I'm FINALLY getting credit card offers in the mail!!!

[Anonymous]

20 days after all my scores improved from nothing into the 700's, I received my first credit offer. This is from Discover for their IT card. Nothing in the letter says "Pre Approved" but it does have that "Invitation number". Does this mean I'm pretty much a shoe-in for this card? Which score will get pulled? The website pre-qual has the cashback and the chrome listed for me.

Also, I'm 10 days away from closing on my home so Im waiting to apply for anything. I've been wanting to get a discover card and a AMEX Everyday or Blue Cash for my beginning prime cards. Should I apply for one before the other? 

My scores below are still accurate.

[xaximus]

Congrats on the house and pre-approval! Usually the CC offers are similar to having a pre-qualified offer. I would check out the Disco pre-qualify page just to see what comes up. With your scores being in the 700's, I would say you have a high chance of getting approved and Disco can hand out relatively large CL's as well.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

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@xaximus wrote:
Congrats on the house and pre-approval! Usually the CC offers are similar to having a pre-qualified offer. I would check out the Disco pre-qualify page just to see what comes up. With your scores being in the 700's, I would say you have a high chance of getting approved and Disco can hand out relatively large CL's as well.

Good luck!

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Thanks for the reply.  I can't wait until after this closing so I can go ahead and take advantage of a good offer!

[Anonymous]

Just the other night I wondered out loud when I would start getting mailers now that my scores have improved. The very next day I got a pre-approval offer in the mail for a $400 CL from Montgomery Ward. ( I tossed it.)

Guess the Credit Gods have a sense of humor...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Just the other night I wondered out loud when I would start getting mailers now that my scores have improved. The very next day I got a pre-approval offer in the mail for a $400 CL from Montgomery Ward. ( I tossed it.)

Guess the Credit Gods have a sense of humor...

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Wow lol. I figured I wasn't on anyone's pre-approval lists because just a month ago, I didn't even have fico scores for TU and EQ. I just wondered how long it would be before they'd come.

[xaximus]

@ missliz - LOL! Credit Gods can be sarcastic at times.

@ Bigdaddy003 - Usually pre-approvals start coming once certain criteria is hit, then its pretty constant. I must have gotten 20 pieces of mail from Discover for the IT card. At one point, I had every color in the Skittles rainbow. I finally gave up and decided to app and was approved.

[Anonymous]

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@xaximus wrote:
@ missliz - LOL! Credit Gods can be sarcastic at times.

@ Bigdaddy003 - Usually pre-approvals start coming once certain criteria is hit, then its pretty constant. I must have gotten 20 pieces of mail from Discover for the IT card. At one point, I had every color in the Skittles rainbow. I finally gave up and decided to app and was approved.

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Hey what kind of starting balance did they give you?

[xaximus]

My starting SL was $13k.

[Anonymous]

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@xaximus wrote:
My starting SL was $13k.

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That would be way more than I need! I just need a card I can use everyday.

[coldfusion]

After you've received several of these you'll get a sense of what to look for.

1) If the phrase used is closest to "offer to apply", "you're pre-qualified", "you're pre-approved", or "you're approved"

2) Whether or not there is an opt-out message advising you of your right to stop receiving pre-screened offers

3) if you're quoted a wide range of interest rates, a narrow range (roughly 3% or less), or a fixed rate

A mailed approval is a firm offer of credit.    Those aren't particularly common but they do exist. 

A pre-approval or a pre-qualification with opt-out language and fixed interest rate is not a shoo-in but has the best odds of success, assuming there hasn't been a dramatic recent change in your credit profile.   The odds of success however are not consistent across issuers, for example an AMEX pre-approval is closer to a guarantee than a BoA pre-qualification.  If in doubt regarding a particular issuer search here for relevant threads of prior experiences.

Offers to apply with a wide range quotes for rates and no opt-out language are of the least value.  Take those with a grain of salt, even if they have an application code.