See if you can find 알바 part-time work on campus, which will help increase income, as well as qualifying you for better terms on your credit cards, as well as rewards programs. There are a few ways you can get a credit card without working, but using a credit card with no income or cash available to cover the balance is not a good idea, so make sure not to make purchases that you cannot afford. Fortunately, credit card issuers consider other sources of income in addition to work, so you may generally be eligible if you are receiving a government benefit check or receiving money from your spouse or relatives.
A secured card can be a way to access credit even when your income is limited. For people who do not have friends or family who they can request a co-signer or authorized user, a secured card still may offer viable access to credit. With some secure card accounts, an account holder will have the ability to increase credit limits, or move on to a non-secured card, after regular ability to pay bills on time every month has been demonstrated. Some issuers will increase a credit limit if a high deposit is made on the security deposit or you have demonstrated a history of responsible credit usage.
Secured cards have the highest acceptance rates, since your deposit typically matches your limit. Typically, secured cards come with lower credit limits, which are designed to be used conservatively in order to establish good credit habits and improve your credit score. Secured cards require you to make a deposit, which you place as collateral, that acts as a line of credit. If you have already had a little positive credit activity on your credit report, you might qualify for an unsecured account, which does not require a deposit.
Now that you have the card, be sure you are using it to add positive activity on your credit reports. Just make sure the issuer reports your credit activity to the credit bureaus. Reporting means if you are using the card regularly and responsibly, you will be able to begin improving your credit score and getting your finances on the right track. Reports enable an authorized user to build a payment history with their used card, and their credit score is built with each timely payment.
A cardholder may add a qualifying user, using their Social Security number or an ITIN, as an authorized user to his credit account, not depending on the credit score of the authorized user. Beyond the background details provided by your name and social security number/ITIN, the credit issuer will search any credit history you have under your name, using your income as the measurement for whether you are likely to be able to pay off debts or loans. Credit scores, which are derived from the financial data in your credit report, will also be pulled as part of the application process, as credit scores provide a credit card issuer with a sense of the amount of risk you present as a borrower. While you may generally be able to use credit cards issued in your home country that permit purchases in the U.S., the credit used on these cards will not count toward your credit score, since your credit history cannot be reported until you open a credit account in the U.S.
In some cases, becoming a licensed user may help you build credit if you do not have enough credit or a poor score, as account history may be reported to your credit report. If a cardholder authorizes you to use a well-established account, this may help you to build credit. By asking someone to co-sign on a loan application or to use the card as an authorized user, people who are struggling to get a job can get assistance in getting access to lines of credit. For people who do not have income or a credit history, using a cosigner may help get credit cards on their own through the option of secured credit cards or student credit cards.
If you are not getting credit cards in this time of unemployment, inquire about having your rent, mortgage, utilities, or cell phone payments reported to a credit bureau, so your rent payments are shown on your credit report and can potentially improve your score (features such as Experian Boost and Experian RentBureau may be helpful in doing so). These rent-reporting agencies — such as Rent Reporters, Rental Kharma, and LevelCredit — will report your on-time payments to the credit bureaus, which may help improve your score.
Make sure that the person responsible for the other persons account keeps up the payments, as negative reports to the bureaus will show up on your credit report, as long as you are the authorized user. Being an authorized user on your family members or friends credit card account can be a good way to build credit – just be sure you are both working together to make sure payments are made on time every month. By choosing a card designed for those without credit, a first-timer who is 18 years of age or older and earns enough to afford the monthly bills will enjoy good acceptance odds.
For those who do not have high credit scores, you can start by applying for credit-building loans, otherwise known as introductory loans, and secured credit cards. Whether you are months away from landing your first job, or have it lined up and are just waiting to start, you may be wondering whether it is possible to apply and qualify for credit cards before starting your job. Let us explore how you can qualify for a credit card before starting your job, which types of credit cards you may be eligible for, and how you can build up your credit so that you will find it easier to get a credit card before you are more established in your career.
Neither your employment status nor your income are a foolproof barometer for creditworthiness, but understanding how to show the credit card company what it wants to see can make or break your application, and affect the amount of credit available. While you should maintain strict budgets while out of work, you might still need to have access to credit to help get through tough times. Your credit score is your lifelong report card, since you will need a strong score in order to qualify for loans and leases. If you are younger than 21, you will either have to have a co-signer (if the issuer allows co-signers) or show evidence of independent income or assets to prove you can pay back what is charged, according to the Extending Credit to Underage Consumers section of the CARD Act of 2009.