Is An Instant Approval Credit Card Really Instant?

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

With so many scams and con artists out there, many people become skeptical when they hear deals that sound too good to be true. While this is generally a good practice to follow, your concerns can be set aside when it comes to instant approval credit cards online. There is no scam with these cards - you can be approved for a new credit card within a matter of seconds. Nonetheless, there are exceptions and a few points you should keep in mind when applying for instant approval credit cards.

Gaining Instant Approval

For those with a good or excellent credit history, instant approval credit cards generally come back as approved within a matter of seconds. This is because the credit card company is able to access your credit history records and credit score quickly. If your score and history meets the requirements for instant approval, your application will process quickly and smoothly.

In this case, you will generally receive a notification right away letting you know that you have been approved to be a card member. Depending on the instant approval credit card company, you might also learn right away what your credit limit will be. In other cases, you might need to wait a period of time to learn how much you will be able to charge to the card. This is because the credit card company needs to do more research to determine how much credit they can risk extending to you.

Getting Pending Approval

If your credit history is not so great or if your credit score is lower than the ideal score, you might receive a notification that your application is pending. In this case, the credit card company thinks you might still be a good candidate for the card, but needs to acquire additional information. Although this approval process is no longer "instant," it is still far faster than with the traditional application process.

Generally, you will receive a notification letting you know whether or not you have been approved for the instant approval credit card within a couple weeks of application. With the traditional paper application process, it can take six to eight weeks to learn if you have been approved for card membership. Therefore, applying for an instant approval credit card can still be worthwhile if you want to expedite the entire process.

Getting Turned Down

It is important to note that instant approval credit cards are not the same as guaranteed approval credit cards. Therefore, it is possible to be turned down when applying for an instant approval credit card if you have very poor credit. In addition, it is possible to receive a pending approval notification only to be turned down later. If this happens, however, you should not be discouraged. There are credit cards designed for those with poor credit - even instant approval credit cards. For this reason, you should shop around carefully to find an instant approval credit card that targets those with poor credit and apply for that card rather than one that is targeted toward those with good or excellent credit.

Getting the Card

Although instant approval credit cards can be approved instantly, that doesn't mean you receive it instantly. You will have to wait until you physically receive the credit card to start spending. This can take a couple weeks after you have been approved for the card. Nonetheless, the process is still much faster than going through the traditional paper application process. Those looking for "instant" gratification with their instant approval credit card will be sorely disappointed when they discover they cannot start spending right away.