Nowadays, credit card has gradually become a necessity in our daily life. Even youngsters with no income are developed into loyal users, not to say adults. Without a credit card, life will be particularly inconvenient since you even can’t make reservation for hotel or plane, and you can’t rent a car either. Besides, credit card is also necessary when placing online or phone orders. Now you know how essential it is, don’t you?
Well, it is high time to apply for a suitable credit card. Just submit an application to a bank, or you may also check you mail box first, where you will inevitably encounter multiple credit card offers each and every day. What really matters is which offers are the good ones and which should just be thrown into the dustbin. The following methods might be helpful in identifying a bad credit card offer.
- Pre-qualification. The first thing you will notice when getting those credit card offers might be the words: You Are Pre-qualified for Our Credit Card. Just don’t take the words seriously, since that doesn’t mean you have been approved for the credit card. You still have to make application before getting the card.
- Down-to-earth low interest rate. One should keep in mind that many credit cards issuers offer low interest rates just for touting. It might be teaser rate, which will go up eventually. Of course, there are also good deals among them.
- Annual fee & processing fee. Some banks might boast that they feature low annual fee or processing fee. Just don’t believe them! In fact, the credit card industry is pretty competitive, so competitive that the majority of issuers give up annual fee and application fee to win over potential customers. If a credit card company requires such fees, just go somewhere else.
- Perks & rewards. Many card offers publicize the perks, like points and cash back, they carry, but they might not be as good as they seem. What’s worse, the credit card with rewards has higher than average interest rate, which makes it pretty unbeneficial unless you make large purchases from time to time.
However, if your credit history is not that satisfactory, you may not be eligible for so many credit card offers. You need to be positive and make applications to card issuers. A prepaid card might form a good choice in this case.
Also known as secured credit cards, prepaid card features a credit limit based on the security deposit you make. It is widely used by people with poor credit. With a prepaid credit card offer, you can get a prepaid card pretty easily, since no bank account or credit history is required when applying. But if an issuer promises too many advantages when offering you a prepaid card, don’t believe him. You should know the biggest advantage of prepaid card is that it can help rebuild your credit score instead of proving convenience in daily purchasing activities.
It is also important to tell the good prepaid card offers from the bad ones! Some issuers may take advantage of your bad situation, charging high interest rate and asking for more deposit than what is good. But some still regard you a common customer and try what they can to help you, instead of exploiting you. Ask for professional advises before accepting any credit card offers.
