Marketing Credit Cards to College Students: How the CARD Act Changed the Game

Hopefully, students will get fewer pre-screened offers

The CARD Act prevents the major credit reporting bureaus from sharing information (such as targeted lists) with credit card issuers when it comes to consumers under the age of 21. The only exception is if the young consumer requests the bureau to do so.

It won’t eliminate offers, especially for today’s students who were already on lists before the CARD Act was enacted. But even in this case, it might help to decrease the number of pre-screened offers a student receives. But remember, we live in an online world where teens are giving away personal information online. The credit bureaus aren’t the only sources for mailing lists.

The bottom line is that I’m for anything that protects students from being bombarded with offers. If you think receiving credit card offers in the mail isn’t a winning strategy, take a look at my own story, Confessions of a Former Credit Card-a-holic, about being a young adult with tons of enticing credit card offers. When you’re young and inexperienced, it’s easy to get seduced into applying for a lot of credit cards and getting into debt.