Help getting credit: how I got a £2500 credit card when I was refused elsewhere

I thought this might be helpful to people on this forum, but it is not necesarilly tax-related.

I am a USC living in England, and it has been difficult to get credit due to not being on the electoral roll.  I do not want credit so that I can live beyond my means, but to build my credit history to aid in getting a mortgage eventually.

I got a barclaycard initial when I was first here, and now, 3 years in, I am still unable to get the best credit cards here in the UK.  I did find one loophole though:

I have been an American Express customer in the US since 2004, and I have a 'blue' card. I was on the Amex UK site, and applied for a UK card as a current cardholder on a whim a few months ago.  I put my US Amex number into the application and submitted it.  I didn't hear anything for a few weeks, but eventually a shiny new American Express Platinum cashback card arrived in the mail with a £2,500 limit.  This card is currently the best cashback card on the market, with 5% cashback for the first few months on all purchases, capped at £100, then .5%-1.5% thereafter.

I thought this might be helpful to others in the same boat. Granted, an American Express card is not accepted everywhere, but its acceptance is higher than I thought, especially at any national store on the high street.  The only place I have not had luck was at Clark's yesterday.

Good luck!

I tried this same tactic right after I arrived.
I've been an America Express card holder for a few years. When I applied for a UK card, I also included by US Amex number in the application. I was truly hopefully that this would help. However, I was still denied any credit.
Your approval could have as much to do with having built a certain amount of credit in the UK.

I guess I was very lucky - I received a credit card within my first month of living in the UK.  This was a NatWest Gold Visa card. 

This is great advice... Now I know where to start when applying for credit once I arrive in the UK this September.

Thanks

Lisa

I got one through my bank. 

Thanks to the moderator for moving this, I hadn't seen this category...

I think the best thing about this card is that is THE best cashback card in the UK.  We booked our flights home at Christmas on it, and after a few months we now have over £100 of cashback coming to us.  This is more than the interest I got on my ISA last year!

egg just relaunched a cashback card this week, but there is a £1 monthly fee which eats into what you get back.