First credit card suggestions

[FearlessTraveller]

Not sure this is the right thread to post it, but I digress.

I am looking to apply for my first Credit Card, after pushing back on this decision for a while now.

At the moment, I’m in the final year of my degree, and about to begin a part time job to boost my finances.

In nature, I’m not a big spender. The only recurring expenses I currently have are a BNPL plan (which I’m due to pay in full by the end of next month), my phone bill, Spotify subscription, grocery shopping etc. – and occasional expenses (plane tickets, night out with friends, uber eats etc.)

Personally, i feel that the (free) Barclaycard avios ia more suited to my needs, mainly because of the fact that it is widely accepted, compared to AMEX) and potential of Avios earning.

[AJA]

Which bank do you have your current account with? That would probably be the easiest to apply for since they already know you. Also where do you do the majority of your grocery shopping? If it is at Sainsbury’s you may wish to consider applying for the Nectar Amex card as that will also give you the option to convert Nectar to Avios or just spend in Sainsbury’s.

Otherwise I think that the Barclaycard Avios is probably a better bet than the Amex Avios card as the Barclaycard is better suited to the single traveller with the upgrade voucher although Amex now allows something similar with their card in that you can use the companion voucher to get half the Avios back. The trouble with the free BA Amex card is that it requires £12k to get the companion voucher and it only allows you to book economy tickets and is only valid for 12 months from issue.

[FearlessTraveller]

I currently have a student account with HSBC, and about to open an account with Chase UK (For the 1% cashback and savings).

When I converted my normal hsbc account to a student one, I also applied for the student credit card they offer,but was denied and never re-applied.

My grocery shopping is split between Lidil, Tesco and the occasional item at Sainsburys.

Also, could I eventually use the (free) Barclaycard alongside Curve for purchases abroad?

[YC]

Not sure what the likelihood of acceptance is for a reward credit cards (high APRs) if you are just starting to get some income. Barclays also seem a bit stricter on income verification.

However, if u can swing it, get the barclays plus card and time the card application with any large bills u can pick up for your family/friends. This way u can get the large sign up bonus. Then downgrade to the free card. It should cost you £60 for 25k avios. Redeem 7.5k at sainsbury/argos and u break even on your £60 outlay.

What I have observed is that those who collect slow and steady end up with a relatively small pot after 2-3years. They then try to see what value they can get and realise its peanuts for a few years of collection and give up on this hobby all together. Sign up bonuses and referrals are key in gaining that initial momentum.

[memesweeper]

@yc provides good advice. Look at your spending: how much can you put on a credit card and pay off in full each month? Only sign up for a card with a good bonus which you know you can hit without spending excessively.

You may want to wait for “outsized” bonuses to be advertised on this site. It’s a long game building up a big balance, and double sign up bonuses can really help. Check this site daily, or sign up for the email bulletin.

The chase debit is really good if you want to start a “travel fund”. Send round-ups and your 1% into your future holiday pot. No point waiting for this, there’s no sign up bonus so you may as well get one immediately.

[marshy11]

My son had a student account with HSBC and I told him to immediately apply for the CC from HSBC (wasn’t a student version). He was accepted and we told him to put through £x per month and pay it via direct debit from his HSBC current account. When his education finished he applied to First Direct for a bank account – via their generous offer of switching. You have reminded me that I need to get him onto another card now. Purely for exploiting the offers of course!

Have you thought about moving your student HSBC to First Direct, gaining the switch fee and applying to them for a CC. FD are a division of HSBC.

The offer is currently £175, there may be better ones available. But perhaps contemplate a switch arrangement and a cashback/avios card from there?

https://www1.firstdirect.com/banking/switching-bank-accounts/

[WillPS]

First Direct require an average monthly pay in of £1000 pm, which a final year student is unlikely to be able to satisfy.

Also the OP isn’t looking for a new current account – be a bit daft to fill a credit record with searches when the OP has a reward credit card in mind.

OP – I would recommend you to apply for the HSBC Student credit card – they are one of only 2 banks that offer a specialist product now, be silly not to use it. Automate a payment to Spotify or even just a regular £10ish Amazon top up. Pay in full by direct debit.

Barclaycard are very unlikely to accept you until you have a salary, so I would make your mission to make yourself as creditworthy as possible when you get there. You can also do things like making sure you use a mobile network who report to your credit record.

[comeocome]

Presumably OP’s credit record is not the best, no offence, (limited salary as a student), what’s the likelihood that Barclaycard will accept him? However, his credit record is not poor either, as in not recovering from a bankruptcy?

Apologies if this is a pretty dumb question, as I am also new to this game of credit.

[comeocome]

WillPS wrote:

First Direct require an average monthly pay in of £1000 pm, which a final year student is unlikely to be able to satisfy.

Also the OP isn’t looking for a new current account – be a bit daft to fill a credit record with searches when the OP has a reward credit card in mind.

OP – I would recommend you to apply for the HSBC Student credit card – they are one of only 2 banks that offer a specialist product now, be silly not to use it. Automate a payment to Spotify or even just a regular £10ish Amazon top up. Pay in full by direct debit.

Barclaycard are very unlikely to accept you until you have a salary, so I would make your mission to make yourself as creditworthy as possible when you get there. You can also do things like making sure you use a mobile network who report to your credit record.

Which mobile network do you have in mind?

Obviously a contract should count, but I personally don’t want to be bound a contract, and I don’t see much value switching from pay as you go to a monthly cost (the data allowance is the same/ highly similar, and I don’t need a new phone). Can I just set up a direct debit for a pay as you go sim, and will that contribute to my credit record? Thanks!

[Andrew.]

comeocome wrote:

WillPS wrote:

First Direct require an average monthly pay in of £1000 pm, which a final year student is unlikely to be able to satisfy.

Also the OP isn’t looking for a new current account – be a bit daft to fill a credit record with searches when the OP has a reward credit card in mind.

OP – I would recommend you to apply for the HSBC Student credit card – they are one of only 2 banks that offer a specialist product now, be silly not to use it. Automate a payment to Spotify or even just a regular £10ish Amazon top up. Pay in full by direct debit.

Barclaycard are very unlikely to accept you until you have a salary, so I would make your mission to make yourself as creditworthy as possible when you get there. You can also do things like making sure you use a mobile network who report to your credit record.

Which mobile network do you have in mind?

Obviously a contract should count, but I personally don’t want to be bound a contract, and I don’t see much value switching from pay as you go to a monthly cost (the data allowance is the same/ highly similar, and I don’t need a new phone). Can I just set up a direct debit for a pay as you go sim, and will that contribute to my credit record? Thanks!

A Credit Record is a funny old thing. In the early days, when what became Experian, was set up by Great Universal Stores to assess the credit lines for catalogue customers – having a landline influenced the decision making.

A Direct Debit is merely a method of payment, how you pay for something doesn’t affect your credit history. It’s the fact that a telecoms company is giving you a line of credit that influences your history. Taking out a 12 month SIM only contract will create that record. It will show a contract being taken out by you at your address, and a record of payments being made.

Some other utilities also influence a credit history. Thames Water appears on mine (along with BT for Broadband and EE for Mobile.) It’s a real shame that local authorities don’t submit Council Tax payment records to the Equifax, Experian etc. It would probably be really helpful to lower income people who work hard to pay their bills on time (and catch out a few Councillors who are sloppy with their bills).

[FearlessTraveller]

comeocome wrote:

Presumably OP’s credit record is not the best, no offence, (limited salary as a student), what’s the likelihood that Barclaycard will accept him? However, his credit record is not poor either, as in not recovering from a bankruptcy?

Apologies if this is a pretty dumb question, as I am also new to this game of credit.

I have good credit overall (lower 900’s with Experian and upper 600’s with Clearscore), apart from 3-4 missed payments over the past 5 years.

From reading the replies above, it seems that I shot a little bit too high in expectations for something like my first CC.

(Also, I apologise for not expanding on my current credit status)

[FearlessTraveller]

marshy11 wrote:

My son had a student account with HSBC and I told him to immediately apply for the CC from HSBC (wasn’t a student version). He was accepted and we told him to put through £x per month and pay it via direct debit from his HSBC current account.

Seems like an option, since I read that the credit limit on the student CC is low (£500 if my memory serves right)

[Reney]

FearlessTraveller wrote:

comeocome wrote:

Presumably OP’s credit record is not the best, no offence, (limited salary as a student), what’s the likelihood that Barclaycard will accept him? However, his credit record is not poor either, as in not recovering from a bankruptcy?

Apologies if this is a pretty dumb question, as I am also new to this game of credit.

I have good credit overall (lower 900’s with Experian and upper 600’s with Clearscore), apart from 3-4 missed payments over the past 5 years.

From reading the replies above, it seems that I shot a little bit too high in expectations for something like my first CC.

(Also, I apologise for not expanding on my current credit status)

3-4 missed payments 😱, set a direct debit if you can’t remember to pay them. Surprised your score is as high as it is with a history of missed payments.

[WillPS]

FearlessTraveller wrote:

comeocome wrote:

Presumably OP’s credit record is not the best, no offence, (limited salary as a student), what’s the likelihood that Barclaycard will accept him? However, his credit record is not poor either, as in not recovering from a bankruptcy?

Apologies if this is a pretty dumb question, as I am also new to this game of credit.

I have good credit overall (lower 900’s with Experian and upper 600’s with Clearscore), apart from 3-4 missed payments over the past 5 years.

From reading the replies above, it seems that I shot a little bit too high in expectations for something like my first CC.

(Also, I apologise for not expanding on my current credit status)

That score is meaningless and you’d do well to completely ignore it. Only the content of the credit record itself is relevant when making a credit application.

[WillPS]

comeocome wrote:

WillPS wrote:

First Direct require an average monthly pay in of £1000 pm, which a final year student is unlikely to be able to satisfy.

Also the OP isn’t looking for a new current account – be a bit daft to fill a credit record with searches when the OP has a reward credit card in mind.

OP – I would recommend you to apply for the HSBC Student credit card – they are one of only 2 banks that offer a specialist product now, be silly not to use it. Automate a payment to Spotify or even just a regular £10ish Amazon top up. Pay in full by direct debit.

Barclaycard are very unlikely to accept you until you have a salary, so I would make your mission to make yourself as creditworthy as possible when you get there. You can also do things like making sure you use a mobile network who report to your credit record.

Which mobile network do you have in mind?

Obviously a contract should count, but I personally don’t want to be bound a contract, and I don’t see much value switching from pay as you go to a monthly cost (the data allowance is the same/ highly similar, and I don’t need a new phone). Can I just set up a direct debit for a pay as you go sim, and will that contribute to my credit record? Thanks!

The main networks (EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three) will all report to credit reference agencies on Pay Monthly contracts. PAYG/pre-pay will not report as they are not a line of credit.

MVNOs (Virgin, Sky, Asda, Giffgaff, Plusnet) are a mixed bag – generally if you pay upfront for a bundle or package ala Giffgaff then that won’t appear (you’re not opening a line of credit, you’re pre-paying for a set service), but if you are billed for service after you’ve used it then it should appear somewhere.