How to Fill Out a Credit Card Application
Thursday, February 7th, 2008You’ve done the difficult part; you’ve made a decision about which credit card is the one that you wish to get. Now it’s time to fill out the credit card application. At first glance, this can seem simple. After all, you’re just entering some basic information about yourself that you already know. However, there are some tricks to filling out the credit card application which can assist you in securing a better card.
First, you need to decide whether you’re going to fill out an online application or a paper application. These days, most people choose an online application. If you’re seeking instant approval on the credit card decision, you will want to go this route. However, if you’ve received an application offer in the mail, you might want to fill it out and mail it in.
Once you start writing in the details on the application, you’ll find that the first part goes smoothly. It’s your name and other identifying information. However if you’ve changed your name or address recently, there may be certain things which don’t show up on your credit report yet. This isn’t common, but it does happen. Choosing the right name and address for the application can impact what information is seen by the creditor. If this is your situation, consider getting a copy of your credit report before completing the application.
Next you’ll be inputting your employment information. You can often only enter one employer. If you have multiple employers, you will want to enter the one that you’ve been with the longest, which has the highest paying job or which is full-time as opposed to part-time. Basically, you want to put down the best job you have. Then you’ll need to put down the household income. This means the total income for all adults earning money in the home. You can guess a little bit high here although stick within the range of your true household income.
At this point, you will probably be asked to provide information about your home status. Consider what payments are seen by the bank for your home. For example, if you live with your parents and pay them rent in cash, you don’t have to claim that you pay rent. You can just say that you live with your parents. If you have additional sources of income, consider whether they are reported on your taxes. If they are, you need to report them on your application.
Finally, you get to decide about the details of the credit card. For example, you can sometimes select certain rewards on the application. Additionally, you can choose to add someone else to your credit card application. This is good if they have good credit and want to co-sign but may be a mistake if you’re adding an additional card for someone with bad credit. Finally, consider doing a balance transfer. Credit card companies are more inclined to approve your application if you’re willing to start with a balance on the card.
