6 ways this tool takes the drama out of picking your next credit card

The credit card offers in this post are from CreditCards.com's partners. They receive compensation when you click on links to those products. See CreditCards.com's Advertiser Disclosure for more information.

Getty Images

Travel. Cash back. Balance transfer. Credit card options can be overwhelming.

In fact, there are more than 220 credit cards in the market. From 50,000 signup bonus points to a 0% APR rate for 18 months on balance transfers, the choices can seem endless.

You may think the solution is to apply for multiple cards in close succession and hope for the best. But actually, your credit rating can get dinged if you apply for multiple cards. You could even end up with a bunch of rejections, with no card to show for your effort and a negatively impacted credit score. Lenders track your credit score to assess your creditworthiness, so that is not a situation you want to be in.

But there's a solution. With CreditCards.com's CardMatch™ tool, you can get synced with cards that you are more likely to be approved for. You simply give a little information (name, address, and last four digits of your Social Security number), and in exchange, the tool tells you which cards you are more likely to be approved for. CardMatch takes your credit profile into account when filtering offers so that if you are in the "average" credit spectrum, for example, cards that generally require "excellent" credit won't show up for you, saving you time, hassle, and a dinged credit report.

There's no guarantee that you will be approved for the cards available in CardMatch, but the likelihood is considerably higher than if you chose cards in the dark. Most of us don't know if our credit qualifies as "fair," "average," "good," or "excellent," so rather than guessing, CardMatch does the heavy lifting for you.

Here are six ways CardMatch makes card shopping easier, more convenient and safer.

1. Your profile is matched with myriad cards.

CardMatch partners with multiple card issuers, meaning that you are assessed for a multitude of card products. In fact, CardMatch includes more card products than competitors' matching tools, providing a more robust experience.

2. It saves time and hassle.

By using this tool, you save time, because you aren't trolling through hundreds of cards trying to decide which is best for you.

3. There are targeted offers.

There are sometimes targeted offers that are richer than the offers available to the general public. For example, The Platinum Card from American Express' public offer on Feb. 2, 2017, was 40,000 points after a $3,000 spend within your first 3 months of card membership. Compare that to the CardMatch offer on the same day for one consumer of 60,000 points. (Note that that offer is not necessarily available to all users.)

Creditcards.com

This makes it worth your while to check CardMatch often for special offers.

4. Your credit is protected.

With CardMatch, your credit report gets a "soft hit," meaning that your credit isn't dinged. FICO, the scoring model used by most lenders, scores in part on the number of "hard hits" or credit checks by lenders, insurers, and others that you've received in the last two years. The more hard hits, the tougher it is on your score. But in this case, the hard hit is not made until you apply directly with the credit card issuer. So the soft hit that CardMatch makes is safe for your credit.

5. Results come back within seconds.

Another plus with CardMatch: It gives you your results within seconds. For example, a recent search returned 16 cards within 4 seconds that were good potential matches for one consumer.

6. It narrows your search even more.

One new feature: You can now narrow your search with multiple selections. For example, say you want to search for Rewards cards with No Annual Fee. To do so, simply select those two categories, and the results will identify which cards you might qualify for that fall under those groupings.

Creditcards.com

The tool will narrow your selection based on the criteria you choose.

CardMatch provides a wider selection, special offers, and time saved when you are on the hunt for a great credit card. Rather than choosing from more than 220 card offers, cards matched to you will be displayed, including offers not available to the general public. So rather than flying blind while card shopping, CardMatch will help you make the right choice for your life and credit.

Choose your next card now with CreditCards.com's CardMatch.

This post is sponsored by CreditCards.com.

Find out more about Sponsor Content.