BGR has partnered with The Points Guy for our coverage of credit card products. BGR and The Points Guy may receive a commission from card issuers.If you’re interested in seeking out the best credit card offer you can find right now, there’s certainly no shortage of card offers with excellent welcome bonuses to choose from. The really savvy card shoppers, though, know that there are also often targeted welcome bonus offers that are even better than those available publicly (involving the same card, no less). Even better? Anyone at all can search to see if there’s one available for them — all you need to do is know to look in the right place. That place is the CardMatch Tool website.If you haven’t visited the site in a while, it would be definitely worth it for you to check it out again soon to see what might be available for you. Some people have even been targeted recently for the incredible 100,000-point offer on The Platinum Card® from American Express — an offer that requires $5,000 in spending within the first three months of opening your account in order to earn the 100,000-point welcome bonus.
All the different variations of card credit ownership that we regularly detail here include targeted offers that are distributed in any of a few different ways. Issuers like American Express, for example, will often choose the most direct route of making these targeted offers available — by, simply, mailing out the details of limited-time offers that specific customers have been pre-selected for. Other issuers make those sign-up rewards available only in their physical branches.
Meanwhile, the CardMatch Tool from CreditCards.com is another channel through which these targeted offers are often found. The site uses some basic personal information (like your name, address, and part of your social security number) to match you with current card offers that you might be eligible for.
How to use CardMatch
When you land on the CardMatch Tool page, it looks like this:
Enter the personal details that are required, and if you don’t want to be proactively contacted by CardMatch in the future, make sure the “Send me information” box is not checked. It’s also worth taking a moment to make sure you know that although what you’re about to do will result in a so-called “soft inquiry” on your credit history, this will have no impact on your credit score.From there, all you need to do is then agree to the terms and conditions, and in no more than 60 seconds you should see a rundown of any targeted offers available for you. The first time you check, you might see some of those impressive offers that aren’t publicly available — or you might not. The number of offers you get, and how impressive they actually are, will not be constant, so don’t expect the same kind of list every time you come to the tool to check it out.If you do like any of what you see and want to move on to the next step, no surprises there. Click the “Apply Now” button, and that will send you to the bank’s site to finish out the application process.
A taste of what you might find
Here’s an example of how the offers that are sometimes available via CardMatch can be much more impressive than what you’ll find publicly. We’ve seen targeted offers appear on CardMatch for the Platinum Card from American Express that offer up to 100,000 bonus points when you make $5,000 in purchases in your first three months.100,000 Amex Membership Rewards points are worth about $2,000 based on TPG’s most recent valuations. The card is great for frequent travelers and basically the king of premium travel rewards cards when it comes to luxury perks.To mention just a few, you’ll earn Amex Membership Rewards, receive up to $500 in annual credits and have access to an extensive network of airport lounges worldwide, among other benefits. The card comes with a high annual fee, but it’s more than worth it for those who take advantage of its full range of benefits. Compare that to the current public offer for the Amex Platinum — only 60,000 welcome points after spending $5,000 in the first three months.
The final word
Again, it’s worth taking note of the fact that checking the CardMatch Tool shouldn’t be considered a one-time event. If you don’t have any offers at the moment or aren’t particularly excited about what you see, check back again later — because you might be then. The offers can change frequently and at any time. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to apply for a specific credit card and you come across an offer on the CardMatch Tool that’s better than what you’ve seen somewhere else, it’s certainly worth your consideration. As always, though, keep your own financial situation in mind as well as your travel goals and credit history when deciding whether to apply for a card, which also might come with spending requirements that you don’t want to unnecessarily change up your finances around. Also, the list of offers you’re presented with is just that — offers, not guarantees that you’ll be approved for the cards.
