Credit Card Application: Should You Apply Online or Call?
Filed Under (Credit Cards Blog) by creditblogger on 28-08-2008
Here is an interesting question that many think about before applying for a credit card. Should you apply online or just call the phone number on the application page? At a glimpse, the answer looks to depend on your level of comfort talking on the phone with a representative for 15 to 25 minutes. But when you dig deep, there are major advantages for each method. Here is the breakdown:
- Convenience: a lot of people prefer talking on the phone with representatives to get things done faster. It really comes down to how comfortable you are with the Internet (it’s 2008!). Also, a lot of non-native Americans have an easier time applying online than on the phone. I don’t know about you but sometimes even I can’t understand what the representatives are talking about on the phone. Believe me, you don’t want to guess what the other side is talking about when it comes to applying for a credit card.
- Security: many prefer phone applications as they find them more secure. It really comes down to how careful you are when you apply for a credit card on the Internet. I personally have a separate (old) computer that I use only for online banking. I don’t surf the WWW for news or any other information on that computer, and I use an anti-virus and a premium firewall to protect my personal data. That pretty much reduces the chances of you having your information stolen.
- Promotions: Now here is one good reason why you should apply online rather than call the issuers. When you call the credit card companies, they try to sell you all kinds of services that you don’t need. Many of us don’t fall into that trap, but I have had friends who have accepted trial offers by mistake just to see a huge fee on their cards a few months later. Online applications beat phone applications by a mile on this issue.
- Approval: believe it or not, the approval criteria are different for phone and Internet applications. Credit card companies have highly sophisticated analytical tools that allow them to figure out who are their most profitable customers. If those who apply via phone are more profitable in general, there is a chance that phone applications will have slightly more lenient criteria for approval. As far as I can tell, most major credit card companies favor one channel over the other.
- Time: online credit card applications are often easy to fill out and only take a few minutes to complete. When it comes to doing things faster, online applications are the way to go. If you are impatient like me, you don’t want to spend 10 or 20 minutes on the phone when you can apply online in only 3 minutes.
When it really comes down to it, you need to decide which way works for you the best. Online applications can be completed faster whereas phone applications are a bit more secure. But whichever way you choose, you want to make sure you don’t sign up for offers that come back to haunt you a few months down the road.
