Aqua Credit Card
If you have a poor or low credit score, you may feel that there are no options to get a credit card or a cheap loan. However, there are options available, depending on your current situation, such as an Aqua credit card.
The Aqua credit card can help you rebuild your credit score, or build your credit score if you’ve never had credit, in addition to obtaining a line of credit. If eligible, Aqua can provide an initial credit limit of £250 up to £1,200.
Rebuilding a bad credit score
The card can help you rebuild your poor credit score. In order to do this, you must pay at least the minimum required each month and pay on time. Late or missing payments have a hugely negative effect on your credit score. By managing your account well, lenders will see you are likely to repay debt.
Building a credit score from scratch
Building credit when you’ve never had any is equally as important as rebuilding poor credit.
If you have never had any form of credit, using such a card can help you begin to build your credit rating. It can be challenging to get credit when you’ve never had any debt. This is because lenders don’t have any information about whether you will repay debt and do so on time. If you repay on time, lenders will soon begin to see that you would be likely to repay any credit that you borrow.
A good credit score will open up better APRs, and lenders will be much more likely to accept future credit applications.
You can check your eligibility in under a minute before you apply. This won’t impact your credit report and will show you if you are likely to be accepted. Simply fill in your details, which include name, address, date of birth, some quick employment and spending questions and you’ll get an answer in under a minute.
There are some standard criteria before you apply for either –
- You must be 18 years of age or older
- Must be a permanent UK resident
- Not registered bankrupt in the last 18 months
- You haven’t already taken out an Aqua, Fluid, Marbles, or Opus card in the past 12 months
Aqua offers two credit cards to help you begin your journey to a better credit score.
Aqua Classic Credit Card (37.9% APR variable)
The Classic card is just one that can help you build your credit rating. Your starting APR will likely be higher. You won’t pay any annual fees; however, you will be charged fees if you miss a payment. Missing payments will go against you on your credit report. If you manage your account well, you will get the option to increase your credit limit.
Aqua Advance Credit Card (34.0% APR variable)
Akin to the Classic card, the Advance card will help build your credit rating when used reasonably. This card will decrease your APR over three years when you show that you manage your account well. Your initial credit limit will be between £250 and £1200. You can also use this card abroad without incurring any fees, such as using USD if holidaying in California. Additionally, customers can view their credit reports via ClearView linked with the account.
There are three credit reference agencies in the UK – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Aqua uses TransUnion as their credit rating agency. You can also use the other two credit reference agencies, Equifax and Experian, to view your credit report.
You can also download the Aqua smartphone app on Google Play or Apple Store for several benefits.
- The app will send you text alerts when payment is due so that you never forget.
- View current balance and credit limit
- Make payments and manage preferences
- You can add your card to both Google Pay and Apple Pay.
- Use your Mastercard credit card at over 35 million places.
- You can access a UK-based customer helpline
- Provides helpful guides to help you on your journey to better credit scores
Difference between Aqua Card and a Payday Loan
Although both forms of credit offer you a way to borrow funds, there are a few differences between a credit card and a loan.
The main difference between an Aqua credit card and a payday loan is that a payday loan has a specific end date. A credit card is known as ‘revolving credit’ which means you can continue to borrow if you manage the account well. If you make repayments on time and don’t go over your limit, you will likely be offered a higher credit limit in the future.
Ideally, you repay a minimum repayment each month on a credit card or the full balance. This amount may vary from month to month. A loan provider will ask you to repay a fixed amount over a specific time period until the debt is repaid.
You will pay interest when using either line of credit. Your credit score will have an effect on the APR too; the better your score, the lower your APR. Some credit cards offer 0% APR for a selected amount of time, but you will need a good credit score for those offers.
However, late or missing repayments affect any consumer the same way, no matter how good your credit score is; this goes for both credit cards and loan repayments.
If you are hoping to get a small loan to help buy a car, consolidate debt, or refurbish your home, we have a panel of lenders that may be able to help you.
