You don’t need to be a member to start a credit card application, however you’ll need to qualify for membership to complete the process.

People get a credit card for a variety of reasons including convenience, security, building credit history and receiving perks like rewards.

It depends on your financial situation and goals, but generally speaking, you should have at least one to two credit cards in order to build credit. Before you apply for one or more cards, make sure you can always make your payments on time.

At COPFCU, credit card payments are due on the 28th of each month.

How you use your credit limit can affect your credit score. You request a credit limit increase at any time, but before you do consider the following:

• Your credit utilization should be at 30% or below to be most effective. For example, if your credit limit is $2,000, you should be using $600 or less. If your credit utilization is more than 30%, you may want to request a credit limit increase.
• Requesting a credit limit increase can increase your credit score over the long term, but in the short term it can ding your credit by lowering your score a few points. In most cases, the benefits of a credit limit increase outweigh the temporary lowering of your score.
• If increasing your credit limit may be too much temptation to spend more than you can comfortably pay off in a reasonable time, it may be best to hold off on requesting an increase.