I wonder if being retired would be a barrier? R-
I always wonder why we’re still asked things like mortgage contributions, salary and such if banks have their own algorithms for checking these things.
In this instance, what’s stopping someone claiming they earn millions and are mortgage free etc to become eligible. Or do they rely on people being honest?
That’s my point, if they’re going to correlate it with what they have then they should already have an idea of what you earn without needing to ask.
If what I input is above this then there is no appeal process to prove otherwise, or see how far out it is. So it just all seems a bit pointless because it’s very much a “computer said no”
Haha too late for me to try (not that I would) Are there legal implications for lying? If I put millions down, would that cause me to get flagged and reported to some external authority for fraud because it’s way off the mark?
I think it was alluded to at some point in the past (not necessarily this thread), that it is a basic check to see that you are not telling porkies. If you say you earn £20k a year more than Monzo can identify, it could possibly mean that you could be living beyond your means and therefore a potential debt risk (trying to take out more debt than you can afford).
I know they’re not going to explain why but it does make me wonder
Or that there is an error in their system and they’ve missed a revenue stream? Anyway… here is probably not the place to discuss this - I was just thinking out loud
Don’t get me (and some others!) started on them not being able to identify salary if you are self employed!
I’ve taken early retirement and have a lower income now but the mortgage is paid off and my disposable income hasn’t changed that much. It hasn’t stopped me getting credit elsewhere and it hasn’t altered my standing with the CRAs.
My net worth has actually increased significantly, though, due to a very nice lump sum from my pension
Has anyone mentioned the ability to pay the flex from a pot
That will come via a virtual card, hopefully next month.
Hey! So I’ve just received my invite for flex
However I wanted to ask a few question before I went ahead.
I’ve been offered a £3000 credit limit which is amazing
But what I’d really love to know is whether flex is considered to be like a credit card / Credit account?
Does the balance get reported to the relevant credit agencies?
Finally should we treat it like any other credit account for example not using more than 25% credit limit utilisation to avoid hurting your credit score by going over the 25%?
Yes - we’ll be reporting Flex as a revolving credit account (similar to a credit card) with your enabled credit limit and your balance as of the end of each month.
Someone asked a similar question before - here’s my thoughts on this subject (For Flex and any other credit card type account)
The only reason the 25% thing came to mind was because I use many credit score companies one each for Experian, TransUnion, Equifax.
TotallyMoney has a section which says credit utilisation has a medium impact on credit score for using over 25%, Thanks @TheoGibson for your insight into the whole credit utilisation subject!
Oooh… the return of Midnight Sky…
No problem
Ye, unfortunately credit scoring (and generally deciding whether to lend to a customer or not) can be quite complex behind the scenes with:
- lots of different data points from different types of accounts,
- lots of different lenders doing different credit score calculations,
- different CRA’s often with different information,
- open banking data coming onto the scene,
- your usage with a specific provider (eg. transactions with Monzo) playing a part,
- a difference between affordability checks, income verification checks and credit scores
- the list could go on
And I think the CRA’s (and other credit score apps) have a tough job distilling this all down into something that is simple for customers to understand - and creating an easy to understand 25% line in the sand is a good simple way of doing this - even if it isn’t necessarily 100% correct.
And more importantly - if you’re someone who used to always be above a certain utilisation % (pick 25%, 50%, 75%) and now your consistently under that - this’s likely a good thing from a financial health and affordability point of view - who cares about the impact on your credit score - this is the thing you should be caring about
TLDR; This line ffrom your screenshot above
Keep in mind, though, this is simply a guide
I’ve had flex for about a week now. Loving it. Absolutely brilliant product and basically now removes my need for a credit card.
One question I have though is why can’t I flex transactions from a pot? I have a pot with a virtual card linked and none of the transactions allow me to flex like they do for those from my main account feed?
Maybe a silly question?
Can I flex more than one transaction providing it’s all within my limit.
Say flex a £100 transaction and a £50 for example?
Yup!
I used flex for the first time today. Works really well and quite clear and simple to use.
However… I hate the fact you pay the first payment instantly. When I set flex up it asked me to pick my pay day. I wrongly assumed this would then be the day I pay all the time.
For example I bought something today, the 16th. My pay day is set as the 1st, after my wage comes in. I thought if I flexed my purchase I’d get my money back and then pay it on 3 installments on the 1st. Nope. It took the first payment straight away, and then I have to pay the second payment in half a month. That’s 2 payments in less than a month?? What’s the point? I was expecting to pay over 3 months.
Maybe it’s back to Tymit for me…
Probably not good news for me then as I’ve never managed to be eligible for a loan, although I have a decent overdraft facility. They’re very strict compared to my CC for example who would let me borrow the price of a medium sized car without batting an eyelid.
The utilisation thing is why my credit limits are so insane… I used to keep them low as I’d been advised by multiple people that if they were high they’d affect your credit score. Found out about this quirk, upped them to about 10x what they were before any my score went up even though I now had the ability to borrow far more than I could easily pay back…
I’m still borrowing exactly the same but my utilisation is now about 10% instead of 90%.