‘Flexible friend’ or ‘plastic money’ are two of the most common informal phrases used to refer to credit cars in the English-speaking countries. These are pretty affectionate terms and most people are glad of having a credit card or two. There are also individuals who cannot trust themselves with a real credit card and they normally use pre-paid cards, which means that you have to put the cash into the card’s account before you can draw any money out. These are obviously not credit cards as the owner does not get any credit. Debit cards are like this.
A credit card is an vital function of modern living for many people. There are reasons for this such as: mugging is a problem in some cities; people do not have time to go to the cash point and some people buy a lot of articles over the Internet such as from eBay. A lot of people buy their groceries on line and have them delivered when they get back from the office.
Before you submit an application for a credit card, it is worth learning a little about the safety measures you ought to take in order to be protected by federal law in the USA and national laws in other countries.
Make sure that you can be properly identified from the information that you provide on the application form particularly if you have a common name like John Smith or Ann Jones. After all, you do not want to be denied for something that your namesake was guilty of and you do not want somebody else to be able to steal your identity and get their hands on your account either.
The average American citizen has about ten credit cards, so you can guess the number of applications for credit cards that have to be processed every day. If you do not help with your identification as much as possible there could be long delays as well.
When a credit card form states that you have been ‘pre-approved’ it does not mean that you are guaranteed to get a card. It means that the firm guarantees you that they will reflect on your application. In other words, it is nonsense – just a marketing ploy.
If you receive one of these pre-accepted forms, you might just as well go online and apply to the same bank there. The on line application form will often ask for a reference number and you have that on your piece of paper. If you use that number, you will not lose any of the rewards that you were being promised, but your application will be looked at far more quickly that if you post it.
When you receive your credit card, sign it on the back immediately. You should also make a note of the card number on the front and the telephone number on the back. If you lose the card or suspect a scam, you should get in touch with that number right away and have the card ’stopped’. You can get another one from the same firm quite soon.
You will almost certainly be offered some form of insurance with the card. Read the details about this very carefully. Some schemes are excellent others are rubbish.
Please go over to our website on Using Credit Cards, and check out the free advice on Credit Card Application For Beginners.