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  Mister Mister
  August 12th, 2009 at 4:24 am

  Are you sure they didn’t say a "prepaid" credit card. A credit card ‘pre-approval’ is just a marketing gimmick that card issuers send out to possible candidates to then APPLY for their card. A pre-approved person, is no different than a person off the street applying for the same card.

  They DON’T run your credit, as the uninformed person above me stated. That would be a complete violation of any credit laws.

• 

  Siggy
  August 12th, 2009 at 4:24 am

  In a pre-approved card, the company issuing the credit card has already checked out your credit and they are extending an offer to you.

  A credit card is pretty much a credit card, a card used to charge services and merchandise. However, interest rates, credit lines, and all financial terms can be different.

  Some credit cards have to be backed up with money in the bank, but usually that’s for people with bad or poor credit.

  Good luck,
  Siggy

• 

  Lys C
  August 12th, 2009 at 4:24 am

  Did they maybe mean a secured credit card?

• 

  bdancer222
  August 12th, 2009 at 4:24 am

  If you have applied for several credit cards and been turned down, you should stop applying for credit cards. Those multiple inquiries in a short timeframe are taking a huge bite out of your score.

  You may have to get a secured credit card. You pay a deposit which is held as collateral for the line of credit. Use the card and pay it off in full every month. After about 6 months to a year, you should be able to apply for a regular credit card.

  It will still take 24 months of consistent, on time payment history to improve your score. You don’t get big jumps overnight.

• 

  echo
  August 12th, 2009 at 4:24 am

  Being preapproved or preselected doesn’t mean they won’t pull your credit reports or that you will be approved.

  If you go through the online sites to HSBC, Orchard Bank, Bank of America or Capital One and use their preselector to see what they offer, if you apply for the card that is offered they will pull your credit reports and there is the chance you could be denied.

  If you receive a preapproval/preselected offer in the mail and the letter has some type of wording on it that would lead you to believe a credit report will be pulled, then it is not a true preapproval/preselection. They will pull your reports and there is a chance you could be denied.

  A true preapproval/preselected offer would have no verbage in the letter claiming you must meet their criteria or that they will pull your credit report when you apply.
  Those type of preapproval/preselected offers are rare, but do happen from time to time.

  If you use a debit or credit card while shopping at Target, eventually you may receive a preapproval offer on your receipt – that is a true preapproval and you will receive a card if you take the offer.
  Just make sure the checker or customer service person scans the bar code on the receipt if you go for the card. If they fail to scan the bar code then you would be losing the preapproval and you could be denied.

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