Interested in applying for a credit card? It could be that you’re looking to take advantage of frequent flyer miles, or that you want to leverage another rewards program to save you money or time. Of course, if your credit isn’t perfect, you’ll have a hard time finding a credit card company that will approve you. If your credit is particularly bad, you might not be approved at all. There’s good news – you can improve your credit score to apply for a credit card and increase your chances of being approved.

The first step to improving your credit score is to know what factors credit card providers base their decision on.