You may have noticed after you live in US for some time, you start getting this mails from Capitol One, American 
Whats up with the Credit Card offers in your mail? How do they get your address?
It is really crazy and you to see how much mail you get from the big credit card companies. In fact, they have reduced now significantly with recession now, but I have lived through the boom period when I used to get like a lot of mail. Most of them say, you will be instantly approved if you apply for 0% APR and other stuff. In fact, if you have checked your credit history as I mentioned in article How to check credit score for Free, you should see some credit report checks that were done by third parties. It will clearly mention that those credit checks will not impact your score, but you can clearly see some of the companies’ names that you see in your mail. The point is simple, these credit card companies that send mail, check your score and if it meets some requirements, they just send a mail to you indicating that you may get approved. On the other hand some may not do any of these, but would just get your information from other services like Bank or some other place.
Why NOT to apply for credit cards that come in Mail ?
It may seem very tempting to see that mail which says 0% APR and instantly approved. It is just a Marketing trick. The message is intended to get your attention and let you apply for the card. It is very tempting for those who just came to US without any credit history to apply for credit card looking at that fancy statement. The reality is, if you are new in US (anything less than year) and apply for these credit cards, the chances are you may get rejected most of the times. If you do not know, every credit check that was done on your credit record will stay for at least two years. Every credit check that is not approved, may reduce your credit score by 10 to 20 points or more depending on the type of credit check. Imagine you applied to three of these, your credit score will be tanked. If you are new in US, your credit score is hurt even bad. You should know your credit history and have some credit history built before you apply for a credit card. You should not randomly apply for the credit cards that you get in mail. I am not saying everyone will get rejected or you should not apply. You should be careful and know your credit score before you accept any offer. Applying to these credit cards without proper knowledge can hurt your credit history very bad and it may impact you for years. Check article Credit Cards and How to Build Credit History in USA for more information on building credit history.
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