Does a credit card “pre-approved offer” in the mail mean you can for sure get the card?

Seeker2008: Does a credit card “pre-approved offer” in the mail mean you can for sure get the card?
I get a lot of these, but I already have some other cards and a decent credit history. Is it just an offer still subject to meeting x terms, or is the “pre-approved offer” *really* pre-approved meaning they can’t say no?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Judy
No, they can still say no. Read the entire letter they sent, including all the fine print.

Answer by lj1
It means that they have already checked your credit, and they want you as a customer. It doesn’t mean that they can’t say no. It just means that they won’t.

Answer by jlf
No it does not. It’s just an ad trying to induce you to apply.

Answer by A & C Have Twinkle Toes
No it means at the time, your history may have looked great for them to extend you an offer. That doesn’t mean you will get the card for sure…once the companies do the full check on your credit and see something negative, that offer is out the window. I get a lot of them myself, and unfortunately I have less than stellar credit.

Answer by Sivel S
pre-approved is a term I have loathed for a long time.

It’s purposefully misleading.

All pre-approved means is that you don’t have any negative standing with the company or their “business inquiry” into your credit didn’t show anything bad (and the business inquiry doesn’t really say much at all to them)

Right now credit card companies have tightened their belts. It’s even harder to get approved… so don’t waste your “application inquiries” on pre-approvals.

I recently applied for a Discover card with an 813 credit score and was declined because my income is “unusual” and they “couldn’t confirm it”. We’ll they didn’t even try.

Go back a few years and I’d get any card hands down with that score and my income.

Answer by Bozo C
Pre-approved means crap.