I've seen many people saying "They made it look like it was an application for a Visa card." As someone else has said, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. No, I don't work for Capital Choice, and I don't like that they take advantage of people who don't know enough about credit. But all it takes to make sure you're not getting taken is a little common sense. Remember these tips when you get credit card applications in the mail:
*Just because it's a credit card DOESN'T mean that it is for a Visa or MasterCard. Capital Choice does NOT have anything fraudulent on their applications. If you READ the letter, it says "You may use your platinum card immediately upon receipt EXCLUSIVELY FOR ALL PURCHASES FROM CREDIT PROVIDER." That speaks for itself. It is a credit card only good when you're shopping with Capital Choice. I have bad credit myself. I KNOW how it feels to want to think that FINALLY someone has faith in your ability to pay your bills, such that they'll give you a great offer. But no legitimate bank is going to take that kind of chance. The only thing required to make something a "credit card" is for you to be able to charge something and pay for it in installment payments. A charge card is something that has to have the balance paid off monthly.
*READ THE FINE PRINT. I can't stress this enough. I was checking out secure cards on the net... They'll tell you up front that you have to send a $200 deposit or whatever... But what they DON"T tell you up front are about monthly maintenance fees... Annual fees... Things like that. CHECK OUT ALL FEES before you decide to apply. One card I saw had a $300 deposit, a $200 annual fee, and a $50/month maintenance fee. I can't BELIEVE anyone would pay that.
*EDUCATE YOURSELF. Learn about credit before you start using it. When I first went to college, I got all sorts of applications and applied for everything I got, thinking that the more cards I had, the better my credit would be. I found out the hard way that I was very, very wrong, and it will take me 7 years to have my credit back on track.
*AVOID CREDIT REPAIR SCAMS. There are so many scams out there claiming to help you rebuild your credit. The only thing they can LEGALLY do is write to the credit reports for you and make them prove that everything on your credit report is accurate. Chances are not much will get taken off, and you'll be out a lot more money. Besides, you can write the credit bureaus yourself. Why pay?
I hope someone's learned something from my advice here... I sure wish I'd known all this when I was 18 and starting out.
—Ginny
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