Apply Online for a Credit Card - a Trap with Sweet Bait

Until XX century it was considered disreputable to be having a debt. Puritans and Quakers, occupying considerable and the most powerful part of the American society, took personal debt as a sin. They were trying to celebrate New Year being clean, i. e. free of debts.

Nowadays having a debt doesn't ruin your reputation. The situation has changed significantly. If Americans have a debt, but make payments regularly, they become the most respected customers. They are trustworthy. Sometimes it has a paradox effect - sometimes if a person owns a considerable capital but has never purchased anything by installment and has no credit some credit companies may refuse to open a credit for him. They explain this by the opinion that the new credit holder may turn to be unpredictable in his behavior, spend all the savings and not pay off the debt.

Nowadays an average US family has 4-6 credit cards. Taking into consideration that a credit limit may stand for $2000 - 10000, the fact of obtaining 6 credit cards instantly increases the household budget by $8000-60000. Many people can't bear the temptation, spend excessively and eventually end up bankrupts.

The mechanisms of relationships between credit card companies and customers were gradually changing. Now you can even apply for a credit card with no annual fee and no transaction fee. It caused the overall simplicity in obtaining a credit card.

Credit cards are extensively advertised. They are sent by mail ready to use with a special stamp "preapproved". That means that preapproved person doesn't have to go through creditworthiness check. For such credit card activation you only need to make one phone call. American groups of protection of consumer rights struggle with this practice, because card issuers send such cards not only to those who can control their spending but to inveterate debtors as well.

The most passionate objection causes credit card advertising in campuses. In American media there are always a bunch of stories of young people that contracted a lot of debt and couldn't find another way out but committing a suicide. A T-shirt or a CD for a credit card application is a widely used method of enlarging of the sector of young customers.

But in spite of all the challenges owning credit cards may cause, they don't seem to be going to die away. The convenience of their usage breaks all the drawbacks they have. Payment schemes even teach cardholders financial discipline. Today's reality is prosperity of credit cards with a tendency to more and more supplanting of money in hand.

There is an alias to credit cards among American consumers - mall money. When they come to the mall with an intention to get just one pair of shoes, they usually leave with new shoes, new pants, new bag etc. Yielded to the temptation people forget about responsibilities and behave as if tomorrow with its bills is not going to come.

But tomorrow comes however and many cardholders turn to be unwilling to pay their outstanding bills sent by the credit issuer.