Detecting Bad Offers (Especially If You Have Bad Credit)

The credit card industry is very competitive so it’s no surprise that there is tons of marketing being done to that pits one card or one program over another. That in itself can be very confusing to consumers and to add to the problem, there are a lot of not-so-legitimate credit card offers out there that looks so real and seem so real, people fall for them again and again and end up losing money or wind up with bad credit as a result of using them.

Scammers these days have access to technologies that were not available just a short time ago. As technology improves, so do criminal capabilities. You, as the consumer, are often faced with the decision whether or not to trust what is being offered on your own. Generally, the rule of thumb is if it looks too good to be true, it probably it. But in today’s society, too good is not always an indicator. With a lot of consumers stuck in bad credit ruts, appealing offers can lead to a world of additional financial trouble.

Here are some helpful hints when it comes to analyzing the good and the bad in credit card offers:

Upfront Fees
There are some credit card companies that offer secured cards, which will require you to deposit money into an account to “secure” your purchases. While these secured cards do report back to the credit bureaus and can help you improve your bad credit, any fees outside of that original deposit or even a standard annual fee to open a credit card account should be a red flag.  You have to be careful with these types of offers because secured card scams are plentiful and have been well documented.

Too Easy To Get With Bad Credit
If you know your credit history is bad, it shouldn’t be a walk in the park to get a credit card. While it may seem like an application was instantly approved and you have a decent size credit limit, keep your eyes wide open for miscellaneous fees, upfront charges, and ridiculously high interest rates.

Credit Cards that Fix Your Credit
As mentioned, secured credit cards can help improve your credit score with proper use but there are credit card companies that promote credit repair services “guaranteed” to fix your credit immediately – accompanied with extraordinary fees! The truth is you can repair your own credit with some patience, proactive follow up with your creditors, and analyzing your credit report. This will not happen overnight and there are no quick-fixes in credit repair.

Brokered Services
There are now even third-party individuals advertising to help you get a credit card. There is certainly no reason to pay another person or agency to help you get a credit card. The chances are high that they will take your money and run without giving you any real help at all. If you want to apply for credit, do it yourself directly through the credit card company.

Immediate Improved Status
There are some credit card issuers that may try to entice you with immediate approval for improved status cards, like gold or platinum cards. If you have excellent credit, these offers may be perfectly legitimate but if you know your credit’s bad, question the issuer about the reason behind the improved status. In some cases, the actual status of the credit lines are not gold or platinum – only the color of the card is.

Related Posts:

• Secured or Pre-Paid Credit Cards – Which is Better? - So you are trying to re-establish your credit and you have heard about secured and pre-paid credit cards.  Which one is better...
• To Close or Not to Close the Secured Credit Card Account - As per many experts advice, it may be unwise to close conventional credit card accounts because it can negatively impact your credit...
• Use Secured Credit To Rebuild Your Score - If you have had credit problems in the past or if you have had no credit experience at all before, a secured...
• Improving Your Credit with Secured Credit Cards - If you have poor credit, you can actually use credit cards to help improve it. Secured credit cards that is. The idea...

This entry was posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 11:51 am and is filed under Card Security, New Card Offers, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.