If you’re looking for a new credit card but don’t want to waste time looking up pre-approved deals on credit card company websites, this is the place to be CardMatch– a tool that can reveal higher sign-up bonuses than what is otherwise publicly available. And while the tool isn’t a comprehensive credit card one-stop shop, it’s a good place to start shopping. This is how it works.
What is CardMatch?
CardMatch is an online tool that matches you with credit card offers based on your credit score (you can find it Here). If your credit score is higher, you may see offers for sign-up bonuses (in award points or airline miles) higher than those normally available on public channels.
With CardMatch, for example, I am pre-approved for the AmEx EveryDay credit card with a registration bonus of 15,000 reward points. Without the tool, a web search only yields an offer of 10,000 reward points, a difference of 5,000 points – which, according to the American Express points calculator, is worth around 30 to 50 US dollars.
What’s the catch with using CardMatch?
The tradeoff with CardMatch is that you have to provide personal information, some of which may be used for marketing spam emails and texts. You will need to provide an email, address, phone number, salary and the last four digits of your social security number as the tool does a “gentle request”Credit check to create offers (unlike a hard request, a soft request does not affect your creditworthiness). Of course, you can unsubscribe from these marketing texts and emails as soon as they arrive, but they are still annoying.
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In terms of security, the tool is powered by Bankrate, a consumer financial services company that uses bank-level security to ensure that your personal information is safe. according to The Points Guy. Again, it’s fine if you don’t want to risk the spam or share so much personal information. But what if you are already shopping? It’s not much different than applying for pre-authorization directly on credit card sites.
The other consideration is that the tool isn’t comprehensive – since the tool is based on partnerships with credit card companies, you won’t see every card on the market. Using CardMatch is a great way to start shopping, but you may want to do some research outside of the tool as well.
Pre-approval does not mean actual approval
CardMatch just tells you which cards you are likely to qualify for based on a gentle query of your balance. If you actually apply for the credit card, the lender runs out hard request on your creditworthiness, which provides a deeper insight into your credit history and can temporarily lower your creditworthiness by a few points. If so, it is possible that the tool may recommend a card that you do not actually qualify for. However, aside from any hidden surprises in your credit history, you should be able to qualify for a pre-approved card.
