Alan2005

That surprises me for those days. You must have looked a bit dodgy in the shop

We have a couple of credit cards, one of them is secured for $1000. It seemed like the easiest option at the time (the immediate aftermath of the credit crunch) although I'm sure we could have done better if we'd looked harder. Lost interest on this would probably be about $20 - so not that big a deal really. The main problem is the low limit, as I only really use credit cards for big purchases in shops, or on the internet. It's good for petrol though.

R I C H

Maybe I should have lowered my hoodie. It was a minor inconvenience really, but when buying a houseful of white goods it would have been nice to have had the opportunity to get store points or a deferred payment option via in-store credit.

ralphster

One thing I picked up from a bank manager (so believe what you will!) is your credit history can be negatively affected if there are lots of credit searches on your name. Obviously when you first arrive companies are doing loads doing credit checks against you willy nilly, but the average Cdn has about 5 checks a year. If they see lots of searches, banks often assume you've been "round the houses" and rejected and this might affected their decision on (I don't think they can see who else has run a credit check on you, just the numnber done).

If this is true, if you have no credit history upon arrival, it is probably better to be upfront instead of companies doing a search on you only to find nothing anyway. Even if you don't have a SIN etc, apparently the first time anyone enters your name on the credit check system, you are logged and all future checks are logged against your name too (which I guess makes sense).

Someone also told me you can't start to build a credit history until you have your SIN? Is this what others have heard too?

Pretty Flowers

It's not true about the SIN thing. Its not obligatory to give this out to anyone other than your employer. I've never provided my SIN no as part of any credit application I've made.

DandNHill

It is true about the credit checks. Both here and in the UK, each time a check is done against you your score goes down and it take a couple of months or more to build up again.
Not only does it appear that you might have been turned down by other lenders but it could also be that you have been offered finance from them in the last 24hrs or so and therefore that it doesn't yet appear on your credit file!

We tried to get a car loan recently but with a SIN number starting with 9 it is tricky. They want at least 25% down, will only lend over 3 years and load the interest rate!! And this before they even did a credit check!! We have therefore put that plan on hold!!

Zap0ne

It is amazing that some supercomputer in an air-conditioned building in California is keeping tabs on us all. Dealing a lot with the banks etc. they always advise to stay away from the consumer credit cards (store cards, in store credit stuff) as this can wreck your credit score very quickly. I worked on keeping my score is a good place over the years as it helps access funds for investment properties. The better the score got the easier and cheaper it became to access funds.

Although the ‘actual’ calculation is not stated, (do like a good dark art) there is a fair amount of information on the net regarding the things that affect your credit.

http://www.experian.com/credit-educa...core-faqs.html

Hope that this helps

JB0591

I can tell you that if you dont have a credit score....e.g. it is at zero, then having credit checks on you does not give you a negative score as there is nothing to reduce. When we changed from HSBC to BMO, the BMO account manager showed us our score (or the information she gets to see), it showed us that we had a credit score done by our mobile providers and some credit card companies etc (basically it showed our history to date) but there was no negative score rather none at all.

phat-dave

When I got to Canada I entered with a WHP and walked into TD to set up my accounts, I was approved for a credit card too (unsecured) ... only $1000 then 6 months later after I was settled and had a proper job etc I asked for an increase and was told no because my SIN started with a 9 therefore unsecured credit increases were not available.

I'd recommend not providing the bank your SIN - there is no obligation, I just didnt know better when I arrived.

JB0591

I think they have to have your SIN so they can pay interest and they can inform the Tax office.

m4mm4l

We've been in Canada 2 years on TWP's and have been using our UK credit card when required.
Just started looking into getting a Canadian one and have been told by some English friends of ours who moved here 6 years ago that Costco is the best place to get your first one from. I think it is American Express.

Piff Poff

We weren't too fussed about having a credit card but wanted one for online payments etc. We finally after asking our bank (credit union) several times, managed to describe in a way that was understood that a credit card linked to our account like a debit card would do, so that's what we got and they gave us an unasked for overdraft limit at the same time. We were on TWP's at the time.

Now time has gone on, all the bills are in my name, the stand alone credit card is in my name as are the two store cards we have (OH has a second card for everything) and my earnings are a tenth of OH's. My personal credit rating is excellent, OH's is none existent, our rating between us is really very good (we have had the comment it's the highest I've seen) SO now we are going to get OH a credit card for his personal credit rating, it'll just make mortgages in the future a little easier.

Never give out your SIN when applying for anything. It's personal.

ralphster

In trying to applying for a credit card, the bank started to ask abour financial affairs 'to understand our net worth'. Seems a bit invasive compared to the UK? I can understand them wanting to assess risk, but has anyone else experienced ta &his, and did you divulge much? By the end of the meeting, it felt more like being with a financial advisor, than a bank.

I know things are more personal here, but banks ultimately want to flog you as many of their products as possible, so I am guessing they aren't under stringent guidelines like an IFA is in the UK?

JB0591

My experience with banks and credit cards were different, HSBC did a credit check then said "nope not unsecured" (despite being a customter for years) whereas BMO told us straight away when we opened an account that we would have a credit card after each job paid into the account. Three weeks later we were approved. We were told even if we did not get automatic approval then they would sort it out so it would be unsecured. You can probably tell we have since closed our HSBC Canada accounts.

At no point in opening accounts and applying for their credit card did they (BMO) ask how much money we had etc. All they asked was for income information.

Almost Canadian

A bank isn't an Independent Financial Adviser here, or in the UK.

MarylandNed

Very strange. My wife and I were able to open bank accounts at CIBC as soon as we arrived on temporary work permits. However, that was in 1989.