What are Instant Credit Cards?

An instant credit card approval offer is designed specifically for those who already have established credit, and who keep their credit records spotless. If you're in that segment of the population, you can apply for a credit card online and have an approval within less than five minutes. Once you're approved for credit, you'll be issued a card number which you can use to shop online or by phone even before your plastic card arrives in the mail.

If your credit record has missed or late payments on it, or if your income doesn't fall within the ideal guidelines, then the issuing company will treat it as a regular application, doing a full credit check before making a decision for approval and rejection. The whole instant approval process makes it far too easy to apply for credit cards on impulse without considering the consequences, or even comparison shopping to find the best deal on a credit card.

And in fact, many people will wave you along and even nudge you toward applying for instant credit with promises of big discounts if you make a purchase today or a free gift for filling out our application. After all, they'll tell you, what can it hurt? All they can say is no! And they just MIGHT say yes.

The unfortunate answer to 'what can it hurt?' is 'your credit'. Here's why. Every time you apply for a credit card, the issuing company checks your credit score. With instant card approvals, they can run an abbreviated check, but it still shows up on your credit record that you applied for a . Even if you're not instantly approved, even if the end result is that you're denied credit, the credit reporting bureaus note on your record that you applied for a card. Too many applications for credit cards signal one of two things to a lending company - either you're shopping around for credit because you're in financial trouble, or you don't take credit seriously and responsibly.

Does that mean that you shouldn't apply for instant credit online? Not at all! It simply means that you should take the application seriously enough to do it the right way.

Know your credit score. Knowing your credit score can help you choose a credit card that's aimed at people in your general credit range and avoid bunging up your credit record with applications for cards you'd no hope of getting in the first place.