New or Bad Credit
There is an old adage that says, “You need credit to get credit.” It is no wonder that adults who have never had a credit card before become confused on how to get a credit card. Many of them have no credit score and a blank report and therefore no history by which the credit card company can review them. If you are in this situation, you have a few options that you can use in order to get a credit card. All of these options are helpful because they provide a way to get a positive credit history on your reports and greater success to getting a credit card.
The easiest option for first-time credit card applicants is the student credit card. To many banks, students are the prime candidates for a credit card because they will spend a lot, generally make minimum payments (so more interest for the banks) and they have a great chance of keeping that customer for a long time. They consider students good bets because there is a highly likelihood that student will graduate and get a good job, where they will earn more money and will be likely to spend even more on credit. Therefore, it is generally very easy for a student to get a credit card with no history.
If you are not a student you may consider the option of being added as an authorized user on someone else’s account; like a parent, grandparent or spouse. However, only utilize this option if the account you are added on to has a positive history, meaning no late payments, no over the limit balances and isn’t currently close to the credit line. It is important that the account doesn’t fall into any of those categories because these issues actually cause a credit score to lose points and won’t be helpful to someone looking to gain good credit. When deciding if this is a viable option for you, think hard about how much you trust the person whose account you will be placed on and their money management skills. If they do overspend and cannot pay, you are not legally liable for the debt as an authorized user but it can be a hassle and time consuming to get that credit line from reporting on your account
The third option that a beginner in the credit world can use to get a credit card is also an option for people with bad credit. This option is known as the secured card. Secured credit cards are cards that you pay to set up; for example, you put down a deposit of $300 for a credit line of $300. You will still have to pay an APR and make monthly payments but this is a good way to build up a positive payment history and will result in a better credit score that will enable you to apply for unsecured cards later.
Another option for people with beginner’s or bad credit to get a credit card is to go with the “high fee cards.” They are not recommended, though they can do their job in helping you to raise your credit score by reporting timely monthly payments. However, these fees are exorbitant and it is better to just get a secured card than to go this route.
Good Credit
If you have good credit, you are in a good position to get a credit card. However, there are certain aspects that can be tweaked in order to get the best score, and best viewable report before applying for a credit card. Banks look at more than your credit score so be careful to make sure that you have low balances on your credit cards, 30 percent of the credit line as a balance is the optimal figure. Also, ensure that you do not have balances on every credit card in your file, you have no recent late payments, and have no collection or charged off accounts.