Applying for Credit can be intimidating. When you are trying to build credit to reach goals for your personal life or business, being approved or denied can mean a whole lot.
Before you apply for any credit cards you should review your credit reports and score to make sure your lender scores are approvable. If you did not already know there are over 28 different “Lender” FICO scores that are used when applying for certain types of credit. Knowing this and knowing your true FICO scores will make a big difference on your outcome of approvals all the while keeping your hard inquiries at a minimum. After you know your true scores you will want to do some research based on those scores, the content of your credit, and what lenders are doing these days. When I say the content of your credit I simply mean what is reporting for each item positive or negative, the number of credit inquiries on each report, and the current balances you owe on credit card if any exist.
A simple google search can help you find a lender that will use your highest scores to qualify you as long as you know what credit bureau they use to make credit decisions. Using resources like The Credit Boards, Help Me Build Credit, and various other sites can help you search specifically the card you wish to apply for in addition to allowing you to read information that others users have been approved or denied for. You will also be able to see what state the consumer was in and if they were approved/declined, what the bureau used and score is, and what the credit limit is if they were approved. Knowing these factors can help you eliminate companies that you may not qualify for. It can also aid you in finding the best options. Another way to find a more secure answer to being qualified is using companies that will prequalify you. For prequalification they generally do not do a hard credit pull. Instead they do a soft pull on your credit and decide to “prequalify” for approval or not. This can save you a hard inquiry on your report(s) until you actually accept the preapproval offer. At that time they generally do a hard pull. You would want to research that before you apply just to be safe. Hard credit inquiries can cost you points so keeping them at a minimal is best.
The first step to looking for credit is to know what you intend to use it for. That will determine your requested lending limits as well as which company you choose. Some companies offer balance transfers, and this tactic is a great way to save money if you have high balances on high interest rate credit cards. From my experience the bank is more apt to approve you if you have balances to transfer and you have little to no derogatory items, and limited inquiries. If you are looking to build personal capital these types of revolving accounts can be very useful. When choosing a card for personal use there are many perks that come with. Cash back offers and flight miles can help put money back into your pocket. So make sure you read the offers and pick one that fits your lifestyle best.
Happy Hunting