My Mother's Credit Record

[MyOneandYoni]

My DM is a very active 70 year old, and has her own pension and lives jointly with my DF who has all the CC etc in his name. She has recently been turned down for credit, and we are not sure why, but think it might be because she has such a small credit footprint (no cards, no debt etc).
What card would you recommend she gets in order to build up independent credit in her own name?
Thanks

MSE website has a soft search to assess what credit card is likely to accept you.

creditcards.moneysavingexpert.com/?balance-transfer

I'd recommend using this because it does a low key search on her credit record but doesn't mark it as a credit search. If she has too many credit searches within a short period, that in itself can be a bad mark against her (suspected fraud) so it's not good to apply randomly for cards in the hope that one accepts her.

She should also get a copy of her credit files (from Experian, Equifax and Callcredit). It should cost about £2 for each (or there are free trials available, but she has to be careful about cancelling before they start charging her). There might be something inaccurate on her records which is damaging her credit rating and you can make corrections if that's the case.

I have an Aqua card which seems to accept anyone (I got one shortly after being discharged as a bankrupt). The APR is awful, almost 50%, but I have set it up to pay off the balance in full and I only use it to rebuild my credit.

Thanks - great advice. Will check out MSE later and maybe also apply for those checks.
Thank you.

She most likely has been turned down because she is a woman who is 70.