amit1978

I've had a message through this morning. This issue will be raised with the techincal team on Monday...so fingers crossed!

aristoph

Also rejected despite a perfect credit history and no need for actual credit from Lloyds. Also can't be bothered to appeal. Also can't be bothered to move any of my savings/investment products to Lloyds next time I shuffle them!

origin

I think this is general of all the companies at the moment. They seem to have realy got tighter with their lending and who they open accounts for. I am not sure why Lloyds even bother advertising if they dont want to open accounts for people.

stifle

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stifle

Banks don't make much (if any) money from people who pay down their balance in full each month. So if they can discern from your credit record that you do this, you might not get offered a card. They much prefer people who transfer in a balance (at a fat fee) and then roll over purchases from month to month.

PanGalactic

They'll make money every time you spend from the transaction fees charged to the merchant, especially when you use the amex and spend a lot.

I seriously doubt if they would use the fact that someone paid in full as a reason to refuse a card, especially if they would be besmirching a perfect credit record by doing so. Is that even legal?

Aristoph, I'd get a credit check done just incase something has popped up you weren't aware of, or there is an error somewhere needing to be corrected.
Or maybe you have hit a limit of too many mastercards or amexes ?

Raffles

Unfortunately you are wrong. Some card issuers do only want those who run a balance. There aren't huge profits just from the merchant fees, especially when paying out for your reward points and giving you 4 to 8 weeks free credit. The issuer also has tohold reserve capital against your entire credit limit.

However ..... In general, frequent fliers are a wealthy lot and charge a lot to their cards (we probably do £50k a year even if you ignore my tax payments via credit card) and merchant fees at that level are attractive. Cards like the BA Amex target high spenders and so you get accepted if you are well off.

The Avios card seems to be targetted at the non frequent flier market. You may be surprised to know that the average household ony charges £3,800 to credit cards each year, and runs a balance. I think this is the profile that Lloyds is looking for. They are clearly losing money offering 12.5 Avios per £1 and do not want heavy spenders who clear their balance. If they give one to me, I will probably try to squeeze £10,000+ through it for 125,000 Avios (costing Lloyds around £650) and will then cancel. If they have sense they will reject me.

stifle

True, but the cost of liquidity will eat that up. (UK banks are legally obliged to maintain very liquid assets, essentially cash, deposits at the central bank, or government bonds equal to the amount of money which they might have to pay out in the next eight days, and this includes available credit on credit cards. Because the interest rate paid on these liquid assets is tiny, this liquidity requirement costs the banks money.)
Yes it is; banks can choose whom they do and don't wish to do business with. The outcome of a credit application does not show on your credit record in the UK in any case.
I don't think there is such a limit. American Express-issued cards do sometimes have a limit, but this card is issued by Lloyds.

PanGalactic

Fair enough.

You can pay UK Taxes on an AMEX ????????? @:-)@:-)@:-)

I would have love to do that too but unfortunately I rushed in and signed up for the Avios card via the Lloyds route before Avios launched their offer, so I'm only getting the 10K bonus points after spending £1500.

Still, I figured this card would be a keeper, since it does pay double avios for overseas spending, plus I needed a "sorry we dont take Amex" backup other than my debit card. (I get that a LOT in France, where I travel regularly)

I want to get a Tesco card but I'm waiting until new year when their current "win the cost of christmas" offer ends and they offer something more exciting.

stifle

No, but you can on a MasterCard.

PanGalactic

I bet its still more than the interest they pay me on my savings

Should I be expecting a lowering of credit limit soon if I'm only likely to use 5% of what they gave me?

I would have thought it would be kept for fraud detection.

There is definitely a limit for Amex.
I know because I have a Corporate Plat and a personal BA Amex.
I asked if I could get a personal Plat too and they said, no max 2 per customer.

Lloyds will only let you have 1 credit card, I know this because Mrs P has a useless Lloyds non avios mastercard at the moment (got letter to say it was cancelled 24/11) but still shows on her online account and blocks her from getting a bonus offer on Lloyds avios card. It lets her choose to switch to it, but clearly states no bonus of any kind. Not like she would be going the Lloyds direct route anyway.

I read somewhere you have to wait 3 months to reapply, can anyone confirm please?

PanGalactic

I owe you a beer!

Maybe a bottle of champagne, hell I owe you a magnum

stifle

It's quite likely. You could always buy a few flexible tickets to use up the limit and get them refunded within one statement cycle, if you're afraid of it.
Might be kept by the individual bank but it is not on your credit file.
Well, I have three Amex cards, so I wonder whether you just got a bad phone agent.
These are acquisition offers, which I suppose is why Lloyds doesn't offer them to existing customers. I believe (but am not sure) that you can reapply straight away but you will only get a bonus if the card has been fully closed for three clear months before you reapply.
Don't get overexcited, there's a surcharge

dddc

[Up until the start of the month I had 4. Green Charge Card, Platinum Credit Card, BA Amex PP Card and MBNA Amex AAdvantage card. I cancelled the Green and Platinum as I could see there was no point in keeping them in light of the fee increase on the PP card.

Llyods would have approved me while the other cards were still active so that would have made 5 for a week or so!

Raffles

Amex has a limit - 2 charge and 2 credit? In your case, you have 1 charge and 2 credit. The MBNA card is immaterial as it is MBNA's money at risk, not Amex's.