Instant Approval Credit Cards: What's The Catch?

Have you ever received the telephone only to be answered by a telemarketer saying "You've won an instant approval credit card?" Well, you’re not the only one. There are plenty of people who have received similar calls. Somehow, we’ve all become so apprehensive about being approved for a credit card application – that when we do get approved, it makes us skeptical. The very idea of being instantly approved in a credit card application helps raise our self-confidence. It also makes us feel wanted and important.

What about people with bad credit?

Even people with a bad credit rating can be eligible for instant approval. Having bad credit can make credit card applications seem frustrating. Usually, the instant approval cards for bad credit people come in two varieties, Secured and Unsecured:

• Secured - In the case of secured cards, you will need to make a down payment, which is balanced out by a lower interest rate.
• Unsecured - With these types of credit cards, you do not need to make any deposit. However, interest rates, as well as late payment fees, are higher than other cards.

Instant approval: what does it mean?

For many people, an instant approval means not having to go through stringent approval processes. There are credit card companies who process your credit card application in minutes. However, it still takes time to receive the actual card. Gone are the days when approval would take days. Typically you would receive an offer in your mail saying you’ve been pre-approved. Then you’d send back the application in the mail. This would again take a couple of days to reach the credit card company. Finally, it would take a few additional days to even receive the card. However, that is all in the past, thanks to the Internet.

How to go about it?

Usually applying online is the best option as it is not only faster, it also provides an opportunity to shop for the best deals around. Once you apply online it takes just a few minutes to know if you’ve been approved or not. It’s that simple! However, in some cases, it may take more time to determine if you’ve been approved or not. For example, if you happen to have a poor credit score. This can take even up to 10 days sometimes. However, people with good to excellent credit scores will typically receive an update on their approval within a few seconds. Usually, as soon as you apply for one of these, the company will cross-check with the 3 major credit bureaus for ymour credit rating.

Usage on the card

Even the fact that you’ve been instantly approved for a card, doesn’t imply you can immediately start using the card. Even after the card arrives after about a week since your instant approval, you will need to double verify your identity. This is an added measure introduced by credit card companies to tackle increasing credit card thefts. Therefore as part of the security measure, you will need to:

• Call up the bank from the same telephone listed in the application
• Verify the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number

After this verification process, if the details match, only then do you have the go-ahead to use the card. You can make purchases from any vendor that accepts the card. Most venders will accept Visa or Master card. However, not every business accepts every card. Discover card and American Express are two examples of these types of cards. Although windy accepted, they are not accepted as predominantly as Visa or Master Cards.

Nothing great in it

Although there is plenty of hype surrounding these cards, there’s not much to it. It’s just like any other card, except that the application process is very quick. Being pre-approved is like a short-cut to getting the card. However, you will still have to provide the creditor with all the same personal information, name, address, job, household annual income, etc. A lot of these cards will offer similar sets of features – such as a 0% APR for 6 to 12 months, etc. These are added incentives to make the card seem more attractive. Just be sure to know the terms, and default interest rate.