How To Deal With Credit Card Mail Offers

If you are annoyed by the constant credit card junk mail that you receive,
then you are not alone. People all over the country are receiving literally
dozens of credit cards offers every year, most of which are misleading or
not applicable to them. If you want to know how to deal with these credit
card mail offers, then here are some tips.

Why get so many?

Whether or not you have a lot of credit cards, you get sent so many offers
because of your specific credit rating. Whether you have a good or bad
credit rating depends upon the types of offers you get, but whatever your
rating you are a target for credit card companies to be sent offers. Some
people will receive nearly 10 of these offers every month, many of them
duplicates.

Bait and switch

Although some of the credit card offers you get might seem tempting, they
usually not what they seem. Most of these offers employ the technique known
as 'bait and switch'. This is where you will be offered a great deal in the
mail such as ' you are pre-approved for a credit card with up to £25,000
limit', but when you fill in the paperwork and send it back you only get
£1,000 at an incredibly high interest rate. This is not illegal because they
only said 'up to' a limit and so even if they had refused you it would not
be against the law. This technique may not be illegal but it is clearly
immoral. This is one reason why you should avoid such offers.

Opting out

Although it isn't the easiest thing to do, you can attempt to opt out of
receiving these mail offers. There are companies that you can apply to that
will help you to be removed from these mailing lists, although you are still
bound to receive some offers. You can always try calling the credit
companies themselves and asking them to stop sending you mail, although this
usually falls on deaf ears.

Keeping your identity safe

Even if you don't want to look at any of the offers you get through the
post, it is important that you properly dispose of the offers you get. If
you simply throw the offers in the bin, then someone could take them and
apply to the cards you have decided not to look at. Before you know it you
could get a bill in the post for thousands of pounds for a card you didn't
even apply for. Make sure you shred or tear up all credit card mail offers
to protect yourself from identity theft.

Don't dismiss them all

Although most of these offers will not be worth looking at, you shouldn't
simply throw them all in the bin. There really are some genuinely good deals
to be had from credit card mail offers. This is especially true if they are
from a company which you have a card with, as they might offer you
preferential terms. If you are careful with credit card mail offers and can
separate the good from the bad then they will be a benefit to you rather
than a constant annoyance.

About The Author: Peter Kenny is a writer for creditcards-gb Please visit us
at http://www.creditcards-gb.co.uk and
http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk/Credit-Cards/