When you apply for a credit card, the last thing you probably want to think about is the chance of having your application denied. But it does happen–even to people who pay their bills on time! However, you can minimise the chances of a credit card rejection by understanding some of the potential problems before you apply for a new card.

Here are several reasons your credit card application may be denied:

1. You don’t meet income requirements.

Regardless of whether or not you’ve always paid your bills on time in the past, if you don’t have a certain minimum income some credit card applications will automatically be denied. For example, the American Express Platinum credit card requires a minimum income of $100,000 p.a. of all applicants. If you earn $50,000 per year, no matter how well you manage your credit, you’re not going to be approved. Always read the terms to see if there is a published income requirement before allowing a company to pull your credit file.

2. You have too many queries on your credit file.

Every time you apply for a credit card or other line of credit, the potential lender is able to view your credit file. When they do, that itself gets recorded on your credit file for five years (so there’s a running list of everyone you’ve applied for credit with during that time frame). If a bank sees that you’ve applied for ten credit cards in the past year, they may make the reasonable assumption that either you’re trying to get more credit than you can pay back or that you’ve been repeatedly rejected by other lenders (making you appear to be a bigger risk).

3. You have (or had) delinquent accounts.

While they’re reviewing your credit file, credit card companies will also be able to view a record of any delinquent accounts you’ve had in the last five years (meaning you were at least 60 days past due). Even if you later paid that account balance off, it won’t be removed from your credit file until the five year window has passed. It will only be marked as paid. That still looks bad to potential lenders because it tells them that you haven’t been able to handle your credit lines in the past.

4. Your history isn’t stable enough.

Lenders are also going to be interested in two aspects of your personal history: your residential and employment history. Your credit card application may be rejected if you relocate a lot, often changing your address and / or job. Remember, they need to know that you’re stable–that you’re still likely to have a job a few months to a few years down the road, so you’ll be able to meet your monthly payments.

If you want to increase the odds of having your credit card application approved know all of the bank’s requirements going in, wait to apply until you’ve built a solid employment history, and review your credit file before the credit card company does. While you won’t be able to remove every potential negative mark, you can improve the situation by paying any old debts you may have forgotten about and you can address any possible errors on your report that might make you look less creditworthy than you actually are.