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If you have perfect credit, or anything close to it, you might expect an instant approval on credit card applications. Credit card companies check your credit score during the application process. A high score makes you eligible for just about any card, including the very best credit cards.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that you could still be denied for a credit card, even with perfect credit. If this has happened to you, here’s why perfect credit sometimes isn’t enough.

Perfect credit isn’t always the deciding factor

Your credit score is an important factor that credit card companies consider when you apply for a card. If your credit score is too low for the card you want, that could lead to an instant denial.

But it’s not the only factor. Credit card companies consider your full credit and financial profile. Here are more items that can come into play during credit card applications:

• Your income
• Your credit history (how long you’ve been using credit)
• Your current debt and debt-to-income (DTI) ratio
• The number of credit cards you have
• Your recent credit applications

Even with perfect credit, a card issuer could deny your application for another reason. Here are some of the most common examples.

You’ve opened or applied for too many credit cards

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Credit card issuers sometimes see this as a red flag, though. They wonder if you’ll be a profitable cardholder for them, or if you’ll just open a card, earn its sign-up bonus, and then never use it again.

Your income isn’t high enough

When you apply for a credit card, the card issuer needs to evaluate your ability to repay what you borrow. It uses your income to decide if it can approve you for a card and, if so, what credit limit to give you.

Some credit cards have minimum credit limits, which you can normally find in their terms and conditions. On the high end, some cards have minimum limits of $10,000. If the card issuer doesn’t think your income is enough for the card’s minimum credit limit, then it will deny your application.

Your DTI ratio is too high

Your DTI ratio is your monthly debt payments divided by your income. If you have $1,500 in debt payments and make $6,000 per month, then your DTI ratio is 25%. This is another factor that card issuers use to evaluate your ability to repay a credit card balance.

There aren’t any hard-and-fast rules on how high of a DTI ratio is too high. But if you have large debts in relation to your income, that could stop you from getting approved for a credit card.

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What to do if your credit card application is denied

Start by checking the denial reason (or reasons). You’ll receive a letter in the mail from the credit card company with the reasons it denied your application. You can also call the card issuer to ask.

Once you know the denial reason, you have a few options. You could contact the card issuer and ask for a reconsideration. In some cases, it’s possible to get a representative to take a second look at your application and possibly approve it.

You could also work on fixing the issue, and then apply for either the same card or a different one after you’ve done that. For example, if you were denied for having too many new credit cards, wait at least six to 12 months without applying for any more cards. If your DTI ratio was too high, focus on paying off debt.

With perfect credit, you’ll probably be successful on the majority of your credit card applications. Just keep in mind that it’s not 100% guaranteed, as there could still be situations where you don’t get an approval.

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