As the credit crunch continues to bite, millions of people are being turned down for credit cards. With many companies restricting their lending criteria experts recommend checking your credit rating before submitting an application for a new card.

According to research carried out by MoneyExpert.com, credit card companies have turned down more than 3.24 million applications over the past six months.  It estimates around 18,000 applications are being rejected every day and says more people have been rejected for credit cards than for any other financial product.

"For years borrowers have had the upper hand in the credit card game but the rules have now changed,” comments Sean Gardner of MoneyExpert.com. “People with debts who thought they could keep shuffling their cards to stay ahead are now running into trouble. Card applicants need to be confident that they are going to be accepted in the current lending environment as a rejection could lead to black marks on credit reports.”