the language i've seen in chase united apps recently requests "gross income" which they define as "...income you can use to repay your debts. Salaries, investments, rental property proceeds, Social Security benefits and retirement accounts are some examples."

seems straightforward at first, but the use of plurals also suggests it's acceptable to include a spouse's income and assets, which might have avoided this rejection. other issuers clarify this particular ambiguity by specifying "household income." but it sucks that she was penalized for honesty, when i would argue that there's plenty of room to be honestly confused by the way it's requested.

with the rare exception of the AMEX FR and the even more rare request for income verification via tax forms reported elsewhere, credit card application requests for information about "income" seem likely to end up being what i would call Made Up Numbers.

it may be tempting to conclude that sometimes people lie about their income on applications--and i'm sure some do--but the only thing that seems to be consistent across issuers in the way they request information about "income" is ambiguity!

in the grand scheme of things, it's easier for issuers rely on credit scores than subjecting applicants to the rigamarole of 20 questions on an applications to suss out a borrower's ability to repay, but in that case, the OP's incident description is also bogus... though it could also be the case that other changes to the applicant's credit report played a role in the decision.

but the way credit card issuers ask about income today reminds me of the pre-crisis approach to mortgage applications. it's like we all have "liar loans"--even those of us who are trying to be as honest as we can be--just because of the way the information is requested.