-
It’s easy to find lots of points credit card advice for high earners, but how about for low earners?
Is the BA blue card the best starter card (when i last looked there was a 7k miles intro offer) if you don’t earn £35k which is the threshold for Amex Gold? clearly you would have to wait 2 years after cancelling to get the BAPP intro offers, but mid-degree that could work (for example).
Need to build a credit record, so what others are available with earning and intro offers?
My kid’s experience with Barclays (£20 per month card) is that the credit limit is only £800 which makes even earning the intro offer a challenge. It’s otherwise easy enough to generate spend on family purchases or even student rent.
It’s not unusual for your first credit card to have a super low limit, think my first Capital One at 19 was like £500. But that went up very quickly and I was able to get an AmEx Platinum Cashback within a year with, I think, a £5k limit. Mind you this was nearly twenty years ago 🤣
Which is he? A Student or a low earner? The limit algorithms for the products are very different between one designed for a student and one designed for a low earner. I’d definitely go for the student product if I could.
A £20 a month product for a low earner/student is very poor value indeed, makes a difference if you are covering the cost though.
Maybe time to open a No2 Current Account and No2 Credit card (zero fees)? For transactions that may be seen as “poor lifestyle choices” on an Open Banking five-year data dump when they apply for a mortgage or tenancy?
It’s not unusual for your first credit card to have a super low limit, think my first Capital One at 19 was like £500. But that went up very quickly and I was able to get an AmEx Platinum Cashback within a year with, I think, a £5k limit. Mind you this was nearly twenty years ago 🤣
Things were very different back then. For my main current account and my oldest credit card, I never actually signed an account application form. The staff current account was opened for me as a requirement for my salary, and my Visa card was opened by memo from my manager.
Not disputing things were a bit different then, but the application and referencing process was identical to today, no letters from daddy or a bank manager for me 🤣
The lending criteria may have been a bit looser, as I ended up with c£30k of credit before finishing uni 😜
Amex is a good option for a starter card as they increase the limits quickly.
Obviously, don’t go for any of the paid cards. If you value flexibility, go for the free MR card. Or if no urgent need for points, get the free cashback card. It comes with decent small value offers.Issuing the £20 Barclaycard to a student or low earner is not good. How does Barclaycard get away with explaining it from a consumer duty and fair value assessment perspective?
The income requirement for Gold is £20k (plus all the other Amex cards) FYI. It’s only £35k for Plat and BAPP.
The kids are both students earning up to £5k per year on holiday jobs.
Sounds like all Amex are out due to a minimum £20k income unless the call centre would consider a parental guarantee (if such a process still exists)
Points would be good to have so maybe a virgin card?
Don’t run before you can walk. Start them off slowly with a credit building card like the ones on Moneysavingexpert. After a year they can start wetting their feet in the pool and get a better card and should have enough info by then for Amex to be happy.
The Amex everyday cashback card doesn’t seem to have a minimum income requirement
When I was a student, and I was a student for a looong time, I started with a credit builder card — I think it was Aqua. I didn’t want to risk being rejected by Amex. And then I got the free BA Amex in a year or so.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
