Pre-Approved Credit Cards – Advantage Or Evil?

Every one who has a mailbox is used to receiving tons of letters from banks that promise preapproval for fancy credit cards. People are sick of them, they throw them away and send them back to the banks, but few of them know how dangerous these letters may be. Learn how they can damage your credit and assets, decide if preapprovals are good or bad for your life.

In the century of plastic money and 'buy-before-you-earn' principle of living banks and card companies fight to the bitter end to get hold of another bite of consumers' loyalty. But at the same time they won't lend their money as simply as it may seem. Generally, the bank accepts a list of potential credit card applicants. After a bit of sorting, the bank sends pre-approval letters to those who are likely to apply.
In practice, if you make a credit card application for the pre-approved offer, the bank makes another inquiry on your credit which can sometimes result unfavorably. But this is not the only reason why one should feel dubious about pre-approvals. Let's consider the matter to get the priorities right.
1. There are numerous preapproved credit card applications to be found in your mailbox daily.
You can look through many credit card offers by different banks, it enables you to watch the trends in the credit card market and makes it easier to find a card for your needs. On the other hand, you can get confused in the masses of paper, overlook the important correspondence or apply for too many credit cards, being unable to resist the temptation.

2. You receive pre-approvals in the form of common letters, they are delivered right into you mailbox.
It is easy to read the preapprovals and compare the terms they offer, but it is also risky to receive them, as some people can get access to your mailbox and apply for a credit card using your identity (in most letters you only have to put your signature, other blanks being filled out already). In this case the card can be delivered to the address one indicates and you will receive only statements.
Besides, you can be careless enough to throw these letters away, without tearing them to pieces, thus they can be found by criminals and used as described above.

3. All the letters say you were pre-approved for credit cards, so you don't have to worry about denials or credit check.
In cases, when the letter says you were pre-approved and contains a card, you were really approved by the bank and you can use the card (though the terms implied can be not very advantageous). In other cases, when you have to fill out an application, there is no guarantee that you will be issued the card. To tell you more, there is a possibility of your credit score being damaged. Before sending a pre-approval to you, the bank get a list of people to whom they can send letters. This is a soft inquiry, and you credit score is not influenced. As you fill out an application (for which you are not yet approved, actually), you credit score is checked for a second time, and this is a hard check, as it is made on your request this time. If you happen to be disapproved, your credit score will get lower.
The above one is the most serious danger a pre-approved letter can cause.
There are several rules a wise consumer should stick to. Do not be sure you are universally approved, if you receive pre-approved credit card applications. They are sent to those with no credit history even. Know your credit history, before application. Do not apply for a card by an unknown bank; do not apply for too many cards. Destroy all the letters thoroughly instead of simply throwing them away. Opt out from getting pre-approvals, if you do not need them.
And, finally, go and search for a good credit card on your own, it will bring better results that looking through tons of colorful paper.

Wooing Small Business With Business Credit Cards

A few months ago (April 18, 2007), Discover Financial Services launched a new business credit card that offers frequent flier miles to small business owners. Among the credit card brands, Discover was one of the last to start offering business credit cards to the small business sector. Reportedly, this is only the latest in a virtual avalanche of business credit cards designed for small business.

One cannot but wonder at the sudden interest.

Perhaps a glance at recent research material will offer some clues. Data shows that in 2006, the small business sector spent $4.9 trillion; but only one-twentieth (5%) of that money was paid through business credit cards in any form (credit or debit card). The credit card companies now want in on that huge market, and believe they can induce small business owners to not only make use of their business credit cards but also to spend more on their cards.

To achieve this, the credit card companies will have to convince the small business owners to use business credit cards in less traditional ways. Traditionally, business credit cards have largely been used to cover travel and entertainment expenses. What card companies want is for businesses to use their business credit cards for everyday spend.

This is the reason behind the new cash back rewards business credit cards. These cards offer 5% discounts on purchases of office supplies, gasoline, courier services and other essential business needs. MasterCard even went as far as launching a business credit card targeted at a specific industry: contractors and construction companies. MasterCard was also the first card company to provide zero-liability protection to small business credit card holders.

Discover’s recently launched business credit cards offer small business the chance to purchase checkbooks. This enables small business owners to pay for purchases from vendors that don’t accept business credit cards. These checkbooks tap into the spending limit on their Discover business credit cards. Visa offers a directly competing program.

American Express sponsors various networking events for small business credit card holders. It also features one of the most extensive business resource databases to help users of its business credit cards to address and resolve their everyday business management problems and concerns.

How big is the potential market for business credit cards, you may ask? If you take the $4.9 trillion small business spending in 2006 and double the current business credit card spend from 5% ($245 billion) to 10%, you have $490 billion. If you charge 15% interest on that, you have a $74 billion potential contribution to profits. In fact, market research companies forecast double-digit growth in small business credit cards between now and 2010, and total charges are projected to reach $740.2 billion by that year. That is a lot of profit.

It has been an uphill climb to get small business owners to subscribe to an expanded use of business credit cards. It takes time, but eventually business owners will respond. One issue that business credit card issuers will have to address is the marked preference of small businesses to pay their full balance for the month as and when it falls due. Card companies do not earn from such transactions. That should be food enough for thought.

How To Build A Solid Credit Rating From Scratch

Building a solid credit rating from scratch is not as difficult as one might think. The reality is that you can establish a decent Credit Score in as little as 3 months and have a solid rating around the 12 month mark. From that point, if you maintain proper borrowing habits, you can have an impeccable rating for the rest of your life.

Building a solid credit rating from scratch is not as difficult as one might think. The reality is that you can establish a decent Credit Score in as little as 3 months and have a solid rating around the 12 month mark. From that point, if you maintain proper borrowing habits, you can have an impeccable rating for the rest of your life.

The key is to have a basic understanding of what actions affect your rating and to follow a basic strategy design to keep you within the limitations of those influences. If you are starting from scratch, never having had credit, here is an easy to follow step by step guide to establishing your credit. As well as suggestions on avoiding a few pitfalls along the way which could hurt, instead of helping if you fall into them.

Step 1) Check Your Report

While it may seem ironic, even if you know for a fact that you have never had credit before, checking your history is the first step. Your report contains more than just credit accounts on it and may have inaccuracies pertaining to other areas. I had a $500 phone bill attached to my report of which I had nothing to do with. In fact, it was tried to a business I worked for but had no ownership in nor any ownership responsibilities.

While it is fairly rare, you may be surprised to find out that someone else has been using your good name instead of you. With the expansion of the internet, this occurrence is not as rare as it use to be. Regardless, it is good to know for sure what you are dealing with. To learn where you can check your report for free visit Rebuild-Credit.us.

Step 2) Dispute Errors in Your Report

If, when you check your report you found no errors on your report than you can move on to the next step. However, if you did, in fact, find a discrepancy you will have to clean them up before you can go forth with your endeavor.

It is very important that you take the time to so, and go through any possible frustration that might arise as these errors left on your record will not only plague you, but cost you a lot of money. It is the healthiness of your report that lenders base the interest rate they will charge you.

This can literally cost you thousands of dollars in interest over the years and it will drive your monthly payments up for the same amount of money borrowed or charged. We have written and article to further assist you in clearing negative items from your report. This article; "How to Dispute Discrepancies in Your Credit Report" can be viewed at Rebuild-Credit.us.

Step 3) Secure Personal Credit

Once you have verified your report and have resolved any disputes that you may have found on within it, the next step is to secure credit. This is easiest accomplished by securing a credit card. The fact that you are not established as of yet will be a factor in where you should apply.

Rather than applying for a standard card and loan offers, start with accounts that are tailored to meet a specific need. Applying for a standard card before your rating supports the requirement can place unnecessary negative marks on your report. Each time you apply for credit and are turned down it is recorded negatively on your report and lowers your already low score.

Your first attempt at securing credit should be a gas card, a department store card, a secured card, or a prepaid card. These vehicles are specifically designed for the purpose of offering credit for those with a low rating, or for someone who has yet to establish themselves. It must be pointed out that you can expect to pay a higher interest as the risk is higher for the issuer.

In today's boom, there are several quality guaranteed approved cards available for you to establish yourself with. Each make monthly reports to the reporting agencies which assists in improving your credit score. Providing that you make your payments on time, your score will climb to a high enough level where you can apply for a standard card with normal interest rates. Remember, it is best to seek out offers than to respond to those which come in the mail.

Step 4) Begin to use Your Card

Once you have obtained a credit card you need to use it regularly and pay the balance off in full each month. Many who get a credit card for the first time will take advantage of the opportunity to get that stereo they have been wanting or some other consumable.

You should never use your new card instead of cash, especially while you are trying to build your credit. Instead your goal should be to use your card to cover an expense that you normally pay cash for, like gasoline or perhaps your noon meal. Instead of spending the cash, save it and use it to pay your charges in full when the bill comes in.

Be responsible with your card and you will realize your score rising each month. The higher the Credit Score the lower your interest will be on the next card you apply for and your odds for approval will increase drastically, to mention your borrowing power.

Step 5) Review Your Progress at Least Quarterly

After you have used your card responsible for 3 months check on your credit progress. Providing you have been responsible you will notice your score has increased. Check to insure that all of your payments are being reported accurately. If you find and errors now is the time to take action on them to correct them before your portfolio gets out of hand. Monitoring your report regularly allows to detect possible credit fraud in its early stages as well.

Step 6) Increasing Your Limit

As previously discussed, once your Credit Score reaches various levels and you have proven yourself to be a good risk you will flooded with numerous pre-approved offers, and as stated, these offers are not always in your best interest with many bordering on Predatory Lending. While it is your objective to increase your limit to a comfortable level, it is best to do the research yourself.

Another site we would like to direct you to is Credit-Card-Rates.info. They offer detailed non-bias reviews on over 130 credit cards from leading providers such as American Express®, Discover®, Bank of America, Chase®, and more.

They also provide a pre-qualifying questionnaire that does not ask for specific personal information nor is any information gathered whatsoever. Once submitted the questionnaire returns all of the possible cards you qualify for. Each one links to a non-bias detailed review of both the pros and cons of the card's benefits and rewards. Convenient online application is just one click away.

When using the questionnaire it is in your best interest to answer the questions accurately as it does provide an accurate result to the cards you qualify for. This will help you to keep from getting negative hits on your report for applying to cards you don't qualify for yet.