If a shop, restaurant or trader asks you for a credit card and you say you don’t use one that’s when the funny looks start. This answer almost implies that you used to have one, but you had ‘the snip’ (no, the other one, where the credit card company tell you to cut the card in half and post it to them). Cutting your dearest friend in half is now the biggest serial killer of all time.
Losing your cards is a double blow: you cannot use credit to buy, and you are now limited to where and what you can buy. Going on holiday in today’s world is unthinkable without your precious card (this does not stop the millions of British holiday-makers each year who only know cash and would not have it any other way).
Accessing the Internet, until lately, was the realm of the cardholder: and certainly the realm of the bank account holder. Buying goods or services on the net is very much geared to the card user.
The point that I am trying to make is that a credit card is a part of our daily life that gives you the widest choice of goods and services, and therefore, the most competitive price. And that it is too easy to criticise the down side of a card when you have a lot of debt, and also complain that the marketplace favours the use of credit cards: cash is dying and will become more expensive to obtain and use.
If you have ‘lost’ your cards, and you are desperate to get one, there are a number of ways to increase your chances of getting one. One of these measures is not to use the companies that advertise, ‘lose all your debts, start afresh with a new bank account and credit card’: unless the Bank of Antarctica is an accepted card in your local supermarket!
Disclaimer: Any similarity to the real Bank of Antarctica would be a surprise.
The first option is to resurrect a card that you may be paying off at present. If you had a good relationship, up to a point, with your credit card company and your reasons for your debt problems are explainable (other than ‘I could buy lots of things I couldn’t afford’) then you have every reason to be upbeat. The first thing to do is to pay as much as you can for a sustained period, until you have a balance of at least half of your last card limit.
Write to the company and explain:
what caused your problems (you may as well be honest),
what you have been trying to do to get the debt reduced (no new debt, no holidays, working hard),
what your situation is today (no other major debts, situation in control etc)
Why the situation is unlikely to reoccur (got rid of other half, have a good full-time job, older and wiser),
They may reply,
that you need to reduce the balance further: ask how low,
they may say re-apply in six months: better than ‘no’, and a good sign,
they may want to only allow you a £500 limit, from an original £2500: that’s OK.
Whatever conditions they set, you know that it’s a second chance and that you’re back in the real world.
Another way to further your chances of getting a credit card is to start afresh with a new bank account and with a ‘reasonable’ deposit – this should ensure your acceptance. Do not apply for a card before six months: this is a banks usual minimum period for all customers, and you do not want to be seen to be desperate. If you are rejected at the six-month stage, go through the above scenario: I’m a changed person etc.
A final option is to get married [!!] to a cardholder and have a joint card – it’s not the same as having your own card, but it’s a start.
Remember that a credit card is a responsibility and a very useful tool if handled correctly. If you believe that cash keeps you sane, then forget the card and find ways to get the same goods/services that cards offer.
Many thanks to Colin Duguid of Debt 24.com who is taking the time to provide this information as a service to homeworkers.
