On one particular episode of 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney touched on something I found to be quite inventive. His rant that evening was about credit card offers. Everybody gets credit card offers in the mail on a daily basis; in fact, according to a leading research company that tracks mail, it is estimated that every household in the United States gets at least 30 credit card offers every year.
Andy Rooney found this advertising tact to be very annoying. His solution to this problem was to open the offers and mail the blank applications back in the postage paid envelopes—a counterattack to flood the mail boxes of those who would dare to flood his with unwanted mail.
This idea is all well and good—even cute—but why allow yourself the temptation? When you open a credit card offer you’re doing exactly what the credit card companies want you to do. They know that most people will be overcome by curiosity and read the offer.
What the credit card companies want you to do is read what they provide in big bold print:
0% APR for the first 6 months
0% interest on all balance transfers
0% interest for 1 year on purchases of $299 and up
Forget about these credit card offers. Your best choice in finding a credit card—one that best suits your needs and is not filled with hidden charges—is to apply online.
Benefit #1: Security
The chances of your personal information being stolen are slimmer than if you mailed the credit application. At any point on its trip back to the credit card company the application could easily fall into the wrong hands. Applying online provides state-of-the-art security software and data encryption to make sure hackers can’t get their hands on your private information.
Benefit #2: Comparison
The reason credit card companies still prefer to send offers through the mail is because it ensures that if you open their offer, you are only looking at their offer. Applying online provides you with the convenience of being able to research multiple credit card offers at one time. Websites like ApexCreditCards.com and Credit.com provide you with the opportunity to make side by side comparisons of all offers so that you can easily identify which one best suits your needs.
Benefit #3: Speed
Applying for a credit card through the mail can require you to wait as long as a month before you get a response, and sometimes you may wait that whole time only to be declined. But by applying online you can find out within five business days whether or not you’re approved, as well as what your limit is.
Benefit #4: Special offers
If you do your research you may find that some credit card companies have card offers that are only available when you apply online. Companies generally offer this type of incentive because it also cuts back on paperwork for them.
Benefit #5: Convenience
Why go through the hassle of filling out an application by hand, putting it in an envelope and making sure to remember to put it in the mail when you can just as easily type the information in half the time on your computer and press “submit.”
The credit card companies will continue to overwhelm the nation’s mailboxes with their offers because they will inevitably gain customers who apply for a card on impulse without reading the fine print. Don’t fall prey to this practice. Tear up these offers. Apply for a credit card on your own terms. Apply for it online.
