When you first open a credit card the lender will set you a limit of how much they are willing to let you borrow from them. This is based on your credit application which is made up of two parts:

1. Your personal details – where you live, date of birth, marital status etc
2. The information held by credit reference agencies about you – current credit commitments, any bankruptcy information and details such as any court judgements

A decision is made based on these statistics which determines the amount of money you can borrow and at what interest rate. Some banks will offer a low credit limit until you show you have good money management skills.

Reasons you may have been turned down for a credit card

There are no set reasons as to why you have been refused credit but the following are among the most common:

• You’ve moved house and your name isn’t on the electoral role. Check that you are on the roll if you are at all unsure by logging on to 192.com
  
• You have been or are currently bankrupt
• Sometimes information directly linked to the credit agency can have an impact:

1. An application overload – how many different cards are you currently applying for?
2. You have never had credit before – there is nothing to base a credit decision on – the most common problem for students
3. You haven’t kept up repayments within an agreement

• Information held by the credit agency about you is incorrect (It is possible to see what is held about you and correct any mistakes which currently exist)