Credit Cards to Require Income for Loans

Does your income affect your credit?

It's not part of the popular FICO credit score, but income is increasingly important if you want a credit card.

New rules require credit card issuers to "verify" that you have sufficient income to pay off any debt you can build up.  Since it's not practical to have you prove everything, they'll use information from your credit reports to get an estimate (see Credit Bureaus Reveal Your Income).

According to About.com's Credit expert LaToya Irby, it's more important than ever to check your credit reports and make sure they're accurate.  Your estimated income will be based on items in the reports, so you'll want to be sure the estimates are as accurate as they can be.

Further reading:

• Does Income Affect Credit?
• Ordering Free Credit Reports
• Look Who's Peeking at Your Paycheck