still a joke, though.

Capitol One is one of the worst cards to have. The are the devil when it comes to reporting on your credit report. They've been sued for it to no avail. Say you have a $10,000 limit with them. Great, is it reported as such on your report, probably not. Then when you use it, they make it look like it's maxxed out by how they report it. So even if you only have a $100 on the $10,000 it looks like it's maxed. The only way to get around this is too actually max it out one month and then pay it off. It's always best to buy stuff and pay it off that month instead of buying something big and paying it off over time. The credit card companies are forced to report your pay off rather them reporting your good payment history occasionally when you make proper payments.

Credit card companies aren't interested in people who are going to pay the balance off every month, they don't make them any money. The only people who make money for a credit card company is somebody who leaves the balance on for a while and pays interest. They're therefore MORE interested with people with debt, although they don't want people with too much debt.

I have two credit cards, my main spending one which I use for everything apart from my IPS hosting account. My second pays for my IPS hosting account and I pay it off (I have to pay the min. balance when the statement comes, but pay the balance off later) the month AFTER the bill comes so that the credit card company get 30/40p out of me each month. It makes it easier to get credit.

You build credit faster by paying it off every month. The credit card companies are forced to report that. Where as if you keep a balance, they don't legally have to update your credit report. Some update it more than others and it depends on the card and the company.

I'm not so sure, of course it may be we are talking different systems. Actually switched to keeping a balance rather than paying it off each month after a conversation with Dan, but my credit rating has gone up as a result. The companies need proof that they're going to make some money off you!

Keep in mind, there are differences between the US and the UK.

As for your score, I'm inclined to believe (and Fair Isaac, the ones that give you a true "credit score", state) that a balance of up to 10-20% is ideal. Anything below that and you aren't actually showing that you know how to manage your credit (just that you can obtain credit, which is no big deal). Besides that, if you aren't even utilizing 10% of your existing credit, many creditors will be inclined to believe you don't need any more credit as you aren't even utilizing what you already have. Anything above that and you appear to be getting in over your head.

There are vastly varying circumstances, and fixed loans (house, car, etc.) are much different than revolving lines of credit, but I'd say the above is probably what I would tend to believe given my experiences.

Thanks for the help guys, I eventually managed to get a credit card (from my current bank in the end) with a decent credit limit. My Experian credit rating has gone up to 885 points since I originally posted this topic

Still not on the electoral roll though, but it sounds like that is only published on the 1st December each year so I think I'll phone my local registration office just to make sure they actually received my form, would hate to have to wait another whole year for it to appear on there.

Dag 885? Is that on the same scale as credit scores over here? Stephen buy me some stuff...I'm good for it...

Did a quick check, sounds like they typically go up to 850 with US credit rating companies. Experian (the company I got my score from) goes up to 1000.

Anyway, can't buy you stuff, I have plans for (some) of my money

He's gonna buy me stuff.

I wanna pony.

Edit: Deleted