Ed Vegliante asked:




Are you wanting to apply for a new credit card but feeling hesitant to perform the credit card application online? If so, you need not be concerned. Advances in the technology of secure e-commerce have made online credit card applications literally safer than filling out a paper application and mailing it through the US Postal Service. Here’s why.

SSL Technology

First, banking institutions that offer online credit card applications use the most up-to-date technology to ensure that their web sites are protected against intrusion and data theft. This technology is known as SSL, which stands for Secure Sockets Layer, a transmission protocol that “encrypts” any data sent between the bank and your computer, such as all the personal information you need to fill out when applying for a credit card.

Encryption

What exactly is encryption? It is a sophisticated mathematical process that disguises data by altering the bits of information in ways that are undecipherable to others. You have probably done encryption in your childhood days when you sent messages to friends in school using a secret language such as reversing the alphabet, so that A meant Z, and Z meant A. That early game was actually a form of encryption.

In the early days of the Internet, encryption used 40-bits, which meant that a character of data could be transformed into another character in any one of 2 to the 40th power ways, which is approximately 1 trillion ways. But as large as that number is, computer security experts realized that people, including criminals, who had access to very powerful computers could crack 40-bit encryption in a short period of time, ranging from a few days to a few seconds depending on the power of their computers.

Therefore, in the late 1990s, a much more powerful type of encryption was introduced using 128 bits. This means that each character of data can be altered in any of 2 to the 128th power ways, a code which represents an astronomical number of possible variations that would take on the order of 20,000 years to break using today’s fastest computers. The use of 128-bit encryption has thus completely altered the safety of data.

Two Encryption Keys Required

Furthermore, today’s encryption methods use what is called the “two-key” algorithm whereby the sending computer and the receiving computer use both a “public” key and a “private” key to encrypt and then decrypt any data exchanged between them. The process is complex to explain, but suffice it to say that the two-key approach makes it impossible for all intents and purposes for an outside party such as a criminal to capture and interpret any data transmitted between two computers over an Internet site using SSL technology – because the criminals will not have both keys.

Online Credit Card Applications – No Safer Method

In short, SSL technology virtually guarantees that if you fill out a credit card application over the Internet using a bank’s secure application page, all your personal information can never be stolen or broken into.

Compare this to a paper credit card application which you send via the US Post Office. Think about how many mailboxes are broken into each year and how many pieces of mail are somehow lost – and you will now realize that applying for a credit card over the Internet is actually the most secure method you can find.

So if you want or need a new credit card in order to expand your credit capabilities or to get bonus points or travel rewards, the best thing to do is to go to one of the web sites that allows you to compare credit card offers, then click through to the secure web site for the bank you choose to fill out their online credit card application. You will also benefit from this because your application will be processed within minutes and you can often get an immediate approval rather than waiting weeks as you do when you mail in a paper application.

All in all, rest assured that computer security experts are working hard to protect consumers from crime and identity theft as Internet banking, e-commerce, and credit card payments are increasingly processed online.

Copyright Ed Vegliante. Free online reprints of this article are allowed provided the resource box remains intact with a live link back to http://www.credit-card-surplus.com .

Kurt

Anne asked:


Very often you can hear the statement that applying online for a credit card is safe and fast. At the same time, it is common knowledge that cases of online identity theft are frequent enough to make people be afraid of it. Is it really dangerous to order plastics via Internet? Let us see how matters stand.

There are a wide range of web-sources where consumers can make an online credit card application: Credit-Land.com, RequestCredit.com and many other sites are known to provide assistance in credit card selection and quick redirection to the bank’s official site. Credit card companies spend a lot of money on products promotion as well as providing credit card application security. Banks want to make people order cards via Internet. The reason is that it minimizes the cost of application processing: there are no extra personnel needed, as well as no expenditures on paper application forms. The information you submit goes straight to the bank’s database; that is why both the applicant and the creditor save a good deal of time.

To protect the personal and financial information you enter on the application page, SSL (secure sockets layer) protocol is used. It implies that the information is twice encrypted: when being submitted in the sending computer and being accepted by the receiving computer. This encryption method guarantees that your information will never be stolen if you submit it through the SSL protected web sites.

However, not every site is supplied with SSL protocol. There are some details to consider if you want to make a really secure online application.

1) The web page is stated to be secure or there is a name of SSL Certificate provider (Verisign, for example)

2) URL of a protected web-page usually begins with https:// (regular pages start with http://)

3) You can see a small lock in the right bottom corner of the screen

4) They ask you to register on a secure site

If you notice some or all of these features on a web site, you can be 100% your information is protected. So, you can choose the bank product for your credit situation and needs and indicate your personal information like address, annual income, social security number etc in the application form provided.

In case you do not see any of the above mentioned signs of security, or the site just seems shady, leave it and go to a reliable web source. One should also be careful with credit card offers coming by e-mail. E-mail is very vulnerable, and there is a great possibility that you will receive malicious mail (become a victim of phishing). Plus, it is required that you should have your computer protected with anti-virus programs.



DALE

C.R. Hayes asked:


Many times when you choose to fill out an application on the internet, online credit card approval can be done instantly. You are asked to give the same information as you would on a paper application that comes in your postal mail box. But rather than wait for the mail delivery and processing time, some people are more anxious to receive notification instantly.

Card issuers use the latest high-tech secure programming and fraud protection to protect the data you enter. So there is no need to worry about just where your financial information will end up. Make sure though, that the web address in your browser bar begins with ‘https’, which signifies a secure internet connection.

One of the biggest advantages of searching and applying online is that you can do side by side comparisons for different bankcards offered by different providers. You can also narrow them by the category you need, such as:



0 interest

bad credit

travel rewards

those for college students

cash back cards

and more



When you get your choices narrowed down, you need to compare all of the fees associated, like:



annual fee

APR

interest rate

late fees

any other cost that may apply



You will want to know how long any promotional rates will last too, if applicable. It’s not uncommon to find that 0 interest rates can apply up to the first 6 to 18 months of your account.

If you are more inclined to opt for travel rewards or cash back features, make sure you get the most benefits and perks you can while still keeping your fees and interest rate as low as possible.

Before you apply, it would be a good idea to get a copy of your latest credit report and know your credit rating. After all, issuers base your acceptance according to your credit score. The higher your score, the better deal you will be offered and approved for.

Everyone in the U.S. is allowed one free copy of their credit report every 12 months. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires this of each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can order yours by phone by calling 1-877-322-8228, or by visiting annualcreditreport.com.

Online credit card approval can be both instant and convenient for the application and approval process, but you will usually have to wait for the actual card to arrive in your mailbox before you can use it. Nevertheless, you will still receive it sooner than if the entire process was done through the mail.



ISRAEL