News

Are Credit Card Pre-Approvals Real? (Spoiler: Nahhhh)

You know how you always hear that “pre-approvals” are just the bank’s way of marketing, and how you still need to send in an application for a pre-approved offer?

Wait, what? You’ve never heard that? Well good thing you’re here now because that’s exactly the situation when you get a “pre-approval” offer from the big banks.

What's a Pre-Approval?

Generally speaking, pre-approvals are a bank’s way of trying to find new credit card customers using creative marketing tools. Their internal algorithms, programs, and analyses somehow close their sites in on you and throw these pre-approval offers at you any way they can.

You may receive a snail-mail postcard from their sales team, or maybe see a banner on top of your online banking account the next time you log in, but both of these are simply marketing.

The idea is that you’ll be so excited about the premise of not having to formally apply that you’ll jump at their (usually) sub-par offer and get started on your brand new credit card’s minimum spend requirement.

Why is this so Important to Understand?

Many of us in this hobby prioritize our credit card applications, especially when just starting out collecting, earning, and spending or points. We make sure that we’re under 5/24 (click here to learn more about 5/24 if you don’t already know), have a low number of inquiries, and aren’t wasting spend on potentially useless cards.

But, ooooooh, shiny pre-approval offers!

Clicking on one of those offers won’t get you auto-approved (at least in 99% of cases), and it certainly won’t bypass a credit report check or your 5/24 status. And that’s why we’re writing this PSA. Our facebook groups (Click here to check out thePointsPage Community on FB) constantly see posts from members who are excited to finally be targeted for a pre-approval offer since they’re so far past 5/24 and couldn’t get approved otherwise.

Unfortunately what they soon find out is that those offers are gimmicks, their credit still gets pulled (a new hard inquiry), and the offer does not bypass their 5/24 number.

Ouch.

Getting to the Point

Pre-approval offers can be tempting, but next time you see “you’re pre-approved!”, remember that it’s all just a marketing tactic to get you to click the ‘apply’ button. Instead, reach out to us here at thePointsPage, or PM one of your friendly neighborhood moderators in the Community page on FB for advice on what you should do. We can offer 1-on-1 consults to talk through credit card strategies, pre-approvals, and different point options to make sure you’re on the right path.

I guarantee we’ve seen it all when it comes to credit apps (well, mostly all…) and will be able to provide clear, concise recommendations on your next move to make sure you get your points