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[N292]No Credit Card Offers

by Debbie Dragon, Deb

How many times per week does your mailbox contain an offer for a pre-approved credit card? If you're like most people, you are receiving between two and ten pre-approved credit card offers each and every week! In a time when everything is being made from recycled materials in an effort to help save our environments from excessive waste products that are filling up our landfills and polluting our earth- you probably find the number of pre-approved credit offers a big waste of paper. Particularly if you're not even considering obtaining a new credit card.

Unfortunately, the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 (and ammended in 1990) gives the credit bureaus permission to sell your credit history information to credit lending companies. In order to keep it "fair" for consumers, however, the ammendment of 1990 allows for consumers to choose NOT to receive these offers.

The selling of your credit history to credit card companies does not affect your credit score in any way, but may show up as an "inquiry" on your report. An inquiry is when a company has looked at your information, in order to determine your eligibility requirements. When an individual is not interested in getting more credit however, it seems ridiculous for them to receive so many "pre-approved" credit offers in the mail each week.

There are three things you can do to stop receiving these annoying credit card offers. The first, and the most fun, is not as effective as the second and third actions you can take, but is highly recommended anyway just for the entertainment value. Each of your credit card offers will most likely come with postage paid, return envelopes. Companies pay more than the standard rate of postage in order to get these envelopes- but only if the envelopes are actually placed in the mail. They pay nothing for postage on the envelopes that we just toss in the garbage. The theory is if you stuff other junk mail into the postage paid return envelopes and mail enough of them back to the companies, they will stop sending out unsolicited offers so that they are not paying for wasted return postage. While this could be really fun, and you might feel like quite the rebel when doing it, you may not get much of a result.

Each credit card offer you receive should have a fine print section that includes how you can prevent the credit bureaus from including you in the pre-screened lists that result in your getting credit card offer after offer. Most people never even see the fine print because the offer ends up being tossed in the trash immediately, or because, well, it's fine print.

The other two actions you can take to stop receiving credit card offers are to visit a website and fill out a formal request: http://www.optoutprescreen.com, or make a phone call to 1-888-5-optout. This is an automated service that is supposed to be run by the main four credit bureaus, so it should stop all pre-screened mailings that come from any of the four bureaus.

Alternatively, you can always formally request the credit bureaus to stop including you on pre-screened lists by sending a letter to each bureau. Make sure you include your name, social security number, mailing address and phone number. If you've moved recently, include your previous address as well, so there is no confusion!

There is really very little benefit to receiving the countless credit card offers in the mail each week. It's wasting paper and time, not to mention providing you with offers that are probably not as good as the offers you could get if you actually called or applied for a card with the company sending the pre-screened offers. If you decide after opting out of pre-screened lists that you want to get a new credit card, you can use the internet to find a new card to apply for or simply call your local bank!

How many people carry credit cards with a very high annual percentage rate when in fact they started out with zero APR? It's because the credit card industry is experienced in hiding fees and interest rates which are as flexible as to mount readily when the consumer has been already hooked into the system.

So to find the credit card with better deals, be sure that you fully understand the system governing your credit card. This means that you should have computed a rough estimate of the real cost of your credit system. A bunch of credit offers could have flooded your mail box, all of them sounding better than any other. And what should you do with all these flashy leaflets?

Dont be easily tempted to bite into the introductory offer that seems too good to be true, because it is usually too unreal. Zero annual percentage rates are generally promotions that cover only up to six months. It goes to show that after that span of time, you will then pay the annual charge of the credit company as you utilize your credit card. If you blindly agree to those terms then you may suffer rate hikes of up to 13% even when you promptly pay your balance.

For the case of those who pay their monthly bill promptly, the credit card with a grace period will work for you. This grace period is the allotted time for you to pay your bill before it could accrue interest. You see, some credit card providers charge you the interest upon your purchase. Therefore, you will pay an extra amount even when you pay your due on time.

When you read the credit offers, be sure to read all that has been printed including fees disclosure. No matter how small the printing is, its importance is a big factor to your financial management. This section contains the salient fees that are waiting to be charged to you.

These fees include the annual fees, closure fees, late fees and overseas transaction fees.

The annual fee can be avoided if you pay your bills on time and if the company terms state so. Better yet, find a credit card provider which values promptness in payment.

The closure fee is the charge when you are to close your account. Imagine this fee that you will still have to pay right before you leave the company? Subsequently, this is done to keep their clients, but as a client, you should have the freedom to close an account anytime when you have settled your accounts and when you are no longer satisfied with the service. So better actually ask the credit provider if they charge this fee before you sign up your application.

The late fee is of course the charge when you do not meet your due date. At least this one, you are charged because of overdue and it is mostly your fault.

The point here is that you have to read between the lines of the credit offers.

The overseas transaction fee is charged when you use your credit card abroad. This used to be a 1% fee by Visa and MasterCard. Later, because the providers want to profit more, it has increased to pin another one or two percent.

Article Source : Credit Card Offers

About Author

Both Debbie Dragon & Aaron Ballantyne are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Debbie Dragon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Credit Cards and Kitchen Home Improvement. This article has been provided by Creditor Web. At CreditorWeb.com you can compare over 100 credit cards from multiple banks and online.. Debbie Dragon's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.

Aaron Ballantyne has sinced written about articles on various topics from Business Credit Cards, Credit Cards and Student Credit Cards. Aaron Ballantyne writes about various topics online and has a website with .. Aaron Ballantyne's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.