Who is eligible for a credit card? What is it that credit card companies look for before giving you a card from their company? Is your payback record clean? Do you pay your loans on time? Do you make your other credit card payments on time? If you are a regular with paying back, you should have no problems getting a card. However, if you default regularly on your payments with other companies and organizations, then you are bound to run into rough weather if you are looking to acquire a new credit card. Even if they do issue you a card in spite of your irregularities, you might have to dish out a higher rate of interest to counter your not too clean history.

When you apply for a credit card, the company would like to know your earning capacity and how much do you spend on it and what are your loan liabilities on your income. You should be enjoying a good credit-risk and not spend more than what you earn. In fact the thumb rule states that you should not exceed 10-15 per cent of your earnings in paying for loans and non-mortgage credit payments.

If you enjoy a good and reliable job, you definitely stand a better chance at getting a credit card without too many questions asked. You also stand a good chance at getting a card if you have been with your current job for at least a couple of years and have been living in one place for a while. They might even want to do an address check and speak with your employer at work.

Did you know that when you apply for a card, the lender gets all your credit information from one of the bureaus in the country before approving the credit card? And this is marked as an inquiry for two years and so if in that period you have been looking at several card issuers then there are more than one inquiry statements against your name. And this may not be a very good record to be seen by your card companies as it may indicated that you have been looking to acquire several loans in this period.

If you have been issued with credit cards that you do not use, discard them and close the account. Don't let it lie around the home even if it has a zero balance on it. This gives the feeling that you can at any point pick up your card and splurge and run up a huge bill. So destroy your card, close your account and report to the credit bureaus about your credits.