Resources
Checkify Blog

Apply For Credit Card Checklist

2 Min Read
Content...
Apply For Credit Card Checklist

Apply for credit card can seem a scary process but here we have a checklist to help guide you and make the process easier to find out whether you’ll get accepted or not.

Ready to dive in?
Start Your Free Trial Today

When you make an application for a credit card, you give the credit company access to your credit history for them to make an informed decision if you are a suitable candidate. This means your first steps must be making sure your credit file is in great shape before they look!

Once you have worked through these items you need to start thinking What Credit Card Is Best For Me?

Apply For Credit Card Checklist

First steps must be making sure your credit file is in great shape.
Check Your Credit Report

Credit reference agencies (CRA) hold files of your credit history. By getting a copy of your credit report it will help avoid any surprises and also give you a chance to correct any mistakes before applying.

In the UK there are three main credit reference agencies Experian, Equifax and TransUnion (formerly Callcredit).

Experian – CreditExpert

Equifax – ClearScore, CheckMyFile

TransUnion (formerly Callcredit) – Noddle, TotallyMoney, CheckMyFile

NOTE: Experian, Equifax and Callcredit scores may vary because not all lenders report to all three credit reference agencies.

Check Your Credit Score

Credit reference agencies give you a score based on how well you manage your credit and payments.

NOTE: Continue checking your report regularly to look after your score.

Choosing a Credit Card

How do you plan on using the credit card? Decide which kind of card would be best for you as an important part of your application e.g balance transfers, purchase, reward and cashback, consistently competitive APR or a credit building card there are many options.

Check Your Eligibility

Pre-check you’ll be accepted. Credit card company offer eligibility checkers which won’t leave a footprint on your credit file and make it easier to find out credit cards are most likely to accept you.

Limit Applications

Credit card applications leave footprints on your credit profile.

There are two types of searches, ‘soft’ and ‘hard’.

Soft: An initial look at certain information on your credit report without conducting a full examination of your credit history. Crucially these aren’t visible to other companies so they have no impact on your credit score or any future credit applications.

Hard: These are when Lenders perform a full credit check on your profile. Remember these are then visible to other lenders performing checks so they all can see how many times you have applied for credit.

Keep Up To Date With Payments

If you pay late or less than the minimum amount you will be classed as behind on payments and may be charged a late payment charge and can affect your credit score.

Keep Debt Levels Low

Keeping any outstanding debt to a minimum as this will be checked to assess whether you could be offered more.

Build Credit

This might sound crazy but you need to have credit and shows lenders that you can be trusted to responsibly manage debt.

Frequently asked questions
Looking for more info? Here are some things we're commonly asked
Checklist

Yep, like every other website we also use
delicious cookies to track you.