Instant Approval Cards

It's truly astounding. When you apply for a credit card online that offers "instant approval," that credit card company can zip around the internet in the blink of an eye and pull up your information electronically, know almost instantly whether you are a good credit risk, what balances you are carrying on your existing credit cards, and whether you have a history of on-time payments. (Sure, sometimes they need to take a few days to make a decision, but in general, they move pretty fast).

How do they do that? Is there some repository of information out there somewhere on the internet maybe in a place that an identity thief might also be able to access just as quickly? Well, don't panic. Your banks and credit card companies are keeping your information safe. In fact, the online credit card companies are not even talking to those companies directly. They get their information from the credit bureaus, and there are three of them: Experian, Equifax and Transunion.

These three credit bureaus are in the business of tracking and recording your behavior with credit from the time you open your very first credit account. They know whether you have a history of making your payments on time, whether you have ever defaulted on a loan, or if you open or close a credit account or loan. that information is noted in a document called a credit report, and each of these agencies has compiled their own credit report on you. From the information on your credit report, they also create a three digit number, known as a "credit score," which represents your creditworthiness. Like the high score in a video game, your credit score lets other people know how well you can play the credit game. So when online credit card companies look online for information about you, this is generally the score upon which they will base their decision to extend you credit.

The best way to maintain a good credit score is to make your payments on time, pay off your credit cards and don't carry high balances from month to month. As you can see, your credit score and credit report are important tools used by creditors to determine your creditworthiness.

Are you interested in finding out what your credit score is? Try a free credit report at GoFreeCredit.com - they're a secure and credible source.

If youve recently become pre-approved for some credit cards without actually applying for any accounts, you may be wondering whats going on. Whats happening is youre a part of a major credit system that distributes your information from one place to another as it attempts to find customers who would like to open accounts. So if youve received something in the mail recently, youre probably on one of these lists.

But how does this work? How do you become pre-approved for credit cards? And are they different than those you apply for on your own? Lets take some time to explore these questions.

Why You Are Pre-Approved

The first order of business is to look at why you are pre-approved for credit cards in the first place. The way it normally works is that you are already a customer with one bank, which puts you into a database that other banks can access. Often times, smaller banks that are looking for customers will find your information and based on your credit rating try to convince you to open an account by sending you notification that you have been pre-approved.

What Happens If You Accept the Card?

If youve recently become pre-approved and decide to accept the new card, you pretty much fall in line with other customers who have opened accounts with these companies. The only difference is that credit cards that come in this form often have stipulations like yearly maintenance fees, high APRs, or astronomical late charges. This is especially true if your credit rating isnt spectacular. So if you are thinking of accepting an offer like this, its good to read all of the stipulations associated with the card to ensure youre not digging a hole thats hard to climb out of.

If youve read all of the fine print and decide that youre ready to accept the credit card that has come your way, then you can enjoy the same benefits as any other card. So if youve recently become pre-approved, dont be alarmed. Check out what the card has to offer to decide if taking it on will be a wise decision for you.

For months you have been eying that flat screen TV and have been saving as much as possible so that you can buy it. However, your local electronic store is having a ridiculous sale and the price is significantly lower then you imagined. You dont have enough cash saved and your current credit...