I just tried to apply for the coles no annual fee master card, and got rejected. It was the fist time I have ever applied for a credit card.
I have never had anything on credit before in my life (so should have no credit history). My income also exceeds the minimum income necessary for the card ($25k).
What did I do wrong? Is there anything I can do about this? Does this mean that no other credit card provider will accept my application?
Thanks heaps for the help Ozbargain.
What CC you are using? Is it free forever or just first year?
Same boat here. I use cc for reward points. Only spend what my savings allows me to.
I find cc easier with transactions than cash as I don't need to wait for the cashier to give change.
You need a credit card, good luck hiring a car or staying in a decent hotel without one.
No idea why they wouldn't grant it, you could always try somewhere else, maybe Coles in particular is pretty strict. I got one on a 20k income, while renting, at 18, with a 5k limit only 5 years ago with NAB. I would likely be homeless right now if I didn't have that safety net when I needed it a couple years ago.
Just to share you my experience, I applied for CBA student credit card when i was at uni with a measely 18k and a limit of $500. Maybe that would be a good starting card for you. Theres no fees if you're a student.
Credit cards doesn't mean high debt if you're smart with it. Its just a method to increase cash flow. Always pay the closing balance in full. The commbank app is pretty good and tells you have much you owe for that statement.
They kept offering limit increases if you opt in and upgraded me to gold after 2-3 years. Now I just use it for the free travel insurance.
try one with free annual fee from the big banks. easier to get thru.
i got my first one from anz when they had a stall in westfield, the salesperson was offering just about anyone who did not look like under 18 y.o.
Yup this, they offer it to anyone over 18 who has a job with reasonable pay, even if you're casual (got offered one by St George when I was 19YO applying for a savings account for casual work)
I got my first credit card application in a similar fashion. I wasn't even looking for one and a sales lady ended up talking me into it. My first job at the time wasn't starting for another couple months, I didn't know what my salary was going to be and I was young and had never done a budget in my life so didn't even know what my expenditure was either. The sales lady made these details up on my application after I told her I didn't know (she said she picked over all the minimums so it would definitely go through).
When I told her I was worried because there might be inaccuracies, she said if anything came up (like my job offer falling through or something) I could just call them and cancel easily and there would be no repercussions because it came with some free credit and the fees were waived… looking back i should have been a bit more skeptical.
I remember the good old days when ANZ were far more unscrupulous and gave me a credit card with a $14K limit on it when I was a student staking shelves.
I remember getting a credit from commbank when I was a uni student whose sole income was Austudy. Though I only asked for a credit limit of $300, (they gave me $800.)
Staking shelves is a niche profession.
By staking shelves I meant scoping out what I could stuff down my pants and fill my pockets with
Tell coles to f… off and don't use credit cards.
Coles is painfully hard to get credit card approved..for some unknown reason…
I could get 15k limit with Virgin, but Coles rejected my application (applied around same time), so from then on I just say F coles!
i know a guy,
he is 20; uni student; student visa expiring soon;
casual employment.
Get approved by Coles.
Normally, the information most banks care about is your income. Even though they will provide a minimum income requirement, if your income is just slightly above the minimum, they will probably not accept your application. The main reason your application got rejected was probably due to their credit card application system thinks you won't be using the credit card much (in terms of total turnover) based on your income. Quoting a low expense figure - $200 per month made your application even less attractive (and in a way confirmed their stupid system's calculation method is working). You don't spend much so you probably won't be using the card much. For credit cards, you want to show that you have substantial monthly income and you spend a fair amount. The main issue is the income level.
It might be best not to keep on applying other credit cards right away because the new credit card provider probably will know the other credit card provider rejected your application. Wait till you have a larger income before applying for another one. Banks do offer bank cards with VISA or MasterCard debit card facility. There are prepaid credit cards as well.
I didn't read through the whole thread.. but I think credit cards in general are getting harder to apply for. Got a few thousands approved for CBA in the last ozbargain $500 (get $250 cashback) spend thing.
Yet tried to get a free credit card as part of my complete home loan package with bankwest and got knocked back. I don't know if the people there did a crappy job of my application but i tried 2 or 3 times with different factors, even taking out all my credit cards and the lady said it didn't service.
Yet every month I know i have xxx amount of dollars free. Yet she said i was -$2000 for the year and a few other general 'doesn't meet criteria' style msgs, but no way of telling me why specifically, or how they calculate the negative servicability.
Have a standard mortgage so obviously they must be putting really high interest rate %'s when testing servicability. But in general I think the crack down is on… either that or bankwest are real pains. WOn't know till I try an alternative bank.
Only went with bankwest as my home loan package was entitled to a free card, and i really want a non amex (mastercard/visa) card with reward points when you spend. THe current 28 degrees is point-less, so alot of wasted spend not getting reward points. That and these cards come with free travel insurance. But so far they all have annual fees… although i hear some good sweet talking can have them waived?
Wow, I had no idea people here were so incompetent at managing money! (The only reason to be so against credit cards)
I did too, applied 3 months later and they gave me more credit than I earned in a year at that time. I reckon the whole "credit rating" is just a random number generator.
Just because you meet the minimum income (barely) does not gaurantee you will be accepted.
Having a credit card when you only earn $25k is not the best idea.
That being said, I am quite sure Coles is less strict than Woolworths. I applied for Coles and still got it despite having three inequiries on my report (even though two of those three were duplicates and should not have been showing). I applied for $1000.
The reason you got rejected was very likely your income. Someone with $25k income should not have a credit card at all, even the lowest limit.
Celebrate…
Don't worry too much about it.
I got my first credit card application rejected because I was student at a time with no income and I only applied because they invited me to, so when they called me again to offer credit card I told them straight out to stop calling me if they're just gonna reject me anyway, they suggested I'd apply again and I did, for some reason it went through the 2nd time. Go figure.
Same thing with some upgrade I tried to get, applied and got rejected. Two months later I got an invitation for the same upgrade I tried to get in the first place.
I know some people are against credit card here but I still feel it's safer than to use debit card which draws money straight from the bank, plus it actually helps to keep track on your spending.
Anyway, good luck!
if this is your first credit card application, seems you don't have any credit history, therefore the Bank might reject you due to lack of credit history record.
The solution, if you have saving in your bank account. let said $5k, then talk with your branch manager, you want to apply credit card (choose the one that has $0 annual fee) and ask your branch manager to put hold same as your credit limit, let said for starter you want $2k credit limit, therefore from $5k, $2k will be hold by the bank for duration you have a credit card, so you only have access $3k.
Once your first credit card approved, wait for 3-6 months then you can apply a new credit card from different provider, then you can close your first credit card.
could try a student-like credit card?
https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/credit-cards/low-fee/st…
this was my first.
Why are people so against Credit Cards?
Sure if you want to spend off your own savings that's fine.
I use my credit card and pay it off at the end of each statement period with the bonus of getting back some loyalty points and other platinum benefits, the AF pays for it self. Nothing wrong with CC's as long as you aren't performing what they consider adverse conducts on your account.
For your first credit card, I suggest you apply for a credit card with who you bank regularly and where you receive your pay. For example, if you bank with CommBank, apply for
One of their credit cards. In my experience it's much easier to get credit cards from big 4s unlike small company's like coles, woolies etc
Doesn't work with Bankwest.
get a real job :p
@Kindshibe - here's what I would do if I were you. Your credit score and file are very important as it affects your potential to borrow in the future (it doesn't just stop at credit cards). As such, it is important to fully understand what your record is like.
1) Go to Equifax (previously known as Veda - just google either name) and apply for the FREE credit file. Don't go for any of their services with extra bells and whistles - stick with the free file. Wait 10 working days and they'll email it to you. They'll try and cold call you to upsell their services in the mean time - they will ring once and hang up. Just ignore them/don't return the call.
2) When it arrives, check to see there hasn't been a mark against your credit score without you knowing. That can sometimes happen - the biggest culprits are usually the telco companies.
3) If there is a mark on your file and:
(a) it is genuinely a debt of yours you may have overlooked - contact the company that left that mark on your file to resolve it and notify Equifax/Veda when it is done; or
(b) you do not know what it is - contact Equifax/Veda and challenge it to have it stricken from your file.
4) If your file is clean, then we can safely conclude that your application was rejected based on the information you provided on your application. If this is the case, then there can be any reason for the decline as discussed by others in comments section.
It's a little tedious, but at least you know for sure what happened. Don't let a little rejection from Coles dishearten you.
Once you have your file, approach your bank and ask them for a credit card and see if they can match whatever Coles were offering that interested you in the first place. You'd be surprised at the lengths the banks will go to get your business.
Hope that helps.
why do u even need a credit card
Try another bank. For my first job, Westpac rejected me on my first application (Customer for 5 years at the time), then CBA accepted me straight away (customer for 15 year at the time). Then Westpac asked me if I wanted a credit card a year later which I rejected :)
I had to get a credit card to pay for IT Exams.
I would call the bank and ask them why, it may be just a simple mistake on the form that they didn't like. It happened to a friend, she put the wrong amount somewhere on the phone and once it was made correct she got the card. I agree with the debit card and live within your means.
Best thing that could have happened to you…
Manipulate the truth? Like accountants do.
To get a home loan, a family member offered me a job, doing oddjobs for several weeks. Then I could claim a higher income, got the loan. Dumped the job immediately. Now a homeowner, if I didn't tweek (manipulate) my finances I would still be renting!
Personally, CC's seem unnecessary, Debit cards can fill the gap well enough.
what is your uncommitted weekly/fortnightly income?
When you say you have nothing on credit before, does it mean you have no phone/internet/electricity contract or whatsoever before ?
First, we look at your uncommitted income (comparing to the credit limit you applying for) then assessing your spending behavior then proceed to credit history as final step.
Can't assist you further in these cases since you wouldn't want to disclose full details.
Don't keep on applying for other credit provider, it will destroy your credit rating. Go back to Coles Finance and put a formal request of why they declined your application. They are required to provide reason and explanation why they made such decision.
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