Student, low income, have Discover @ 500, looking for 2nd card

[Anonymous]

Hello all

I am a college student, have a Discover unsecured student  at 500 limit. I pay it off every month, and it's good for paying for most things. Really happy that Discover approved me but I am looking to get a Visa or Mastercard for those few places that Discover is not accepted.

I am currently an AU on a parents card but paying them back is annoying, I quite enjoy being able to log on to my Discover and pay it myself, no hassle and I am in control.

Due to this I am looking at a second card but everything else I have applied to has been denied. I suspect the major problem is my income, extremely low I can consistently make $500 a year reselling, odd jobs etc. but as a student I don't currently have a job, the only thing I have is $4,000 saved in the bank. The issue, lenders see my super low income get freaked out, not knowing that I can pay off a maxed out, small limit, many times over.

Denials in past year: Capital One regular card and secured, Chase, BOA student card, First Tech FCU (this is my current CU, their limits start at 500) - July 2019

Denials past 2 years not above: Capital One, Citi, Chase, BOA, TD Bank (had my checking/savings there at the time), Barclays - June 2018 (I had a summer job back then so reported income for these apps was around 3,000)

With all that in mind I am hoping to get a few suggestions on how to proceed, ideally I'd like a 2nd card but if it's best to wait before applying that's fine, everyone on here seems to know what's up.

Current credit scores: EX 712 FICO8 (via free Experian account), TU 723 FICO8 (via Discover), TU 740 CreditKarma, EQ 730 CreditKarma

Thanks in advance!

[elixerin]

hey, welcome to myFICO! im in similar-ish boat at 19 with tons of denials to share experience. Currently at 11k TCL now but with lots (and i mean lots) of inquiries. How old is you're current discover card?

[Anonymous]

Opened July 1 2019 according to my Experian app. That's also reporting 5 months of on time payments.

Thanks for the welcome. I'm also 19, lol.

[elixerin]

Awesome! okay so to be frank, with 18+ inquiries on my EXP and only 2 approvals, 9 TU ( 2 approvals). i tried for every entry tier card in the book, all cash back ones and only now at 1 year credit history did i start getting proper approvals, i would strongly advice waiting 7 more months. Save on the inquiries and keep on PIF on you're current discover card and as soon as you hit 12 mo, start shopping(responsibly ofcourse). 

If you don't really feel like waiting and have an iPhone try applying for apple card and see if they'll approve you for a generous limit(if you decline offer or are simply rejected you will NOT get a hard pull)

i had discover secured at 200$ and was upgraded to $2000 unsecured right after my 7th statement, you may be getting an increase as well considering you're around that point 

i have a billion AMEX inquiries resulting in denials and as soon as i hit 12 mo history (this month actually) they finally approved me after checking Pre-Quals a bit before my 12 mo

Apple gave a nice limit after applying over and over and declining the baby offers with only 1 TU pull they went from offering me $750 to $5000 

Best wishes my friend

[mikesonthemend]

As a college student you probably use your parents address. If your parents supplement your income, as they most likely do, you can include that supplement, all the way up to your household's income on your applications.

If your parents give you money, include that on your income. It is perfectly normal.

[Anonymous]

@elixerin, thanks for the tip, I'll probably try the Apple card for now (I have iPhone) and then hold out otherwise. Need to see how the soft pull works, will try it at least to see if they would approve and if so, how much, without getting a hard pull.

@mikesonthemend I don't feel comfortable doing this until I turn 21, a lot of the credit card companies say not to put anything that isn't your actual income til then.

[elixerin]

ofcourse, and if you don't like the number you see, a decline won't hurt and is always available to another application whenever you feel(at no "cost"). 

no need to wait until 21... i had a lot of people (with no disrespect to the forum) insisting i wait and wait and keep waiting but with trial an error (lots as far as inquiries go), im finally at a spot which i can thoroughly enjoy value from my cards. Use me as a perfect example as we are in similar shoes, lmk how it goes. Cheers

And as for income, i put $85,000 to $120,000 across my applications as business is what it is and can be unstable at times so these numbers are fairly inaccurate 30-35% of the time, they just care about being paid back and on time.

[simplynoir]

Regarding using your parent's household income to put on apps I would NOT suggest that at all. The banks are expecting the income you are making and that rule is supposed to help spouses/significant others who live together and combine expenses, not students away from home. By claiming that you're basically telling them your parents will allow access to their funds in the event you yourself are unable to pay for the bills which brings in all sorts of legalities since technically one lied about their income on a credit card application for starters. And if they decide to do a review of your account and ask to provide bank statements or something similar to prove the income stated is accurate then you're screwed

OP, you seem to be aware of this which is good so keep that in mind and the rest will fall in place with due time

[Raisondetre]

Since you've had the Discover card for awhile, have you tried for a CLI?

[CreditInspired]

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@elixerin wrote:

ofcourse, and if you don't like the number you see, a decline won't hurt and is always available to another application whenever you feel(at no "cost"). 

no need to wait until 21... i had a lot of people (with no disrespect to the forum) insisting i wait and wait and keep waiting but with trial an error (lots as far as inquiries go), im finally at a spot which i can thoroughly enjoy value from my cards. Use me as a perfect example as we are in similar shoes, lmk how it goes. Cheers

And as for income, i put $85,000 to $120,000 across my applications as business is what it is and can be unstable at times so these numbers are fairly inaccurate 30-35% of the time, they just care about being paid back and on time.

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Please do not promote this or engage others to do things that may be considered inaccurate or plain wrong. One should only put down the income that they can actually prove through documentation, if it's asked for. And no, banks do not only care about being paid back and on time. They have a fiduciary and legal duty to ensure that all monies come from clean hands.

Thank you for understanding.