“I can only list my personal salary on a credit card application”

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April 28th, 2006

This myth probably causes people more grief that many of the others. This probably originates from the daunting paragraphs at the bottom of credit applications which demand that each of your statements be entirely true.

There are two truths that can easily dispel this myth:

Truth #1: It is in the credit card company’s best interest to extend credit to as many qualified customers as possible.

Truth #2: Credit card companies have been offering these agreements for a long time, and they have nearly unlimited resources available to hire the finest contract attorneys available, if they meant to say “personal income” the document would certainly read “personal income.”

So now that you realize this myth isn’t true, what advantage do you have? The advantage is that now you have the power to negotiate better terms for your credit cards. “Household income” includes things like: student loans, parents’ income, spouses’ income, business income, etc.

Chances are, in just about anybody’s case is that “household income” is going to be a larger number than “personal income” and a larger income number is going to give you more power to get better rates, bigger credit lines, and more perks.

So when you fill out a credit card application make sure to present the highest legitimate number possible.

Entry Filed under: Financial Myths
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