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Summary
Very specific information is necessary to have a decision rendered by a lender on whether they believe you qualify for a credit card. Also, there are different tiers of credit card companies that may offer credit to consumers with good credit, so-so credit and bad credit. It is helpful to understand some of the general categories that lenders tend to look for in determining who to grant credit cards to. These categories are very similar to the factors that help determine your credit score (take a look at the credit score article and view the FICO Calculation Pie Chart).

General Categories to Determine Who Qualifies
The finance charge is the dollar amount you pay to use your credit. Your outstanding balance may be calculated in one of three general approaches:

1) Credit Inquiries. Whenever you apply for a credit card, the lender pulls your credit report from one or more of the major bureaus as part of the approval process. Each time a report is pulled, it's marked as an inquiry and stays on your credit bureau report for two years (see How Long Items Remain on Your Credit Report for more details). Several inquiries on your report are taken as a negative by lenders. This can be interpreted as a consumer desparately looking for loans and thus implies a poor credit risk. Be careful when you have a lender pull your credit report.

2) Credit Usage. Lenders want to see that consumers consitently using their credit cards to some degree and may at times view too much available or unused credit as a negative indicator. The thought here is that if you have a great deal of available credit available, you could run it up at any time. You may want to consider canceling the credit cards you don't use, while of course keeping some credit balances for emergencies or large purchases/traveling in the future. If you do cancel any credit cards ensure that the the credit bureaus remove the discarded cards from your report. It is additionally important to ensure the credit reports reflects that you closed the account, not the lender.

3) Payment History. Lenders look for consumers that consistently pay their bills on time. Late payments can hurt your chances of obtaining credit (specifically in this case getting a credit card). Additionally many credit cards will increase your interest rate if you have a certain number of late payments.

4) Total Debt. Lenders generally want to see that you are a good credit risk and that you aren't living beyond your means. The rule of thumb is that non-mortgage credit payments each month should not exceed more than 10% to 15% of your take-home pay.

5) Stability. Lenders perceive things such as longevity in your home and job (at least two years) as signs of stability. Having a respected profession doesn't hurt either.