Applying for credit cards can be a bit of a maze, especially when you’re aiming for the ones that are a piece of cake to get approved for. I’ve summed up the easiest-to-get credit cards from each of the major banks, so let’s dive in and take a look~
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
There’s the Tuniu series, JCB series, WORD Struggle series, zodiac series, little yellow duck series, and the Love Car PLUS, among others.
How to boost your approval rate: Start by opening a savings account, then build up your credit score or use the star-rating system to increase your stars before applying for a card. If you already have an ICBC savings account and mobile banking set up, you can directly apply for a card through your savings account. Usually, the reference limit is the same as your pre-approved limit.
- Bank of China (BOC)
We’ve got the Tencent co-branded card, BOC City card, Visa Beijing Winter Olympics theme card, and the Despicable Me series, not to mention the newly hyped BOC virtual card digital card.
How to boost your approval rate: BOC is known as the "brick bank." As the name implies, it’s all about assets. If you’ve got the bricks, it’s smooth sailing; if not, it’s a tough nut to crack. Those with the means should give moving bricks a try – the more bricks you move, the higher your credit limit.
- China Minsheng Bank (CMBC)
There’s the CMBC Installment card, CMBC IN card, CMBC Centurion card, and the CMBC Alipay card, among others.
How to boost your approval rate: If you’ve got some solid assets like a mortgage, a car loan, or a degree, you might want to consider applying for a CMBC credit card, as the limits tend to be higher than other banks. The same goes for increasing your limit.
- China Everbright Bank (CEB)
We’ve got the CEB Fortune card, CEB UnionPay Longcheng card, CEB Yanhuang card, Ele.me co-branded card, and Douyin co-branded card, among others.
How to boost your approval rate: If you’re a first-timer applying for a credit card, CEB is a good choice with a relatively high approval rate. But be warned, they have a high face-to-face verification rate, so you’ll need to know some face-to-face verification skills.
- China Construction Bank (CCB)
There’s the Long Card e-Pay card, Long Card JOY card, Tencent co-branded card, and Wang Yuan co-branded card.
How to boost your approval rate: Focus on building your pre-approval limit. Once you’ve got it, the type of card doesn’t matter much. Just apply, and as long as you don’t have too many credit cards under your name, there’s a 90% chance you’ll get approved.
- Bank of Communications (BOCOM)
We’ve got the Y-POWER card, co-branded card, Lotus co-branded card, and the standard card.
How to boost your approval rate: BOCOM has a relatively low threshold for applying for a card and places a lot of emphasis on education level. If you’ve got a high education level, even if you’re a pure white, your chances of getting approved are pretty high.
- China Merchants Bank (CMB)
There’s the CMB YOUNG card, Taobao co-branded card, CarCard driver’s card, and other third-party channels like the QQ Wallet co-branded card and WeChat Wallet standard card.
How to boost your approval rate: Use your savings card to build a transaction history, then apply through the U end to avoid the business representative’s home visit and get the card directly.
- Industrial Bank (CIB)
There’s the CIB pledge card, CIB PASS card, CIB zodiac card, and CIB leisure white card, among others. White gold cards have certain requirements, so it’s recommended for those with good qualifications to apply.
How to boost your approval rate: Use one card to apply for another. CIB looks at the limits of other banks.
- China CITIC Bank (CITIC)
We’ve got the Taobao co-branded card, Taobao Value co-branded card, JD.com card, CITIC Tencent co-branded card, CITIC Q-share card, and the CITIC Yan card series.
How to boost your approval rate: If you have a credit card from another bank and have been using it for more than half a year, it’s recommended to use the "apply with one card" method to quickly go through the CITIC Bank credit card application process.
CITIC Bank is most likely to approve credit cards from ICBC, especially if you have a high-limit card from a major bank and it’s been active for more than a year without any late payments. Then you, you have a chance to become a high-limit customer of CITIC Bank.
- Guangfa Bank (GFB)
We’ve got the GFB card, GFB DIY card, GFB True Love white card, GFB Taobao co-branded card, GFB Vipshop co-branded card, and the JD.com co-branded little white card.
How to boost your approval rate: Local banks used to place a lot of emphasis on social security and housing provident fund, but now that they’ve become national joint-stock banks, they don’t pay as much attention to your place of residence.
11. Bank (PVG)
We’ve got the PVG Youth card, PVG Dream card custom card, PVG E-GO card, Beautiful Women card, and Tencent co-branded card, among others. There are also third-party channels like the JD.com co-branded card, QQ Wallet co-branded card, and WeChat Wallet co-branded card.
- Ping An Bank (PAB)
We’ve got the PAB Driver’s card, PAB By You card, iQIYI co-branded card, Taobao co-branded card, and for those with better qualifications, the Elite white or card.
How to boost your approval rate: It’s easier for people with certain qualifications to get approved, such as those who own a car, have insurance policies, or have investments with Ping An.
So there you have it, the lowdown on the easiest credit cards to get approved for from each bank. If you want to become a credit card guru, make sure to give this a thumbs-up!
