If you’re like everyone else, you’ve received a letter in the mail saying you’re ‘pre-approved for a credit card’ from the specified company. If you choose to open the sent envelope, the numbers of how much money you’ll be granted are large, but the rules and what you’re actually getting are small enough to miss. What does this mean to you?
An unsecured card is essentially for someone with good credit, who the credit card company trusts enough to pay off their debt on a monthly basis. Unsecured credit cards are held by a majority of people, and tend to be the most desired option. It allows for the user to make purchases and pay it back in monthly increments set by the credit card company.
Secured credit cards, on the other hand, are for those with unsteady, erratic and unsatisfactory credit, who have a history of late or not forthcoming payments. With a secured card, the credit card company requires the amount desired to be deposited before the card is issued. Upon receiving the deposit, your credit line is established for that amount. The deposit acts as a safety net, and if payments are not made, the company will take payment from your original deposit.
Unsecured cards do not require a deposit, and the consumer is allowed more freedom with spending and repayment. If the payments are on time, the limit allowed will be increased if desired. If, however, payments are not paid on time, credit card companies will continue to add additional late charges, as well as a certain amount of interest that also must be repaid. The interest varies, but can be as low as single digits and as high as 20% on your outstanding debt.
Pre-approved is another term used to lure in new credit card customers. Credit cards must always be applied for, and involved with this is a listing of the applicant’s occupation, income, other debt and similar factors. Once the application is submitted, the credit card supplier will examine the numbers and decide if you will be able and likely to repay your credit card purchases.
Pre-approved means the credit card company has obtained your credit score from a credit bureau such as Equifax and Transunion and already is aware of your good credit. You do still have to go through an application process, and the credit line advertised is not necessarily what you will get, but there is a better chance of being approved in this method than simply applying blindly for a credit card, in general.
Pre-approved Unsecured Credit Cards
13-11-2009 by adminSecured Credit Cards Help with Bad Credit
25-05-2009 by admin
If you’re reading this article right now, there’s a good chance you have bad credit. Does bad credit make you a bad person? Absolutely not. As the years go on this earth, the debt continues to go on as well. In fact, over thirty to forty percent of all Americans have some sort of debt that doesn’t include their mortgage. So, the question is, “What do you do when you have awful credit and no where to turn?” The answer is quite simple, apply for a secured credit card.
A secured credit card is a great way to re-establish your credit. Instead of applying for a bad credit credit card and have a low success rate of being approved, you should turn your head to a secured credit card where your chances of getting approved are almost one hundred percent. With such a high approval rate, this is why many people turn to a secured credit card when they are looking to re-establish their credit.
If you’re not familiar on how a secured credit card works, I’ll guide you through the process. Keep in mind that this type of card is very different than a regular credit card. When you apply for a secured credit card, chances are they you’ll be approved. This is because you’ll have to supply the credit card companies with a deposit The reason you’ll have to supply the companies with a deposit is because if you don’t pay off your bills, they will have something to fall back on.
Depending on what credit card you apply for, most credit cards only make you supply them with anywhere from three hundred to five hundred dollars to start. Usually, whatever you supply the credit card company with, this is going to be your credit limit. So, if you try to spend more than what you deposited, you’re going to find that you’re going to get denied for the purchase.
When you’re looking to apply for a secured credit card, make sure that the card you’re looking at reports to all of the three major credit bureaus. Most of the time, the credit cards will. If not, this will defeat the purpose of applying for a card to establish your credit all over again. Yes, a secured card will help build your credit because you’re technically still “borrowing” money from the company to prove that you can pay it off. Like I mentioned above though, if you can’t pay it off, the company will take away from your deposit. You’ll want to avoid this though because like in the past with your credit, you’ll want to avoid it because it will affect your credit.
If you’re looking to re-establish your credit and you have had no luck applying for credit cards, make sure you tend to avoid the bad credit credit cards and go the secured credit card route. If you learn your lesson from your credit past, you should make a change in your spending and you’ll be able to get the better cards and have better credit in no time.