Q&A: Who will give me a credit card based on my salary (as opposed to my non-existent credit score)?
Question by YoungEngineer: Who will give me a credit card based on my salary (as opposed to my non-existent credit score)?
So lately, I’ve been itching for a new laptop. I went to Best Buy last weekend, and decided to pick one up. It was $ 1,600. I had $ 1,200 in my checking account. I decided that instead of waiting for my next paycheck, I’d try one of their financing options. I figured it would be a breeze and I’d be at home firing up my new laptop in no time!
An employee was sitting behind relaying credit card application questions interrogated me for a good half an hour. After he began, I started getting nervous. Then, he asked me my annual salary. “fifty-seven thousand,” I said. He raised his eyebrows and pushed his bottom lip up as if to say “not bad.” I felt a rush and started getting excited at the thought of racing home and firing up a fresh machine with specs twice as good as the specs of the laptop I had. “It’ll be just a sec!” he said. I turned to my girlfriend and we smiled at eachother. She new I had been wanting a new laptop to do my work on. Two minutes later, the store clerk looked at me and said, “I’m sorry sir. It didn’t go through.” My heart dropped. “What the hell!!! He made that face at me though!” I thought to myself.
We left the store.
We came back 5 min later. He never handed me back my driver’s license.
The next day, we went to our bank.
“I wanna get a credit card.”
“You mean you would like to apply for a credit card?”
— No… I want to GET a credit card, but if you can’t give me one, sure I’ll apply for one you condescending uppity ****
“Yeah… that…”
I went through the interrogation again… this time with a well-groomed slick-haired guido lookin-guy who kept checking out my gf. At the end of it, he simply said, “They’ll mail you something.”
I thought, “They’ll mail me…. a card?”
Today, I got home and checked my mail. One article of mail… … from the bank!!!
I got excited. I pulled the envelope out of the box but, in my excitement, didn’t notice how light it was. I started to open the envelope, and grew suspicious of it’s lack of rigidity.
There was a single piece of paper in it. There was test on that paper that stood out in all caps.
“LIMITED ACTIVE ACCOUNTS OR DEBTS REPORTED”
I now sit here, typing this in extreme frustration. Even my bank -the institution that should know best that I pay all my bills on time- has denied me a credit card.
What the heck does a guy have to do to get a credit card/build credit? I’d like to take out a mortgage and buy a home in the near future.
(note: I cannot have a joint card with my parents. Let’s just not go into detail as to why that’s not an option please)
EDIT: I guess I should have mentioned that I’ve already gotten copies of my credit report from the 3 credit reporting agencies. 
All clear. My bank also does monthly monitoring and every month I get a text alert that says the same thing every month (that there’s nothing negative and no new accounts opened or something like that).
Best answer:
Answer by Cold
Have you been employed for at least one solid year?
If not,
You could make a secured loan.
Drop $ 1,500 to $ 3,000 into a cd or savings account and make a secured loan against it for one solid year.
Voila – good credit.
Check those credit reports once a year for free.
This is a must. Go to
Annual Credit Report.com
You might have to get them by mail if this is your first time by calling the 877 number.
If they request you to mail a copy of your dr. lic – please follow through.
Don’t get tempted to pay for your score from those sites – you have none.
Plus, it’s the reports what is truly important – not a score.
Also, once you develop credit, there are plenty of free ways to get a score.
One more note: Please, make sure you have 6 to 8 months worth of emergency living expenses put away. You never know when you are going to need major car repair, have medical bills not covered by insurance, or lose a job.
Sounds like you may not have this fund…
Give your answer to this question below!
Tags: based, Card, credit, give, nonexistent, opposed, salary, Score
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Go to a different bank…Also, ask the bank why you were declined.
I personally know of an 18 year old who deposited a financial aid check in his (Wells Fargo) acct, and was issued a $ 500 balance credit card (took two weeks to issue it).
Have you failed to pay anything?
Get a lower credit limit on a card, and use it for very small things. Pay it off each month. In six months, they will raise your limit.
Good luck!
First of all, before you try to get any type of credit, you will need to get copies of your credit reports to find out how the credit reporting agencies are collecting and reporting your credit history. From the statement “LIMITED ACTIVE ACCOUNTS OR DEBTS REPORTED,” it sounds like you have not built up a credit history over time and that you have debts you may not be aware of that are being reported on your credit reports. You can get one free report annually from each of the three companies – Experian, Trans Union and Equifax by going to http://www.annualcreditreports.com/ or you can go on each of the companies sites, fill out a form, and get your results individually.
Once you understand what is going on with your credit reports, then you can get busy cleaning up those reports by paying off debts and having inaccurate information removed by your creditors. After you have found out what’s on your reports and resolved the issues, it will be much easier to get secured credit cards to help you establish your credit, and work your way up to getting an unsecured bank credit card. Go to creditcards.com or bankrate.com to find the best secured credit cards for the lowest interest rates. Be sure to read the credit card agreements to know what you are getting into before signing the application.
Good Luck!
Superior Credit
First, stop applying for credit cards. Every time you apply for credit an inquiry is noted on your credit report these inquiries lower your credit score. Many people make the mistake of re-applying for credit cards after being turned down, not realizing that their credit score is being lowered by each application they submit.
Unfortunately, as a result of the 2008 “credit crisis” a shift has been made towards using the credit score as the sole means of determining credit eligibility. Creditors today give little weight to things such as employment history and income levels when deciding to approve consumers for credit. Having said that, getting a credit card when you have no credit is quite simple, especially for someone with a good income like yourself. Your best bet is to get a secure credit card. It will require an upfront deposit, which will determine it’s limit, but it will allow you to have a credit card. After a period of time, usually 12 months, of timely payments and depending on the card company, you will be able to convert your secure card into a traditional credit card. You can read more about secure credit cards here.
http://www.rebuildingcredittips.com/02/secured-credit-cards
If you get nothing else from this response please believe me when I suggest you not apply for anymore credit cards until you build some credit history. It is not a matter of finding a “good fit” with a bank or credit card company. Inquiries remain on your credit report for 2 year and are the bain of many consumers. If you have a minimal amount of credit their effect is that much worse, since the only items on your credit report are negative items. Don’t fear though, while you will probably have to wait till payday to get your new computer you now have the tools to build a solid healthy credit history.