You can get a credit card even if your credit score is less than favorable.
Having a credit card offers convenience, particularly for shopping online, and students often need a credit card to pay for textbooks and school supplies, rental cars, hotel rooms and other expenses. If you have bad credit, you are certainly not alone and, as reported by MSNBC, bad credit has topped terrorism as the greatest risk to America's economy. Even with a bad credit rating, you can still get approved for a credit card.
Instructions
1. Obtain a copy of your credit rating. Before you do anything you need to find out where you stand, and credit ratings can change on a daily basis, so you want to obtain an up-to-date credit report. In the United States, there are three major reporting credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A report from each different company may present different debts, so obtain a separate copy from each. Review the reports to confirm how much money you owe to debtors and see your current credit score.
2. Pay off smaller debts to start clearing your name. Rather than paying small amounts to various debtors, it is much more effective to take that money and put it towards paying off an entire bill to clear it off your record. Some creditors may be willing to settle, but it looks best on your record if you pay the outstanding amount in full. Every debt you get rid of is going to help bring your credit back to a better standing.
3. Browse around and compare your options. Talk to banks and other financial institutions, do your research and compare different rates and policies. Depending on when you look and the state of the economy this information can vary, as rates can fluctuate significantly even just from one day to the next, and this is the only way to successfully determine where you are going to have the best chances of getting approved.
4. Look for bad-credit lenders. If you find you are having trouble getting approved by standard financial institutions, you should start looking for bad-credit lenders, which are lending institutions that cater specifically to persons with less-than-perfect credit. Although the interest rates tend to be higher, these lenders are much more likely to approve you, with or without collateral.
Tags: credit card, your credit, bad-credit lenders, credit rating, credit score, financial institutions