{"id":104782,"date":"2025-02-24T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=104782"},"modified":"2025-02-24T12:25:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T12:25:41","slug":"14-credit-card-could-boost-your-credit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/14-credit-card-could-boost-your-credit\/","title":{"rendered":"This \u00a314 Credit Card Move Could Boost Your Credit and Save You Money \u2013 Here\u2019s How"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Applying for a <strong>credit card<\/strong> without checking your <strong>credit score<\/strong> could lead to unnecessary <strong>rejections<\/strong> or higher <strong>interest rates<\/strong>. According to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/cost-of-living\/anyone-credit-card-urged-consider-31065151\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/cost-of-living\/anyone-credit-card-urged-consider-31065151\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Birmingham Mail<\/a><\/em>, financial experts are urging consumers to consider spending a small amount\u2014around <strong>\u00a314<\/strong>\u2014to assess their <strong>creditworthiness<\/strong> before applying for a new card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why checking your credit score matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Credit reference agencies<\/strong>, such as <em>Experian<\/em>, <em>TransUnion<\/em>, and <em>Equifax<\/em>, offer credit score checks that help individuals understand their likelihood of approval before submitting an application. A rejected credit card application can negatively affect a credit score, making future approvals more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some services provide free trials for credit score checks, but they may begin charging a fee after the trial period. For instance, <em>Equifax<\/em> offers a <strong>30-day free trial<\/strong>, after which users are charged <strong>\u00a314.95 per month<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The impact of choosing the right credit card<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Different types of credit cards cater to specific financial needs. According to experts, selecting the right card can help improve financial stability:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Credit builder cards<\/strong> are useful for individuals with a limited credit history.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reward cards<\/strong> offer benefits such as cashback or travel points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Balance transfer cards<\/strong> help consolidate debt at lower interest rates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, some <strong>0% <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/nationwide-raise-credit-card-interest-rates\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"104708\">interest credit cards<\/a><\/strong> allow users to spread payments over time without accumulating interest, which can be beneficial for those managing outstanding balances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A credit card with an interest-free period ensures that more of your payments go towards repaying the original amount borrowed rather than interest, making it an effective way to reduce financial burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Understanding APR and how it affects repayments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/londons-month-salary-equals-burnleys-annual\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"102145\">Annual Percentage Rate<\/a> (APR)<\/strong> determines how much extra a borrower will pay over time. For example, if someone <strong>borrows \u00a3500 at a 10% APR<\/strong>, they will repay <strong>\u00a3550 over a year<\/strong>. Choosing a card with a lower APR can lead to significant savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/martin-moore-baa12549\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/martin-moore-baa12549\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Martin Moore<\/a><\/em>, a borrowing expert at <em>NatWest<\/em>, advises that some consumers <strong>divide the cost of their purchases by the number of months remaining<\/strong> on their interest-free period to ensure they fully clear their balance before interest kicks in. This approach helps prevent unnecessary debt accumulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why credit scores are not the only factor lenders consider<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Financial expert <em>Martin Lewis<\/em> warns against relying solely on <strong>credit scores<\/strong> when applying for credit. While many portray credit scores as the <strong>ultimate measure of creditworthiness<\/strong>, lenders actually use their own criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Too many places portray your credit score as the be-all and end-all. It isn\u2019t. It\u2019s just an example of how a lender may assess your credit history. Each lender scores you differently based on its own profitability wish list and factors not on your credit file, such as your income.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why <em>MoneySavingExpert<\/em> has introduced the <strong>MSE Eligibility Rating<\/strong>, which provides a <strong>broader view of approval likelihood<\/strong>, taking into account a lender\u2019s internal assessment criteria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before applying for a credit card, experts recommend a simple \u00a314 check that could improve your chances of approval and save you money. Find out why this small step matters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":104793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104794,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104782\/revisions\/104794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}