Credit Card Offers by Mail

Unsolicited mail flood the postage box daily. A large portion of it is credit card companies vying for your business. The words “0% APR” and “Pre-approved” appear on almost every envelope. While these offer may seem enticing, there are a few things to consider before jumping on board. Also, if the surplus of mail is causing you to spend more on garbage bags, there may be a way to find relief.

Credit cards have been called both beneficial and evil by financial advisors. Opinions seem to vary greatly on the subject. However, one sure bet it that using them irresponsibly will get you into trouble. Before signing up for any new account read the fine print. Many cards offer low APR on balance transfers, but fail to mention on the envelope that there is a flat fee of $20 for every $500 that you transfer from another card. Also, annual fees and the end of the 12 month introductory offer can sneak up on you rather quickly.

In addition, it is important to understand that a pre-approval does not necessarily mean that you will be issued a line of credit. In fact, all it means is that the credit card company was given your information based on some loose guidelines they gave to the credit bureau for a screening process. Some card issuing banks will even solicit those with poor credit scores, in efforts to promote high risk credit lines with outrageous fees and interest. Applying to every card offer that comes may ultimately hurt your credit score, as points are docked for each inquiry to the bureaus. Also, having numerous accounts is unnecessary and may appear negative to lenders.

It is a shame that so much paper is wasted printing all those credit card ads. However, if you wish to stop the forest from being cut down, you can do a couple of things about it. The credit bureaus offer the ability to opt out of the pre-screening process. Contact them by phone or mail for more information. Plus, every card offer should state in fine print the steps for accomplishing this task.

Some people choose to opt out of credit card offers for safety reasons. Removing your name from the mailing lists not only cuts back on temptation and the annoyance of excess garbage, it helps protect you from the growing crime of identity theft.