Four Ways to Apply for a Credit Card
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You are 18 years of age and are working. Now you are ready to get your first credit card. Do you know how to apply for a credit card? This is new terrain to you after all so you must tread carefully. Credit cards are an important tool when it comes to personal finance and money management but it is so easy to take a wrong turn and end up in the big D- debt.
You are 18 years of age and are working. Now you are ready to get your first credit card. Do you know how to apply for a credit card? This is new terrain to you after all so you must tread carefully. Credit cards are an important tool when it comes to personal finance and money management but it is so easy to take a wrong turn and end up in the big D- debt.
It is not good for your future credit score to put in too many credit card applications. What you should do instead is focus in on the companies that are most open to dealing with first-time credit card users. When it comes to how to apply for a credit card, here are four ways to go about it.
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Students credit cards
There are plenty of companies that are very eager to give credit cards to college students. If you are presently a student then your chances of being approved for a credit are good. In fact there will probably be plenty of opportunities to learn how to apply for a credit card on campus. Be careful though. Many companies are also looking to take advantage of the naïve nature of college students. Choose the credit card with the best terms and apply for that one. But no more than one for your sake!
Look to your bank for credit
Speak with a representative at your financial institution about applying for a bank credit card. If you have a checking or savings account at the bank and are responsible with it then your chances of getting a card this way will be greatly increased. The good news about bank credit cards is that they often have the lowest interest rates of all credit cards out there.
Consider a gas card or a department store card
Gas companies and department stores are always looking to bring in new customers and offering credit cards with easy approval is one way that they do it. If you take this route then the path to getting your first credit card can be relatively simple. When it comes to how to apply for a credit card the applications for these cards are not difficult at all. The disadvantage to these types of cards however is that the interest rates are usually very high. This makes it especially bad if you end up carrying a balance from month to month.
Apply for a secured credit card
Not having a credit history to draw from can be a problem and might make it difficult to get a standard credit card. Another option available to you is to apply for a secured credit card. In this case it is you that makes a deposit against what the credit limit is set at. The bank holds onto your deposit in the event that you do not make your payments as agreed upon.
