<p>So today I was calling my credit card company to request a credit line increase because the laptop I wanted to buy was 54 dollars over the limit. I had tried to overpay my account so it would fit, but I was sternly warned for that. Then came the question:</p>
<p>“What’s your income?”
“Uh … oh hmm. Well, I’m a college student.”
“I know. But when you opened this account, you must have provided your income.”
“I don’t recall – well, I did have a job this summer … do scholarships count as income?” [2k a year?]
“Did you file taxes last year?”
“No.”
“Well, you must have stated your income because otherwise how did you open an account?”
“I opened it at a student bank – with my parents. I’m the primary cardholder, though. My parents support me–” I quickly added.
“Oh. How much do you get from them?”</p>
<p>Here is where it gets funny.</p>
<p>“Uh … it’s not a fixed amount … but it’s kinda like uh … 2000 a month.”
“So 24,000 a year?”
“Hmmm … yeah.”
“And you don’t have any living expenses? Car, mortgage, rent?”
“Uh … no.”
“You live at home with your parents?”
“Well, I live in a dorm.”
“Alright. We’re unable to give you an increase today, but you should receive official written confirmation in 5-7 days.” </p>
<p>And that is how I got my credit line increase. What they didn’t know is that I was a fairly-low-income student trying to make a one-time investment, trying to avoid paying for online purchases straight from my bank account, and that the figure of 2,000 / month happened to be a random figure I pulled out of my ass that included loans, scholarships and pocket money, and a little pulled from grants.</p>
<p>Which made me curious. Because, I can’t remember if I put my job in there or not, but surely they don’t expect students to have any significant real income to hold a credit line, right? The other thing is that since I don’t really have an allowance but a “common money pool” system with my family (and I minimise my expenses naturally to try to decrease hardship), I don’t really have any fixed rate of financial support.</p>
<p>And I really don’t remember providing an income when opening my credit card account, which was linked to my student bank account. </p>
<p>But, I do get 27k per year in grants, and 6k in loans, and 2.5 of workstudy, and 2k in scholarships. But surely my income can’t technically be 37.5k / a year as a full-time college student?</p>