Credit Card Application

Sunil Tanna asked:




Unsolicited pre-approved credit card offers could potentially put you at risk of identity theft. A thief may steal from your mailbox, and seeing the promotional invitation to take out a pre-approved credit card, take advantage of this opportunity. If a thief intercepts such an application, completes it and sends it back in your name, the application is quite likely to be accepted. From then on there would be somebody operating a credit card in your name – without you knowing anything about it – until trouble develops.

More sophisticated identity thieves may order a redirection or change of address of your mail, perhaps through the postal service or directly with the credit card company concerned. This allows them to take control of subsequent communication, including the delivery of the new credit cards. If you come across any evidence of such activity, it could be a warning sign that identity thieves may be interested or active in stealing your identity in some way. One thing to be on look out for, is sudden drop-offs in mail volume – in that case you should check with your local postal center to find out whether a redirection order has been placed in your name without your knowledge.

Many credit card companies may send repeated offers. You can reduce your risk, if you can stop them when you get the first offer. Start by asking the company directly, but if they do not comply, there may be a direct marketing ethics body or a consumer agency in your area that can help you to get you off the company’s mailing list.

Your liability is, of course, limited if it was not you who sent back the application. However, that does not mean you would free of the consequential hassles. You may become a “suspect”, especially if your signature was forged, and be faced with having to argue against the credit card company. Meanwhile your good credit record may have been damaged, and it may take you some time, expense and effort to sort out the problems with banks, merchants and others who may have lost money when dealing with someone who presented himself as if he were you. In these cases, you may well find it necessary to engage an identity theft lawyer to help sort out all issues.

Fortunately, the credit card issuers are gradually getting better at understanding and managing these risks. Pre-approved offers are becoming less common – however they have not disappeared completely – they are such a powerful marketing tool that these companies do not wish to abandon completely. Most credit card companies have improved their procedures to reduce identity theft risks, and are working on further improvements – but that doesn’t mean that you can afford to become complacent!

These three tips can further reduce the risk of these types of fraud:-

- Lock your mailbox, or use a mail center post box

- If you throw out pre-approved credit card applications received in the mail, make sure they are well shredded before you do so

- If you move house, have your mail redirected to your new address so it does not end up being left uncollected at your old address

Steve

Mario Churchill asked:


Thanks to the advancement of technology, particularly the internet, people now has a way to communicate cheaply, and even do some shopping. In fact, applying for credit cards is now possible through the internet. You will see that applying for a credit card online will be much faster and easier than ever before.

Online application for credit cards means no more hassles of visiting credit card issuers, such as banks. All you need to do is go to their website and fill out the application form.

Although this may sound easy, the hard part in applying for a credit card is still getting an approval. Of course, you still need to consider your credit rating in order to make sure if your application will be approved or not. If you have a good credit score or credit rating, you will have an easier time when applying for a credit card online. So, before you even think about filling a credit card application online, you first have to make sure that you have a good credit score.

You also have to consider that you need to know about the different offers of different credit card companies. Even if you do have a good credit score, you still have to know about the different features of the credit card you are trying to apply for. There are several factors you have to look for in order to make sure that you are applying for a good credit card.

The first and perhaps the most important factor thing you should ask about is the annual percentage rate or the APR of the credit card. Even if the credit card is offering low interest rates and zero annual fees, you should know that the APR is the determining factor on all the different fees that is related to the credit card, which will include cash advances, late payments and even your monthly bills.

Also, you have to remember that there are spywares circulating in the internet today and fake websites as well. Make sure that you don’t visit just any website on the internet that is suspicious-looking. Always remember that you should always visit websites that are legitimate. To make sure about a certain website, you should try and call the credit card issuer and tell them you are interested in applying for a credit card online.

You should also make sure that your computer is free from any spyware. To do this, you should get the latest and the most reliable anti-spyware software available. By doing this, you will protect yourself from identity theft or fraud.

As you can see, the risk of identity theft is also present when using the internet. So, make sure that you don’t provide any financial and personal information if you don’t have any anti-spyware software installed in your computer or you are not sure about the website.

With all the necessary security measures, you can be sure that your application for a credit card online will be fast, easy and convenient. Just make sure that you should first shop around in order to get the best credit card offers possible.

These are the things you have to remember when applying for a credit card online. Always remember that security as well as knowing what to look for is very important when applying for credit cards online.



DONNY