Vanquis Credit Card > Reviews (48)

...but cancel it the moment it is in order!

Vanquis card is one of those 'high risks' cards offered by a number of companies. As they are for people with higher than normal chance of not paying up, they are priced accordingly. Some examples are Capital one and Monument Visa from HSBC.

I got a mail from Vanquis back in 2005 when they are trailing this credit card in Scotland. It promise a card for someone like me, who have poor/no credit history. I applied for, and got approved for a card, but the catch is there is a £18 annual fee, and an APR of 39.9%! Also my credit limit is set at £250.

The reason for the low limit, according to them, is to 'help you control your debts'. Together with higher than normal minimal payment (5%), it will help you clear your debts faster. Well you would, IF the APR is lower!

Now having no credit history, I get turned down by ALL the main street banks for a card. But Vanquis promise to help me built up my credit history, which they did. They will report to the main credit reference agencies every month on your 'performance'. After a short 3 months with them, I have enough of a history to get approved by amazon.

Their call centres are usually very good, and I never had a problem with them. However common to most call centres, you have to first navigate through a number of voice prompts before being put on hold. There are no online facilities to manage your accounts, so the only way is by a 0870 number.

One thing they do a lot is to send me tons of cheques, which I burn the moment I got them. They are charged at a higher APR at 45.93%, same as cash withdrawal rates.

Vanquis promised to reduce your APR and/or increase your limit if you behave good enough, but throughout the 2 years that I have been with them, I got non of these. I paid up every month and had a balance of Zero for the past year by the way. Then recently I got a letter from them telling me that the APR had increased to 43.93% AND the annual fee had increased to £25! Since I am now widely accepted by the high street lenders, I had just cancelled my account with them yesterday.

Will I recommend it to anyone? Well, yes if you have bad or no credit history and needed to build one up. No if you can get credit from else where. Even their lowest APR card, the Gold for someone with good credit history, is still at a high 19.9%.

Competitiveness of APR
-43.93%, need I say more?
Product package
-Credit card cheques included, but at 45.93% APR, will you use them?
Quality of Customer Service
-At least they understand english
Reward Scheme
-What reward???
Additional Charges
-Annual fees effectively cause the gross APR to be over 50%.
Security and Privacy
-No problems so far.
Ease of Application
-They don't care much about your credit rating.
Recommend to potential buyers?
-Yes and no, depending on your credit rating.
Overall rating
-2 stars, it does the job of getting your credit file in order, but it will cost you loads.