High end card for points vs being retired

[Lynnelanne]

HI

I have platinum VISA credit card and ordinary gold Amex. Recently I tried to go for one a next level CC for the extra points (can’t really recall which). I am now retired, I own my own home which is worth in excess of a million, own two cars and owe nothing to anyone. I pay off my monthly cc bills each month, usually with a 3-5 k spend. However I got knocked back in the online application process because I don’t have a high salary. I am a retired academic, my partner is on a 60K super pension and I earl about 40k doing some part time teaching.. I am a better credit risk now than I have ever been, yet i can’t get a card upgrade. Anyone had similar experiences? Any advice? TIA.

 

[samh004]

A few years ago I was on AUStudy while at university. I had tried to get a card through ANZ but they weren't interested, however NAB was willing to take a gamble and I eventually upgraded the basic card to a Platinum card with a $6k credit limit. Therefore, I would be recommending applying to them as they seem easier (to me).

 

[tgh]

Most cards have a set earnings level, and you probably don't meet it.
A personal contact might help, but I suspect that the rule is pretty firm.
One option is your partner can be judged on income , acquire a primary card, and you hold a supplementary card.
Since retirement , one card application quite a few years back was a tad messy because they simply were not geared to "understand" different sources of retirement income.
A recent application went through in a flash and can only assume that the software is now a bit more sophisticated.

 

[cgichard]

Yes, I advise anyone who is retired to hang on firmly to the cards they have. If your retirement income is from several sources and/or goes into different bank accounts, your application is very likely to be cnsidered too hard - they are used to dealing only with pay-slips.

 

[Dr Ralph]

HI

I have platinum VISA credit card and ordinary gold Amex. Recently I tried to go for one a next level CC for the extra points (can’t really recall which). I am now retired, I own my own home which is worth in excess of a million, own two cars and owe nothing to anyone. I pay off my monthly cc bills each month, usually with a 3-5 k spend. However I got knocked back in the online application process because I don’t have a high salary. I am a retired academic, my partner is on a 60K super pension and I earl about 40k doing some part time teaching.. I am a better credit risk now than I have ever been, yet i can’t get a card upgrade. Anyone had similar experiences? Any advice? TIA.

There have been a number of different threads over the past year detailing retired peoples experiences with credit card applications. I'd suggest you have a look through these as I recall a number of people detailing their successful experiences.

I'd also remind you that AMEX allow for 'household' income for applications, rather than individual assessments.

 

[Budbrian]

I just applied for ANZ Travel Adventures Visa CC, and got approved. I am self funded retired, female, with a lower self funded pension than hubby, but with other share dividends income. No debts, mortgage etc.
Will cancel my AX Platinum Edge due to changes earlier, advised ANZ this would occur.
The process was easy, they require documentation of SMSF, bank account & Investments, no problem when they got all info.

I think they are changing their mindset with self funded retirees, as a friend was refused about 18 months ago, the banks must now realise we are not a credit risk just because we are not eligible for a pension!

 

[VPS]

HI

I have platinum VISA credit card and ordinary gold Amex. Recently I tried to go for one a next level CC for the extra points (can’t really recall which). I am now retired, I own my own home which is worth in excess of a million, own two cars and owe nothing to anyone. I pay off my monthly cc bills each month, usually with a 3-5 k spend. However I got knocked back in the online application process because I don’t have a high salary. I am a retired academic, my partner is on a 60K super pension and I earl about 40k doing some part time teaching.. I am a better credit risk now than I have ever been, yet i can’t get a card upgrade. Anyone had similar experiences? Any advice? TIA.

yep - same for me - I was on LSL at half pay with a salary over a $100k - payslip says permanent full time and ANZ knocked me back until I was back at work full time (which of course isn't ever going to happen now) There is a thread about CC for retired people somewhere

 

[Dr Ralph]

I was on LSL at half pay with a salary over a $100k - payslip says permanent full time and ANZ knocked me back until I was back at work full time

I had no such problems with any of my applications this year when I was on LSL at half pay for more than 6 months.

 

[VPS]

I had no such problems with any of my applications this year when I was on LSL at half pay for more than 6 months.

I got the Qantas and Macquarie Hilton cards but ANZ was a big fat NO

 

[Mumanddad]

We're both retired on government pensions, which are certainly not in the high income bracket. However this year we applied for an AMEX Qantas Ultimate card each when they were on 100,000 sign-up points (plus referral bonuses). We used our combined income in the applications. We cancelled our long-term cards which didn't attract any points, got a new low limit bank Visa credit card each for thr points, a single Qantas Platinum Mastercard and a low limit DJ AMEX card each. Kept the credit limit of each card to the minimum. I still shake my head that we managed it (many thanks to AFF and other forums like this one).

The applications were staggered, not applying for a new card until we met the minimum spend and points were received. We pay off the cards in full each month.

Now in the middle of booking a 560K OneWorld award booking!

 

[drron]

Though retired I still work part time.
got a big increase in limit on my Amex plat reserve but got knocked back for a Coles mastercard.go figure.seems to be no rhyme or reason.
I prefer Amex because of the versatility in directing the points.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

they are used to dealing only with pay-slips.

...and easy pay slips. It's not just retirement income some CC mobs seem to struggle with, it's alternate income entirely that occasionally just gets consigned to the "too hard basket". I run two Australian businesses (one for more than 35 years with no adverse credit history at all), am an Australian resident (born and bred), an Australian tax payer (my income is not insignificant) yet the majority of my current income is derived from OS.

I applied for the Hilton CC and was rejected despite meeting all the criteria, have an Australian based pay slip (but by a foreign based company), have not been a CC chirner, do not have many CC's and do not have any problematic financial history. I just put it down to it all being too hard for them. They just want easy and would prefer to reject an application that's a bit out of the usual rather than have to investigate it to make an informed decision.

All in all, I'm a bit annoyed as I assume their laziness would now mean I'm likely to have a "rejected" credit application on my file, which I'd prefer was not there.

 

[tgh]

There should (needs) be a process to resolve overt financial discrimination.
In this brave new world of "rights' , it's a wonder someone does not have a ginger group organised.

 

[VPS]

With ANZ when they were being a bit antsy I withdrew my application rather than have a rejected CC application on there

 

[Lynnelanne]

Thanks everyone, clearly this is a syndrome rather than a one-off situation. I can only assume that the banks are actually not interested in good credit risks, but would prefer people who are likely to default *scraches head*. Weird.

 

[burmans]

Thanks everyone, clearly this is a syndrome rather than a one-off situation. I can only assume that the banks are actually not interested in good credit risks, but would prefer people who are likely to default *scraches head*. Weird.

Yes, the Australian Banks have a very rigid system. But in their defence I would like to suggest three things

1. This very rigid system is one of the main reasons we avoided the biggest issues from the GFC. Who would realistically suggest we have a credit risk system that doesn't work?
2. Despite view to the contrary there is plenty of evidence that the strict approach that banks take and the criteria they apply work. I heard plenty of people suggest that they have extenuating circumstances. We used to have such a system where individual lenders made decisions and took those factors into account, guess what we had more failures. You can whinge as much as you want about the credit decisioning systems the banks use but the reason they use them is that there are the best way they know to do this and have plenty of evidence to support this.
3. Yes, if the banks had every (verifiable and no forgeable) fact about your income/expenditure they could probably make more informed decisions but this was actually ruled out in the recent privacy law changes (and I think a fair few people would agree with this).

 

[Lynnelanne]

You may well be right on some of these economic points Burmans but that doesn’t alter the fact that I have more disposable income now than I have ever had, combined with a higher monthly spend on holidays etc., but less chance of getting a new card. If you think that is reasonable, then we’ll just have to accept that we have different opinions.

 

[Deleted member]

this is one of those occasions where you need to be face to face with your bank, and hint that you may need to change banks if they're not going to accommodate you

 

[andye]

Happy to be corrected but it was my understanding that as far as the credit file agencies go, it doesn't matter if you are accepted or rejected.
On a closely-related point, I can't remember if they still have questions on application forms about being turned down for credit

 

[Lynnelanne]

this is one of those occasions where you need to be face to face with your bank, and hint that you may need to change banks if they're not going to accommodate you

Indeed, I am trying to summon the energy to go visit the actual bank.