CreditCards Blog

Hi everyone,

I'm after a bit of help from those of you who are far more knowledgable than me on these matters! :)

I have a bit of a dilemma for a credit card application. I need to get a credit card to pay for day to day work expenses (I'm employed), but I have had credit issues in the past as a student, and I therefore know that my credit reports show defaults on credit cards. Whilst I have other accounts showing with perfect payment records etc, the defaults are currently unsettled -leaving me in a sticky situation.

The company I work for has offered to write a letter to say that I have had a company credit card and used it responsibly etc, but I'm not sure what weight (if any) this will hold.

So on to my question - does anyone know if this kind of reference would make a difference to a credit card application? Are there any particular credit cards that are more likely to be influenced by this type of reference, i.e. those that have some kind of human decision rather than a purely computerised system?

A bit more background to this:

I incur various expenses in my day to day work, including travel (mainly fuel costs, but occasionally train tickets), hotels, meals, M6 toll charges etc. Currently, the company I work for supplies a company credit card to be used for these expenses. I am responsible for all transactions on this card, and all payments to the account. The account must be settled in full at the end of each month. The way it is setup means that I claim for my expenses, then the money gets paid into my account just a few days before the direct debit is paid to the credit card company.

Whilst this system has worked well for the last 3.5yrs, my employer has now informed me that they are cancelling all company credit cards and that I will have to supply my own for business use. Hence my current position.

I'm pushing them hard in the background to try to get them to sort something else out (after all they are only doing this to save 45 a year charge on the card......), but at the moment the best I've got from them is this reference letter. I'll keep pushing back at them, but I feel I should establish some other facts about the likelihood of me getting a credit card.


All help and comments much appreciated :)

Hi everyone,

I'm after a bit of help from those of you who are far more knowledgable than me on these matters! :)

I have a bit of a dilemma for a credit card application. I need to get a credit card to pay for day to day work expenses (I'm employed), but I have had credit issues in the past as a student, and I therefore know that my credit reports show defaults on credit cards. Whilst I have other accounts showing with perfect payment records etc, the defaults are currently unsettled -leaving me in a sticky situation.

The company I work for has offered to write a letter to say that I have had a company credit card and used it responsibly etc, but I'm not sure what weight (if any) this will hold.

So on to my question - does anyone know if this kind of reference would make a difference to a credit card application? Are there any particular credit cards that are more likely to be influenced by this type of reference, i.e. those that have some kind of human decision rather than a purely computerised system?

A bit more background to this:

I incur various expenses in my day to day work, including travel (mainly fuel costs, but occasionally train tickets), hotels, meals, M6 toll charges etc. Currently, the company I work for supplies a company credit card to be used for these expenses. I am responsible for all transactions on this card, and all payments to the account. The account must be settled in full at the end of each month. The way it is setup means that I claim for my expenses, then the money gets paid into my account just a few days before the direct debit is paid to the credit card company.

Whilst this system has worked well for the last 3.5yrs, my employer has now informed me that they are cancelling all company credit cards and that I will have to supply my own for business use. Hence my current position.

I'm pushing them hard in the background to try to get them to sort something else out (after all they are only doing this to save 45 a year charge on the card......), but at the moment the best I've got from them is this reference letter. I'll keep pushing back at them, but I feel I should establish some other facts about the likelihood of me getting a credit card.


All help and comments much appreciated :)

Probably not much use to you but I take the view that as they have created this problem, they will have to find the solution. Effectively, they are saying that they wouldn't employ someone unless they had a credit card - not everyone chooses to have them. I really feel quite strongly that this ought not to be your problem.
Maybe they should give you cash for your normal monthly expenditure (in advance) .
They are the ones who have moved the goalposts here.
I can't see that the company's letter will help your cause at all.

Thanks for the reply. I totally agree that they have moved the goalposts, and I've put it to them that they have effectively changed the requirements of my position by requiring me to provide a credit card. I'm pushing this hard right now..... but time is running out (only a week now until cessation of the card) and I've had no joy from them at all for the past two months. So I'm trying to establish if what they've offered me is of any value (I have my opinions, but they are uninformed ones!).

I've been writing emails to the director of my business unit who fully understands and agrees with me, and is doing all in his power. But it's a big company that we work for, and it's a lot more difficult to get these things to happen in a big company!

Any other views on whether this letter would hold any gravitas to a credit card company? I want to be well informed when I write my next email/letter :)

Thanks for the reply. I totally agree that they have moved the goalposts, and I've put it to them that they have effectively changed the requirements of my position by requiring me to provide a credit card. I'm pushing this hard right now..... but time is running out (only a week now until cessation of the card) and I've had no joy from them at all for the past two months. So I'm trying to establish if what they've offered me is of any value (I have my opinions, but they are uninformed ones!).

I've been writing emails to the director of my business unit who fully understands and agrees with me, and is doing all in his power. But it's a big company that we work for, and it's a lot more difficult to get these things to happen in a big company!

Any other views on whether this letter would hold any gravitas to a credit card (http://www.mint.co.uk/credit-cards.asp) company? I want to be well informed when I write my next email/letter :)

Unfortunately it probably wont amount to much. Have you tried speaking to your current bank to see what they can offer you?

I haven't yet spoken to my current bank (NatWest) but I don't hold out much hope given my credit report. I've been thinking about going for a sub-prime credit card, but I don't want to apply without giving all due consideration first for fear of adding searches to my report.

At least it seems that my view is shared that the letter will hold little value - I can at least use this information to support my argument.