If you have great credit, everybody wants you right now and they’ll bribe you to be their customer.
I talked a month ago about how major issuers have dramatically stepped up the pre-approved solicitations. Unlike the past, the offers are geared only toward those who have strong credit — not just willy-nilly for anybody who has a pulse.
The banks that issue the bulk of the credit cards in the country are looking for the holy grail when it comes to customers: someone who charges high dollar volume; who hopefully won’t pay their bill in full each month; and who has a credit score that indicates they’re nearly certain to pay the bills rather than default.
My associate producer Joel’s wife has excellent credit. She recently got an offer from an issuer that was ready to give her $300 just for opening the account. The card promised no annual fee and offered 1% cashback on all purchases.
Joel kept asking me, “What’s the catch?” There is none. It’s completely legit!
People are scared of stocks and piling money into the banks. So the banks are sitting on top of piles and piles of cash that they don’t know what to do with. They’re trying to find somebody to lend it to.
If you have great score, you’ll see one offer after another after another. Wait until you see the one you want and consider grabbing it.
I recall there was an offer a while back from British Airways for their Visa card, where they gave you 100,000 miles just for getting the card. (That’s something like two free tickets international just for opening the account.)
So if you have good credit, and you usually just toss the credit card offers in the junk pile, this might be time for you to look at a new credit card — unless you’re making a major purchase like a house and you’d mess up your mortgage by opening a new line of credit.
