How to Get a Credit Card for Self-Employed?

According to data published by the Reserve Bank of India, the number of credit card users has surged by approximately 10 million, from 37.4 million to 48.9 million, from May 2018 to May 2019.  

Experts believe the growth is largely due to the measures taken by government organizations towards a paradigm of digital currency. The financial institutions in the country have responded to these measures accordingly by improving their credit structure. 

These institutions are striving to ease the application process of credit cards for self-employed individuals as well as for salaried individuals and allowing additional benefits on credit card usage. 

How to apply for a credit card for self-employed individuals?

Self-employed individuals do not have a steady source of income like salaried individuals, and their liquid financial holding varies from time to time. Regardless, the need for finances can crop up at any time. Henceforth, self-employed individuals utilise credit card as their first line of financial tool to tackle their professional needs. 

In case you are availing a credit card for the first time to facilitate your personal expenses or expenses related to your business or profession, you can apply for by fulfilling the following eligibility criteria – 

1. Credit score – When you apply for a credit card, the first credential your respective lending institution will assess is your credit score, which should be above 750.
2. Age – Your age should be within 25 – 65 years to qualify for a credit card.
3. Payment history – You should have a clean payment history, i.e. your credit history should reflect timely payments of past advances.
4. Address – Your permanent residence should be within the operating regions of your respective lending institution.

While these are the standard reasons, you should adhere and meet all of them as failing to fulfil the eligibility is one of the most common reasons why your credit card application can be rejected. Upon meeting these criteria, you can apply for a credit card.

The documents which you need to produce or upload to apply for a credit card are listed below – 

1. Address Proof

You need to produce any of the following KYC documents – 

• Ration Card
• Passport
• Driving license
• Voter ID card
• Electricity bill
• Telephone bill

2. Identity proof

Furnish any of the following KYC documents – 

• PAN card
• Voter ID card
• Aadhaar card
• Passport
• Driving license

3. Age proof

Provide any one of the following documents to your lender – 

• Birth certificate
• Passport
• Voter ID card
• Passport
• School certificate from the tenth standard

4. Income proof

Produce any of the following documents – 

• Bank statement for the last 6 months
• Income tax return (ITR) file

This list of documents is not definitive, a lending institution might ask for additional documents. Regardless, you should collate your documents beforehand to save time and avoid troubles during the application process of reputed credit cards such as Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard.

Financial institutions like Bajaj Finserv also provide pre-approved offers on credit facilities to make the application process more streamlined for the borrowers. These offers are applicable to a wide range of financial products, such as credit cards, business loans, personal loans, home loans, etc. You can know about your pre-approved offer by providing your name and phone number. 

Benefits of a credit card

As discussed earlier, reputed financial institutions have made significant efforts to augment the convenience and benefits of using a credit card. These are – 

1. EMI conversion – In case you make a hefty payment with your credit card for self-employed, for instance, above Rs 3,000, you can choose to repay the amount in EMIs. You can avoid incurring any substantial financial toll through this feature.
2. ATM cash withdrawal – Several financial institutions allow you to withdraw cash from ATMs without bearing any interest on it if you repay within 50 days of withdrawal.
3. Avail personal loans – You can apply for a personal loan against the unutilized amount of your credit card limit. There are several reasons to opt for a personal loan with a credit card, one of which is you can get immediate approval on your loan application to address any emergency.
4. Rewards – When you use a credit card to make purchases, you can earn rewards on those purchases. You can later redeem these to avail offers or waiver on fuel purchases.

However, there are a few important things to know before applying for credit cards such as annual percentage rates and annual fees. You should carefully consider these aspects to maximize your benefits.