Best Credit Cards That Offer Pre-Approval in 2024 (2024)

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The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Business Insider: Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card for Students. The details for these products have not been reviewed or provided by the issuer.

When you apply for any of the best credit cards, your credit score will temporarily decrease.

That's because credit card issuers perform a hard credit inquiry (sometimes called a hard pull) to view your credit score and decide if you're a good candidate for their cards.

If you've racked up a lot of credit inquiries, issuers may consider that a red flag. That's why credit card preapproval is so handy. If you're preapproved for a card, you have a fair idea of whether or not you'll be approved. It helps you to ensure you won't waste a credit pull on a card you won't get (though note that even if you're preapproved, that does not guarantee you'll get the card).

What is credit card preapproval?

Credit card preapproval is when a bank indicates whether you're likely to be approved for a card before the bank does a hard inquiry and dings your credit. If you decide to apply, this does not guarantee you will be approved — but it gives you a good idea of your chances. Not all banks offer credit card preapproval. But the ones that do issue some of the best cards on the market.

Best Credit Cards That Offer Preapproval

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Best premium credit card that offers preapproval
• Capital One VentureRewards Credit Card: Best mid-tier travel credit card that offers preapproval
• Discover it® Cash Back: Best cash-back credit card that offers preapproval
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Best no-annual-fee credit card that offers preapproval
• Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card: Best 0% intro APR credit card that offers preapproval (rates and fees)
• Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card for Students : Best student credit card that offers preapproval
• Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card: Best secured credit card that offers preapproval

Compare Credit Cards That Offer Preapproval

Best Credit Card Preapproval Frequently Asked Questions

Best Preapproved Credit Cards Reviews

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That's worth an average of $1,080 in travel, per our points and miles valuations. This value comes from transferring your points to partner airlines and hotels like Hyatt, Southwest, United Airlines, and more for free hotel stays and award flights.

This is a premium credit card with a $550 annual fee to prove it. If you're able to use the card's benefits regularly, the annual fee is easy to justify. You'll get perks like:

• Up to $300 in statement credits each cardmember year toward travel purchases
• Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit (up to $100)
• Airport lounge access (Priority Pass Select membership with access to 1,300+ lounges worldwide, Chase Sapphire Lounge access, access to the Chase Sapphire Terrace in Austin)
• Some of the best travel insurance of any credit card
• Two years of free Lyft Pink All Access membership — and a 50% discount on year three (15% discount on rides, cancellation forgiveness, free 45-minute bike rentals, etc.)
• 10 points per dollar on hotel stays and car rentals reserved through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® Travel Portal

If you travel by car or plane regularly, this is one of the best cards you can open. The card's annual travel credit will automatically reimburse you for travel spending — meaning if you spend at least $300 per year on travel, the card's annual fee is effectively $250. And the Priority Pass airport lounge access it offers is worth over $400 each year.

You'll also get a handful of temporary benefits which can amount to several hundred dollars in value. For example, through December 31, 2024, you'll getfree DoorDash DashPass membership (waived delivery fees, reduced service fees on orders of $12 or more) and a $5 in-app credit each month. You'll also get a year of free Instacart+ membership and up to $15 per month in credits on Instacart purchases when you activate by July 31, 2024.

You can see if you're preapproved for Chase credit cards here.

Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card review

Capital One VentureRewards Credit Card

The Capital One VentureRewards Credit Card offers 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening. That's worth an average of $1,275 in travel when you transfer your points to airline and hotel partners such as Turkish Airlines, British Airways, Wyndham Rewards, and more for (nearly) free travel.

This $95-annual-fee card is an excellent card for beginners to the miles and points hobby (rates and fees). For starters, the card has a simple earning structure:

• 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel Portal
• 2 miles per dollar on all other purchases

In short, you'll earn 2 miles per dollar for almost all spending. Because Insider estimates that Capital One miles are worth an average of 1.7 cents each when converted to airline miles and hotel points, you're getting effectively 3.4% back on all purchases.

This card comes with up to $100 in reimbursem*nt when applying for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. You'll also get two free visits to Capital One Lounges each year (you'll pay a discounted price on any additional visits).

You can see if you're preapproved for Capital One cards here.

Capital One Venture Card review

Discover it® Cash Back

The $0-annual-fee Discover it® Cash Back doesn't come with a traditional welcome bonus. Instead, it comes with something called Unlimited Cashback Match™ - only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year.

Here's why that's powerful. The card's normal earning rates are:

• 5% cash back on rotating categories (from January 1 to March 31, 2024, you can earn 5% cash back at restaurants and drug stores on up to $1,500 in purchases after enrollment, then 1%)
• 1% cash back on everything else

That's a solid earning rate by itself — the ability to earn 5% back on common purchases is well above average. But with Discover matching the cash back you earn during the first year, those 5% rotating bonus categories turn into 10%, and you'll receive a minimum of 2% on all other purchases in year one.

The card doesn't offer much more in the form of ongoing benefits other than waived foreign transaction fees, a free FICO score (a common credit card perk), and no late fee on your first late payment.

The card also comes with 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a 17.24% - 28.24% Variable APR.

You can see if you're preapproved for Discover credit cards here.

Discover it Cash Back card review

Chase Freedom Unlimited®

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). On the surface, that looks like a solid bonus — but it gets even better.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® isn't a true cash-back credit card. It actually earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which are worth 1 cent each when redeemed for cash back. But you can get an average of 1.8 cents each from them if you convert them into airline miles or hotel points for cheap (or free) travel. To do this, you must have either the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. You can then transfer your points from the Freedom Unlimited to one of these cards, and onto various travel partners.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers the following earning rates:

• 5% cash back (5 points per dollar) on travel purchased through the Chase Travel Portal
• 5% back (5 points per dollar) on Lyft rides through March 2025
• 3% cash back (3 points per dollar) on dining and drugstore purchases
• 1.5% cash back (1.5 points per dollar) on everything else

This card has a $0 annual fee, so it's free to try — and keep.

You can check for preapproved offers from Chase here.

Chase Freedom Unlimited review

Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card comes with a welcome bonus of $200 cash back after you spend $500 on purchases within three months from account opening.

The real meat and potatoes of this card are in its earning rate for everyday spending, however. You'll get:

• 10% cash back with Uber and Uber Eats (through November 14, 2024)
• 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
• 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• 3% cash back on dining, grocery stores (except at superstores like Walmart® and Target®)
• 3% cash back on eligible streaming services
• 3% cash back on entertainment
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

For a $0-annual-fee card, that's pretty amazing (rates and fees). The card even comes with complimentary Uber One membership statement credits through November 14, 2024. Uber One normally costs $9.99 per month, and gives you $0 delivery fees, up to 10% off eligible Uber Eats, and more.

It's also worth noting that if you've got a Capital One miles-earning credit card, such as the Capital One VentureRewards Credit Card, you can convert your cash back into Capital One miles at a rate of 1 cent per mile. You can then transfer them to Capital One airline and hotel partnersfor outsized value.

You can see if you're preapproved for Capital One cards here.

Capital One SavorOne card review

Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card for Students comes with a $200 cash rewards bonus after making $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days from account opening. That's an excellent bonus for a student credit card.

The earning rate of this $0-annual-fee student card is also above average. You can select to earn 3% back on one of the following categories:

• Gas
• Online shopping
• Dining
• Travel
• Drugstores
• Home improvement/furnishings

You can change your bonus category month to month.

You'll also earn 2% cash back on groceries and at wholesale clubs — and 1% back on everything else. The only restriction is that you can only earn bonus points on up to $2,500 in combined spending across 3% and 2% categories each quarter.

This card also aids students with a 0% intro APR for your first 18 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made within the first 60 days of opening your account (then a 16.99% - 26.99% Variable APR). This is great for initial college purchases like course materials, dorm furniture, etc.

You can see if you are preapproved for Bank of America credit cards here.

Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards for Students review

Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

The $0-annual-fee Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card doesn't offer a welcome bonus at the moment. The tradeoff is even if your credit score is subpar or you have less than three years of credit history, you can still be eligible for this card.

To get it, you'll need to make a minimum deposit of $200. Based on your credit, you may be able to get a credit line higher than this. Your amount of available credit will match your deposit. After six months of on-time payments, you'll be eligible for a raise in your credit line.

The card earns 5% cash back on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel and 1.5% back on all other eligible purchases. That's a so-so return in the world of cash-back credit cards — but it's above average for a secured credit card.

You can see if you're preapproved for Capital One cards here.

Capital One Quicksilver Secured card review

Honorable Mention: American Express Cards

American Express has what is pretty inarguably the best type of "preapproval" process — though not all customers are eligible to use it at the moment.

It offers a feature called "Apply with confidence" which will tell you with absolute certainty if you will be approved for a specific credit card before it initiates a hard pull on your credit. Your credit score may be impacted if you are approved and choose to accept the card.

This is currently only available for customers who do not already have an American Express card applying for a U.S. Personal Card via Business Insider, at AmericanExpress.com/us/credit-cards, or by calling American Express and may not be available through other avenues. It will also not work for co-branded airline and hotel credit cards such as the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card or the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card.

Itwill work on some of the best American Express credit cards, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express and American Express® Gold Card.

If you're already an American Express cardholder, Amex tends not to hard pull your credit when opening a new card, anyway. That's preapproval-adjacent in that you won't receive credit inquiries for cards you don't open.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Chose the Best Credit Cards With Preapproval

The credit cards team at Personal Finance Insider takes a close look at each credit card's virtues and downfalls and highlights the offers that best suit most common financial situations. We don't just examine good cards — we review (and warn against) credit cards that are subpar or predatory.

We take a close look at factors including welcome bonuses, annual fees, rewards rates, the ease of using rewards, and benefits to figure out which credit cards are the best options for different needs, whether that's building credit, travel rewards, or preapproval. We dig into the fine print to explore everything a card offers and break down the pros and cons.

We chose the best credit cards with preapproval with not only these factors in mind, but also the ease of finding preapproved offers. We've included banks that make it simple to see your preapproval status online and choose from a wide variety of cards geared to different consumers.

See the full methodology for how Insider rates credit cards »