6 Ways of Improving the odds of getting approved for the right credit cards

Applying for a business credit card? It’s important to learn how to give your company the best possible chance to get approved for the credit cards you need to launch your business.

We all know that feeling of wondering whether or not we are going to get approved for a credit card before we apply. What if there was a way to not worry as much anymore? Is there anything you can do to improve your approval odds?

Because we understand how important credit cards can be to launching and growing a business, we have put together a list of 6 secrets that will help improve your odds of getting approved. As a general rule of thumb, the trick is make your credit look like you do not need any money from the bank.

1.   The first thing you can do to improve your approval odds is to pay down outstanding balances before applying and make sure the new, lower balances appear on your credit report. There is a natural tendency to keep money in your checking account for a rainy day while carrying a balance on your credit card.  Do the opposite! The bank knows how much you owe not how much you have in your checking account.  The other benefit of doing this is that the lower balances tend to increase your credit score.

2.  If you are going transfer a balance either to consolidate or take advantage of a 0% promotional offer, list your intention to do so on the application. Banks like to know that you are not keeping an existing balance plus growing a balance on one of their credit card. Remember, banks love winning over the business from their competition – other banks.

3.   Do everything you can to get high limit credit cards. There are some cards where Visa requires that the issuer offer at least an $8,000 line. These cards are marketed as Visa Infinite.  If you don’t have any higher line cards you may want to request a credit line increase before applying for these high line cards.  This demonstrates that you can handle a credit card with a higher.

4.   Diversify your credit. Do NOT be afraid to open that retail store card.  Not only do those retail cards give you great value for signing up and great shopping offers, they also strengthen your credit overall. If you demonstrate you can keep balances low on multiple cards the banks will fight for your business.

5.   Apply for a credit card where you bank because when deciding whether to approve or to decline your application, the bank takes your deposit history into consideration. If you have a good deposit balance, regular deposits from your job, and/or have managed your checking account well, the bank will understand you also manage your finances well. As a result, the bank is way more likely to approve your application.

6.   Make sure to list all of your income on your credit card application. The income should be your gross before tax income. This is very important to remember, as a lot of people deduct taxes which makes their income look way lower than it actually is to the bank. Also include any additional income streams you may have, such as a pension, an annuity, rental income, or even alimony.  After all, the banks need to make sure you can pay back the card and having enough income is an important part of paying back the credit card.

As you may have learned from these tips, you do not have to be a sitting duck when applying for credit cards or even a small business loan. There are a lot of things you can do to be proactive to strengthen your personal credit.

The important thing to know is that even though banks will look at