Archive for the ‘Credit Cards’ Category

We’ve all received credit card offers in the post and many of us find them extremely annoying. However, are they worth considering and wouldn’t it just be simpler to accept the offer rather than spend hours searching for a better one?

What You Should Know About Postal Credit Card Offers

The companies which send out credit card offers through the post are extremely clever. They know that many people will simply throw away the offer, but then they also know that there are many who won’t. Some will simply fill it in straight away and send it back, whilst others will ponder over what to do. It is the temptation that causes people to accept such offers and that is caused through clever advertising.

Wouldn’t we all like a little help with our finances? Just being able to go out and spend what we like without worrying about money would be an absolute blessing. However, unfortunately the only way that this can happen is if you apply for a credit card, or at least that is what we are told! So you fill in your credit card application and you send it off, counting down the days until you receive your card. You then make full use of it and you end up in masses of debt as you soon start to realise that the card which you have applied for has an extremely high interest rate.

It is a fact that most postal credit card offers, if not all of them, have a much higher interest rate than those that you seek out yourself. So what exactly does that mean? Well basically it means that you will be paying back a lot more than you would have to with another card. Often people find that the repayments are too much and that is when they get into debt as they start to miss payments.

Should You Ever Consider a Postal Credit Card Offer?

If you read through the terms and conditions and everything seems fine then you would be wise to consider the offer. However, without researching and knowing the interest rates and deals on other cards, how can you possibly be sure that you are getting a good deal?

Generally it is better to shop around and see what the best deals are for you. However that is not always easy for people who are constantly on the go or who do not have access to the Internet. So the advice that you should basically stick to is only ever consider taking on a postal credit card offer if you really cannot spend the two minutes that it will take you to compare offers.



Many people do not realize that when they apply for a credit card, it can sometimes affect their credit rating. Mainly this happens when you apply for a number of different credit cards in a small space of time, but it can also affect your rating occasionally when you only apply for one card. So why exactly is this?

Why Applying For Credit Cards Affects Your Credit Rating

When you apply for a credit card, what usually happens is that an inquiry is posted onto your credit report. Generally having a couple of inquiries on your credit report will not be a major problem. However, it is when you start having quite a lot on there that it does start to make a difference.

This means that when you are applying for a credit card, ideally you should make sure that you need the card you are applying for and that you have a good chance of getting it. By getting refused a card, it does have a negative impact on your credit rating. This is the thing which many people do not understand and that is why so many people do have such a poor credit rating.

Avoiding Application Impact on Your Credit Rating

If you are looking for a credit card but you do not want to cause a negative impact on your credit rating, then be sure that you research thoroughly beforehand. Look at all of the cards which would be ideal for you and see if they have any restrictions on them. Some credit cards require you to be earning a certain amount of money for example and if you don’t then you will not be accepted. So what looks like a card which may be well suited for you, could turn out to not be what you expected.

A good way to find credit card deals is by looking on comparison websites. There you can type in your personal circumstances and it should come back with a list of results which are relevant to you. That way you can apply for a credit card which is likely to accept you and you will also know what the best deals are to suit your needs too.

Overall applying for a credit card can affect your credit rating. So always be careful of what you are applying for and ensure that it is something that you both need and are suitable for.



Filed Under (Credit Cards) by RMorrison on 05-07-2007

If you are looking for a credit card, then you may have heard that comparing a variety of different ones is generally the best way to go about it. So just why is this and why should you bother comparing cards when it is a lot simpler and less time consuming, to just accept the first one that you see?

The Classic Mistake Which People Make

When it comes to applying for a credit card, often people do rush in and just accept the first one that they are offered. It could be that a credit card offer was sent to them through the post and as they are already pre-selected, they figure it would be easier to just accept the offer and receive their card. There is a variety of reasons why people choose to have credit cards, whether it is to have a one off shopping spree, a holiday or just to tide them over for the month until they next get paid. Whatever their reasons, having a credit card is convenient and choosing the first one which they see is a lot easier than actually going out of their way to look for one.

The problem is that by accepting the first credit card that you see, it may be convenient, but without comparing the different rates, you could end up with quite a bad deal and you will have to pay a potentially much higher interest. A lot of companies which offer credit cards know how to advertise and this can make you go with them without you even considering looking elsewhere.

The Benefits of Comparing Credit Cards

Credit cards can come in extremely useful, but on the other hand, spending can often spiral out of control and the debts can soon mount up. This means that in order to limit the amount of debt which you could potentially get yourself into, you need to choose a card with the lowest interest rate to suit your needs.

With the benefits of comparing credit cards, it is hard to see why people still go ahead and accept the first deal which they see. The use of the internet makes shopping around for a credit card much simpler. Also it takes only two minutes to do it and so there really are no excuses. The only thing that you really need to look out for is that you use a couple of credit card comparison websites. This is because whilst most of them are really good, others are paid by various companies to advertise their services and that means that they are slightly bias because they have to show certain companies in their results. This means that you will not always get results that are specifically the best for you.

Overall comparing different credit cards is extremely easy to do and it does only take a few minutes of your time. It can help you to save potentially a lot of money and why would you want to pay more when you really don’t have to?