What Information Will You Need When Applying For A Major Credit Card?
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There are many questions that you are assuredly going to be confronted with when applying for a credit card. These questions are important to answer, and answer honestly because of the credit card companies need for accurate information. The information that you provide will help them to determine what credit card is right for you and what financial offerings they can provide you through their institution. Lying about this information is not only problematic but also fraudulent. Whether you are applying for credit through a large institution, such as would be the case if you were applying for a Lloyds TSB or Barclays credit card for example, or are just looking for more data for a future application, the following is some of the common information that you will most likely be asked during this process.
Income
Though personal, a credit card will assuredly be asking you what your income level is. They will want to know what your annual take home is and may want to know what the monthly is as well. This information is important to a credit card company for many different reasons. First, it will help to determine how much financing and credit they can provide you with. They do not want you to be at risk of being unable to pay so knowing how much disposable income you have can allow them to provide you with an appropriate amount of financing. They will also want to know what income bracket you fall within to better help determine the type of credit card that is right for you. An individual with a high level of income may be eligible for a bonus or rewards card, while those with less monthly income or annual revenue may not. This serves as a protection to both the credit account holder and the lending institution.
History
Before issuing a line of credit to an individual, the financial history of that individual will be assessed. This is done by doing a credit report. The individual applying will have to provide information on application that agrees to this assessment. If not, they may not be able to move forward in the application process. A bank or credit card company wants to know that their risks are worth it. If an individual does not have an established credit history or has one that is highly flawed, this can reduce the chances of them issuing a card. If the individual has a stellar report, they may be more inclined to accept the application and even to increase the amount of credit that is issued. Either way, it will be unlikely when applying for a credit card that you will be able to move forward without answering questions regarding your credit history.
Employment
Another way in which a bank or financial institution will seek information on an application for a credit card is to ask for your employment history. This is important because it shows whether an applicant has a consistent source of annual income as well as how stable their career is. This section may or may not be included on the main application, but you should be prepared to answer it just in case.
Laura was getting ready to apply for a Lloyds TSB credit card. To prepare, she wanted to gather all the information that she may have needed before beginning the process. Then she created the above list to help others.
Tags: cash flow, credit, credit card, debts, expenses, personal finance
