--- title: Why Getting Approved for a Credit Card Is Becoming Harder (and What You Can Do About It) description: Banks say they are tightening standards for who gets approved for credit cards. Here are tips to get help you get approved for a new card. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 498 covers: - Credit Cards - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Credit Cards - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2022-11-11T15:59:55.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T13:35:37.000Z' section: Credit Cards word_count: 863 canonical: https://money.com/harder-get-approved-credit-card-tips/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Close-up of a person paying with a credit card](https://img.money.com/2022/11/News-Credit-Card-Approval-Strategies.jpg?crop=0px%2C138px%2C2608px%2C1467px&quality=85) At a time when Americans are relying on credit cards to see them through a tough bout of inflation, it’s becoming harder to get approved for a card. New data [from the Federal Reserve](https://www.federalreserve.gov/data/sloos/sloos-202210.htm) shows that lenders have been getting pickier with whom they approve for new [credit cards](https://money.com/best-credit-cards/). About 19% of banks have started tightening their standards for [credit card approval](https://money.com/apply-for-credit-card-get-approved/) over the past three months, according to a Fed [survey](https://www.federalreserve.gov/data/documents/sloos-202210-fullreport.pdf) released Monday. When the Fed asked the same question the previous quarter, zero banks said they were tightening their standards. “As lenders navigate increasing delinquencies, a high inflation environment, capital constraints, and a potential recession, lending to below prime risk tiers is likely to slow down in the last two quarters of 2022,” the report states. For reference, a prime [credit score](https://money.com/what-is-a-credit-score/) is often considered to be between 660 and 719. Credit card providers are starting to think twice about approving applicants with scores below that range. Meanwhile, credit card debt has reached an all-time high between July and September, according to the credit bureau TransUnion, suggesting that folks are [using credit cards to cope](https://money.com/new-credit-cards-during-inflation/) with [soaring consumer prices](https://money.com/items-prices-rising-faster-than-inflation/). “Consumers are being pressured on multiple fronts, first by this environment of high inflation, and secondarily by the higher interest rates that the Federal Reserve is implementing to tamp it down,” Michele Raneri, a vice president at TransUnion, said Tuesday in an announcement of the bureau’s latest [quarterly report](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/11/08/2550940/0/en/Credit-Card-and-Personal-Loan-Balances-Reach-Record-Levels-as-Consumers-Navigate-High-Inflation-Rising-Interest-Rates.html) on credit trends. Consumer prices remain stubbornly high despite the Fed’s aggressive efforts to combat inflation. The inflation rate for the year ending in [October was 7.7%](https://money.com/inflation-report-stocks-soaring/), the Department of Labor said Thursday. The Fed has [raised interest rates six times](https://money.com/fed-interest-rate-hike-november-2022/?ref=/inflation-report-stocks-soaring/) so far this year and has signaled more hikes are coming. The Fed’s aggressive action to lower inflation has had side effects. In this case, getting a credit card could become more difficult for people without stellar credit scores. ## How to get approved for a credit card If your credit score is below 660, that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to get approved for a credit card, but you may want to be a little more deliberate in your search. Here are a few strategies you can use to [improve your chances of approval](https://money.com/apply-for-credit-card-get-approved/). ### 1\. Check your credit before applying If you don’t know your credit score, don’t start applying for credit cards just yet. First make sure to [check your credit report](https://money.com/how-to-check-your-credit-report/) with the three main [credit bureaus](https://money.com/what-are-credit-reporting-agencies/?ref=/best-credit-cards/) (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) to at least have an idea of your overall approval odds. Keep in mind that your credit report will not include your score, so you will want to [check your credit score](https://money.com/how-to-check-your-credit-score/) separately. You can do so with one of the bureaus. (Just double check that it’s free). If you have another credit card already, the credit card provider may allow you to check your credit score for free as well. In addition to your score, the credit card provider will also factor in other related things such as the length of your credit history to decide if you get approved. If your report is “thin” — meaning you don’t have a robust credit history — you could get denied from picky credit card providers. ### 2\. Apply for the right credit card for you Blasting out applications to numerous credit cards could hurt your chances of getting approved, so if you’ve already been denied, you may want to wait a few months before applying again. Likewise, you’ll want to apply for cards that you believe you’ll realistically get approved for. Credit card providers may not list exact credit score requirements, but a FICO score of over 660 (and ideally above 700) will certainly help your odds in the current environment. [Premium rewards cards](https://money.com/best-rewards-credit-cards/) typically require an excellent credit score — [likely 720 or above](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-credit-trends/student-loans/borrower-risk-profiles/) — and a healthy debt-to-income ratio. If you’re having trouble qualifying, you may want to [consider a secured credit card](https://money.com/build-credit-with-secured-credit-card/) first. It works similarly to other credit cards but will require a refundable deposit before you open your account. ### 3\. Improve your credit While it’s easier said than done, [improving your credit](https://money.com/7-ways-to-improve-credit-score/) situation is the best way to ensure you are approved for a credit card. A common strategy people new to credit cards use is [becoming an authorized user](https://money.com/credit-card-authorized-user-credit-builder/) on a trusted family member or friend’s card. This is a bit of a shortcut: You can get access to the main card holder’s line of credit without having to undergo a credit check yourself. All the while, you will be able to build your own credit. However, if that’s not an option, you’ll have to resort to some old-fashioned credit improvement strategies, such as paying down your other credit cards if you have them — ultimately lowering your credit-utilization ratio. Other [credit-building strategies](https://money.com/7-ways-to-improve-credit-score/) include removing any incorrect information from your reports and signing up for credit-boost programs that allow you to strengthen your credit by including certain on-time bill payment history. [An Opaque Web of Credit Reports Is Tracking Everything You Do](https://money.com/credit-reports-tracking-everything-you-do/) [8 Best Cash Back Credit Cards of November 2022](https://money.com/best-cash-back-credit-cards/) [7 Best Credit Repair Companies of November 2022](https://money.com/best-credit-repair-companies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/harder-get-approved-credit-card-tips/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Credit Cards", "item": "https://money.com/credit-cards/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Credit Card", "item": "https://money.com/credit-card/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Why Getting Approved for a Credit Card Is Becoming Harder (and What You Can Do About It)" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/harder-get-approved-credit-card-tips/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/harder-get-approved-credit-card-tips/", "name": "Why Getting Approved for a Credit Card Is Becoming Harder (and What You Can Do About It)", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-11-11T15:59:55.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/harder-get-approved-credit-card-tips/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/harder-get-approved-credit-card-tips/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:35:37.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Why Getting Approved for a Credit Card Is Becoming Harder (and What You Can Do About It)", "articleSection": "Credit Cards", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/11/News-Credit-Card-Approval-Strategies.jpg?crop=0px%2C138px%2C2608px%2C1467px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Credit-Card-Approval-Strategies" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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