New to UK Credit Card

Hi all,

Thought I would post about my US husband just being accepted for his first UK credit card with barclaycard initial, incase it helps anyone else trying to get setup in the UK.

Some background info is that he came over on a spouse visa in September, we added him to my current account with Halifax and they offered him a personal account also but they still can't offer him a credit card yet. We changed most of our household bills into his name and put the notice of correction on all 3 credit agencies reports (which has proved to work as we also have been accepted for a Capital One credit card as when they did the credit check, the notice of correction noted them to ask us for additional confirmation of address for him, which we simply posted out some bank statements etc to them)

The credit limit isn't particularly high, but it's better than nothing to work on building his credit score in the UK (all because we are hoping to apply for a joint mortgage towards the end of this year....hopefully!)

Hope this helps others trying to get setup in the UK (although I understand each individual situation is different)

Sarah x

Thanks for this - I am a USC moving in two months with my UKC spouse.  I would like to build credit fast for the same reason.
So what exactly is a notice of correction?  And you can go online and do this correction on each agencies site?

Because he isn't a UK citizen he can't be listed on the electoral roll (where you register to vote) and that is something that companies check for as part of your credit rating here. The notice of correction is a note that can be added to the credit file explaining discrepancies etc, but in this case, it's a note to say why he isn't on the electoral roll and that he can prove his legal residency and address details with other paperwork. It should stop credit checks from bouncing back as declined (for not being on the electoral roll) and flag up that the file needs to be looked at in more detail so that whoever is checking your credit rating will then see the notice of correction and can request the extra evidence(or just be happy with the statement like Barclays was)
As for how to do it, I think my husband phoned each individual company to find out from them how they wanted it done. I think one accepted some emailed copies of the paperwork, one he had to post some paperwork off and im not sure about the third. I do know that he also signed up to the free 30 day trials to wait and check to make sure they actually did put the notice of correction on before then cancelling his subscription so he didn't get caught paying the monthly fee.
Hope that makes sense!

Thank you very much!  Yes this all makes sense and am adding it to my "to do" list upon arrival....

For your to do list, from a priority point of view, the thing that took the absolute longest for us was waiting for my husbands National Insurance number to come through, so I would definitely phone them up to get the ball rolling on that as soon as arrive!

Best of luck with everything!

Hi sez2004.....  Did your husband call the credit unions or did he contact the banks and credit card companies ??

I am a British Citizen but have been out of the UK for a while. My US husband, children and I are moving back in the spring and I am struggling to set up a bank account to transfer our money over.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it....Thanks

For his bank account, we got that setup by going into the bank together as soon as he arrived. For the notice of correction he phoned the three credit report agencies to find exactly how each did it, for the credit card I did a lot of research online about the credit card he was most likely to get accepted for and applied online with him.

Hi,

Just a reminder and I'm fairly sure it's still the case..

If any USA people have an American Express credit card, then by speaking to the UK branch of American Express, and being qualified to getting one of their cards, they will take into account your USA Amex history. I believe it's the only credit card provider that will do this.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Hi,

Just a reminder and I'm fairly sure it's still the case..

If any USA people have an American Express credit card, then by speaking to the UK branch of American Express, and being qualified to getting one of their cards, they will take into account your USA Amex history. I believe it's the only credit card provider that will do this.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

We are moving back to the UK in April and I spoke to Capital one in the UK and they have said we can call once we are in the UK and they can open a UK Capital One credit card account based on our US account and they will issue us both with new cards within 10 days.

Hi,

Just a reminder and I'm fairly sure it's still the case..

If any USA people have an American Express credit card, then by speaking to the UK branch of American Express, and being qualified to getting one of their cards, they will take into account your USA Amex history. I believe it's the only credit card provider that will do this.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

If you transfer your card, AMEX UK will also do some sort of backdating with your UK credit report. My Equifax credit reports lists the opening date on my UK card as the date when I got my US card.

https://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/

We are moving back to the UK in April and I spoke to Capital one in the UK and they have said we can call once we are in the UK and they can open a UK Capital One credit card account based on our US account and they will issue us both with new cards within 10 days.

Interesting,  I noticed that Sez2004 states in her opening post that her husband has been accepted for a Capital One card in the UK.

Please let us know if you are successful in getting the card and if it's as simple as placing a phone call.  This is the first card other than AmEx that I've heard will use your US rating to open an account for you in the UK.   It's good and valuable information!

We are moving back to the UK in April and I spoke to Capital one in the UK and they have said we can call once we are in the UK and they can open a UK Capital One credit card account based on our US account and they will issue us both with new cards within 10 days.

Interesting,  I noticed that Sez2004 states in her opening post that her husband has been accepted for a Capital One card in the UK.

Please let us know if you are successful in getting the card and if it's as simple as placing a phone call.  This is the first card other than AmEx that I've heard will use your US rating to open an account for you in the UK.   It's good and valuable information!

I agree, this is very valuable information!  I'd really like to find out if I can do the same. 

I have a US Capital One VISA card and when I called the general UK Capital One credit card line, the woman I talked to said my application would be evaluated on my UK credit history alone - I don't have a UK credit history, having only opened a current account 2 weeks ago, so I doubt I'd have much luck going that route.

Is there another number I should call, or any other ideas?

What I was told on the phone was that you need to phone the UK number and apply for a UK account, make sure you get them to make a note of your US account Number and it be submitted for review.  They can use your account history to make a decision on your application in the UK.

I will let you all know how I get on with this once we are in UK hopefully in April.

I am over here in the UK and I have called about the possibility of having my US account affect my ability to get a UK card with Capital One.

I have been told by two different agents that it doesn't matter if I have a US account and that ONLY my UK credit will have any bearing on my Capital One application. And believe me you don't want to get the "Build Your Credit" Capital One Card, it has a lovely 34% interest on it.   

So if you have a better contact number then the ones on the UK Capital One site. Please let us know.

Also, the UK number 0800 952 5150 no longer exists. Just in case that's the number the Capital One representative gave you. I just called the US number to have my "travel" in the UK extended again and asked the rep for the number for customer service over here.

A credit card with a 34% APR can still serve a purpose - that is, to help build a credit record. You just have to be sure to pay it off every month and never incur any interest charges.