How to see if you’re prequalified for a credit card

Applying for a new credit card can be intimidating. That’s due in no small part to nearly all credit card applications triggering a hard credit inquiry, which temporarily drops your credit score and stays on your credit report for two years. What’s worse, there’s no guarantee of approval, so you could end up hurting your score with no new card to show for it.

Prequalified credit card offers can help you take a lot of guesswork out of the application process, allowing you to get a sense of where you stand before you apply. Checking for prequalified offers should give you some peace of mind and help you narrow your list as you try to find the best credit card for yourself, but each issuer handles prequalification a bit differently. Here, we explore how prequalified offers work, how to improve your odds of getting a prequalified offer and how different issuers handle prequalification for their cards.

Prequalification vs. preapproval

The difference between credit card preapproval and credit card prequalification can be tough to pin down, even for credit experts. Not only do card issuers use the terms differently, some even use the two interchangeably.

As a rule of thumb, prequalification tends to refer to a less intensive screening that looks at your basic credit history and other personal information. Preapproval, on the other hand, typically results from a formal prescreening on the issuer’s side and could signal the highest approval odds an issuer can offer without pulling your credit.

Neither process will affect your credit score, nor will they guarantee approval.

Find the right card for your lifestyle

Explore Bankrate's top credit card picks View today's top cards

Pros and cons of prequalified offers

Typically, prequalification happens when you give a credit card issuer your credit information to check if you’re likely to qualify for a card. To see if you’re prequalified, issuers usually ask for basic personal and financial information like your income, monthly housing payment and Social Security number, then check your credit via a “soft pull” and let you know whether your credit profile meets their basic qualification criteria. If you’re wondering whether a prequalification is the right choice for you, we’ve broken down the pros and cons to help you decide:

Pros

• Doesn’t affect your credit score
• Gain a better understanding of your approval chances
• Might get unadvertised offers or better welcome bonuses
• Eliminate cards you don’t qualify for from your shortlist
• Compare the cards you meet the qualifications for

Cons

• May lead to more unsolicited credit card offers
• Doesn’t guarantee approval. Your application can still be declined
• Prequalification isn’t offered by all card issuers
• Hard inquiry if you formally apply

Pros and cons of preapproved offers

Preapproval often sees issuers partnering with credit bureaus to pull together a list of consumers likely to qualify for a given card — but the data they request is much more detailed. This is costlier for the issuer, but it helps them narrow the list of people to which it would like to extend credit. It can also mean that you’ll get access to exclusive sign-up bonuses or welcome offers.

From a customer’s point of view, preapproval based on this sort of prescreening is a much stronger signal that your application will be approved if you choose to apply. That’s because the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires that card offers that result from prescreening constitute a firm offer of credit. So while you’ll notice many of the same advantages as prequalifying, you may have a slightly higher approval odds if you receive a preapproval.

Pros

• Doesn’t affect your credit score
• Gain a better understanding of your approval chances
• Potential for higher welcome bonuses and exclusive offers that aren’t publicly available
• A prescreened preapproval offer signals a firm offer of credit in compliance with the FCRA
• Compare the cards you meet the qualifications for

Cons

• Still doesn’t guarantee approval
• Could feel obligated to take on more credit cards than you can manage
• Hard credit inquiry if you formally apply

3 ways to see if you prequalify for a credit card

You can typically find out if you prequalify for a credit card when you:

1. Check your mail for prescreened offers. Prescreened offers show up in both your email inbox and your actual mailbox because lenders are working to identify consumers who qualify for certain credit products. If you choose to apply for a credit card offer after receiving a prescreened offer in the mail, you’re likely to get approved — however, it is not guaranteed. Also, make sure the offer is legitimate. If you don’t recognize the issuer, do some online research before applying.
2. See if you are prequalified through third-party sources. A few third-party sources, offer online tools like Bankrate’s CardMatch for consumers to check to see whether they prequalify for any offers from the site’s partners. Once again, there is no guarantee you will be approved once you formally apply.
3. Contact the issuer directly. If you already have an idea of what issuer you want a card from, go directly to the source. Many of the mainstream credit card issuers offer prequalification tools on their sites.

Prequalified credit card offers by issuer

Each issuer approaches prequalification in its own way, with some giving applicants an easy way to check for prequalified offers across cards and others only featuring this option on select cards or via prescreened offers they put together themselves.

Prequalification tools typically ask for basic information such as your name, Social Security number, income and employment status to determine your eligibility. Here’s a look at how some major issuers handle prequalification:

How to boost your chances of scoring a prequalified credit card offer

Issuers typically consider factors like your credit score, credit history, income and debt obligations when screening customers for prequalified offers. Many issuers also offer an array of products for different types of customers and stages of credit building.

And while each issuer — each individual card, even — has its own approval requirements, there are a few basic steps you can take to improve your odds of getting a prequalified offer:

• Pay on time

  One of the first and most important steps you can take to improve your credit profile and approval odds is to keep up with payments on your existing accounts. Payment history makes up a whopping 35 percent of your FICO Score, so if you have any payments outstanding or have recently been paying your credit card bills, retail accounts, installment loans or other bills late, be sure to pay on time, every time, going forward.
  
  While you can try out prequalification tools with no impact to your credit score, repairing credit damaged by late payments takes time, so you may want to hold off on actually applying for new cards while you work to establish a positive track record. You can’t easily undo the negative impact of previous late payments, but several months of on-time payments can go a long way toward improving your score and showcasing your creditworthiness.

• Keep card balances low

  Another key step is to pay down as much of your existing card balances as you can — and to pay them off completely if possible. That’s because credit utilization — the amount of money you’ve borrowed relative to your total available credit — is one of the biggest credit scoring factors, accounting for 30 percent of your FICO credit score.
  
  Additionally, high credit utilization that’s negatively affecting your score can be resolved within just a few weeks, while the credit impact of missteps like late payments or bankruptcy can take years to fade.
  
  While you should aim for as low a credit utilization ratio as possible, a good rule of thumb is to try for a ratio of 30 percent or less. In other words, if you have a total credit limit of $10,000, aim to keep your card balances below $3,000. To quickly determine your current ratio, check out Bankrate’s credit utilization ratio calculator

• Check your credit report

  If you aren’t getting a prequalified offer on the card of your dreams, it’s worth requesting a free copy of your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com and reviewing it to get a better sense of where you stand. Not only will this allow you to see any negative items on your report that may be holding you back and better focus your credit repair efforts, but you may also come across credit reporting errors that need to be disputed. Credit reporting errors are all too common, and you may even find you’ve been a victim of identity fraud.

• Improve your credit with more accessible products

  If your credit score is in rough shape or you have a limited credit history, many of the prequalified offers you’ll receive will carry harsh terms and high fees. These so-called “fee-harvester” cards often do more harm than good.
  
  Instead of going with whatever issuer will have you, it’s wise to take your time to build or rebuild your credit with a safer option, like a no-annual-fee secured credit card or a credit-builder loan. These options are typically easy to qualify for, relatively low cost and, in the case of secured cards, sometimes offer you a chance to upgrade to an unsecured product after you’ve demonstrated responsible use.

• Update your income

  While income is not included in your credit report, it can still be a factor when it comes to getting prequalified card offers. Card applications almost always ask for your income when you apply, but you can also update your income with card issuers voluntarily once you become a customer. If your income has increased since you first became a customer of your current card issuer, updating it may get you more prequalified offers for higher-tier cards.

FAQs

• What issuers offer prequalification?

  Most major card issuers offer prequalification for their credit cards, but the process differs for each one. If you’re looking to get prequalified or preapproved for a credit card, these guides for each major card issuer will help you identify what you need to make it happen:

  • Chase
  • Citibank
  • American Express
  • Capital One
  • Bank of America
  • Wells Fargo
  • Discover
  • Credit One Bank

  If you’d rather see which cards you prequalify for all in one place, use Bankrate’s CardMatch tool to see the cards you qualify for at a glance.

• Which is better preapproval or prequalification?

  On the surface, neither offer reigns superior. In either case, a hard credit inquiry still applies to your credit history when you formally apply. If your financial status suffers a dramatic change, a preapproval offer can be dropped, cementing the point that nothing is guaranteed. While both offer an insight into what type of credit card you may be eligible for, take these tools with a grain of salt.

• Can you get denied for a preapproved credit card?

  Yes, you can still get denied for a preapproved credit card. The credit card company may have extended a firm offer of credit after a basic review of your credit profile, but if there’s new negative information presented during your formal application, you could get a denial. This can also be the case if there’s been a drastic change in your financial status like going from employed to unemployed or taking a sharp pay cut.

• Does not being preapproved mean you won't get approved?

  Even if you haven’t been preapproved for a credit card, you can still get approved if you meet the lender’s qualifications once you formally apply. A preapproval simply means the issuer is letting you know that based on an initial look, you meet their approval requirements. But if you’re confident that your credit score and income meets the requirements for that credit card, then you might not need to take the extra step of getting preapproved or prequalified.

The bottom line

Finding out whether you’re prequalified or preapproved for a credit card is always a smart move to make before you apply. Doing so can save you from wasting a hard inquiry on your credit report on a card you might not even be able to get. It’s also a great way to see what kinds of offers are available to you as you shop around for the best credit card for your financial situation and lifestyle.

Just keep in mind that not all card issuers allow you to check your prequalification status, and even if you do prequalify, you’re still not guaranteed to get the card you want. Maintaining as high of a credit score as possible, as well as a low credit utilization ratio, will improve your application’s odds of success.