Hi guys,
I am 32 years old and have just relocated to the Republic from Northern Ireland to take up a civil servant role within a national government department.
Although I remain on the same island, I was told that because I have essentially moved to a new country then my good credit history from the North doesn't apply down here and that I will have to start all over again from scratch. This is very frustrating because my good credit history doesn't transfer with me down here, but of course in typical fashion any of my outstanding debts from the North still remain fully in place.
I had hoped to get a credit card which I would use to pay for my car fuel bills and would pay off in full each month as that was how I always built credit when I lived up North. I joined KBC bank when I moved down and was told I would need to be employed for 3 months before I could apply for a credit card. So I waited and when I finally applied I was shocked to be rejected and given no real reason why. I only wanted a simple €500 limit credit card purely to pay my monthly fuel bills as a means to building credit down here. I appealed the decision with KBC but it failed and I was told that I cannot re-apply for a credit card with them for another 6 months.
I think part of the reason I was rejected is because I have £18,000 student debts from my studies up North and this is seen as totally normal in the UK for most people to have a student loan. In fact I'm almost certain that student finance isn't even considered when doing credit checks in the UK, but perhaps in Ireland it is viewed as more of a bad debt. These student debts will not be written off for another 17 years, so I need to find a way of building up a good credit history because I will be looking at potentially buying a house in the not too distant future. I'm also scared of applying for credit cards with other banks because each time I get rejected it probably makes my credit report look even worse.
I honestly never expected to feel so financially disadvantaged by moving to the South from the North, I don't know how I'm supposed to get off the ground with building a credit history down here if I cannot even obtain a basic low limit credit card. I've already joined my local Credit Union but sadly they don't offer Credit Cards or mortgages so ultimately I need to try to improve my standing with banks really. Would anyone be able to offer some advice please? I've been told that it is not entirely out of the realms of possibility for employers to sometimes wipe out student debts for their staff members as a kind of education grant or benevolent fund but I don't expect that to be a realistic option for me having only just starting working down here recently.
I am 32 years old and have just relocated to the Republic from Northern Ireland to take up a civil servant role within a national government department.
Although I remain on the same island, I was told that because I have essentially moved to a new country then my good credit history from the North doesn't apply down here and that I will have to start all over again from scratch. This is very frustrating because my good credit history doesn't transfer with me down here, but of course in typical fashion any of my outstanding debts from the North still remain fully in place.
I had hoped to get a credit card which I would use to pay for my car fuel bills and would pay off in full each month as that was how I always built credit when I lived up North. I joined KBC bank when I moved down and was told I would need to be employed for 3 months before I could apply for a credit card. So I waited and when I finally applied I was shocked to be rejected and given no real reason why. I only wanted a simple €500 limit credit card purely to pay my monthly fuel bills as a means to building credit down here. I appealed the decision with KBC but it failed and I was told that I cannot re-apply for a credit card with them for another 6 months.
I think part of the reason I was rejected is because I have £18,000 student debts from my studies up North and this is seen as totally normal in the UK for most people to have a student loan. In fact I'm almost certain that student finance isn't even considered when doing credit checks in the UK, but perhaps in Ireland it is viewed as more of a bad debt. These student debts will not be written off for another 17 years, so I need to find a way of building up a good credit history because I will be looking at potentially buying a house in the not too distant future. I'm also scared of applying for credit cards with other banks because each time I get rejected it probably makes my credit report look even worse.
I honestly never expected to feel so financially disadvantaged by moving to the South from the North, I don't know how I'm supposed to get off the ground with building a credit history down here if I cannot even obtain a basic low limit credit card. I've already joined my local Credit Union but sadly they don't offer Credit Cards or mortgages so ultimately I need to try to improve my standing with banks really. Would anyone be able to offer some advice please? I've been told that it is not entirely out of the realms of possibility for employers to sometimes wipe out student debts for their staff members as a kind of education grant or benevolent fund but I don't expect that to be a realistic option for me having only just starting working down here recently.