List Of Credit Cards : site info

The following answers most frequently asked questions about our site and about online credit cards in general:

Is this a site of a credit card issuer ?

No. We do not issue credit cards ourselves. What we do is compare credit cards that can be applied for online. We also supply direct links to online applications for all featured products.

Will I be applying via this site?

No. Application forms reside on respective banks' web sites (not ours!) and are always secure. You will be applying directly at the bank's site. We simply link to the application form. Thus, we will not have any access to the information you supply to the bank.

I reside outside the United States. Can I still apply for cards listed on your site?

Unfortunately, no. All cards listed are for U.S. residents only.

I reside in the United States, but I am not a U.S. citizen. Can I apply?

It depends, but in many cases, yes. However, you do need to:

Have a Social Security Number
Be authorized to work in the United States
Have income

Even if you meet these minimum requirements, you may be rejected due to the lack of credit history. If so, you may need to establish it before you will be approved for most credit cards.

How do I establish a credit history?

There are many ways to do that. If you are a student enrolled full-time in a college program, you may be approved for a student credit card even if you have never had other credit cards.

If you are out of (or never went to) college, your options include:

Applying for the overdraft protection service from your bank (verify that this service will report the amount of "protective line" as a credit line to credit agencies).
Applying for a "secured" card where a portion of your credit line is guaranteed by deposit.
Applying for a store or gas card. These cards are often easier to get approved for. Unfortunately, they are not considered "major" credit cards and can only be used at the store or with the merchant that approved you. Fortunately, however, if the card reports to one of the credit agencies, you will establish your credit history.

Whichever method you choose, please keep in mind that establishing a credit history is a lengthy process and it may take at least 3-6 months before first records of your payments to creditors appear on your credit report.

I have a perfect credit history in Canada (/UK/Germany/put-your-home-country-here) and now I live in the U.S. Can my credit history be transferred?

No.

Is my application secure ? I am worried about my information being transmitted over the Internet.

Application forms reside on banks' web sites are always secure.

One of the biggest myths about the Internet is that it is somehow inherently insecure. This is simply not true. If you browser uses strong encryption (which most banks will enforce), your information travels directly from your computer to the bank and can not be decrypted even in the (unlikely) event that it's intercepted. Compare this to mailing a letter, which can be taken by a neighbor, lost or stolen at any point along the way or to applying over the phone, which in many can be listened to even by radio amateurs.

The myth is based on two correct but often misunderstood and misinterpreted facts:

If information is supplied through an insecure method, it can be intercepted. This is true. For example, you should never email your credit card number or sensitive information such as your SSN via regular email. Unlike application forms, your email is not encrypted.
Sometimes, databases with sensitive information are left open to cyberattacks. This does happen (although it practically never happens with banks but mostly with amateur e-commerce companies), and you simply don't have any control over it. The information exposed is often collected offline, so it doesn't really matter how it is collected.

We hope this clears up some of the confusion about online applications and will help you be more confident about applying online.

I applied for one of the cards listed on your site. Who do I contact regarding my application?

You should contact the bank. We do not have any information regarding your application. You applied directly with the bank and the bank is the only institution that holds all information regarding your application.

With that said, most banks take 2 to 3 weeks to respond. Please be patient.