12 Credit Cards with Expedited Shipping (2024)

Amazon.com has spoiled us. It habituated us to fast shipping, something it had to do to compete with brick-and-mortar retail shopping. Now we expect everything we order to arrive at our door fast.

You’d think that the credit card industry was just as prompt, but typical shipment times are a glacial seven to 10 days to receive a new card, and three to seven days for a replacement. However, it’s only the major issuers that offer credit cards with expedited shipping of one to two days, either for free or for a fee.

Other smaller banks and credit unions may offer the service as well. Read on to discover the top 12 credit cards with the best expedited-shipping policies.

Chase is the leading issuer in the United States of general-purpose credit cards, boasting 93 million cardholders and almost 32% of industry revenues. It’s known for having high customer satisfaction among cardholders.

Perhaps one reason for its positive service reputation is its shipping policy. Expedited shipping is available on all its cards, which may be mailed out on the same day and arrive in one to two days. You can request expedited shipping by calling its customer service number at 1-800-432-3117.

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Capital One has more than 45 million cardholders covering the spectrum of credit scores from poor to excellent. It offers around-the-clock customer service and free access to credit scores. It also offers in-person customer service at any of its 750 bank branches.

While Capital One doesn’t automatically offer expedited shipping on new cards, you can request expedited shipping, though there’s no guarantee it will be done. Make your request to Capital One customer service at 1-877-383-4802.

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Bank of America issued the first general-use credit card in 1958 and eventually grew to the Number 8 issuer with 32 million cardholders. It offers several cards, including co-branded ones.

Bank of America offers expedited shipping upon request, and some reviewers cite free expedited shipping on any new card if you ask for it. You can request expedited shipping by calling customer service at 1-855-307-3887.

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Discover is the smallest of the big four card processing networks (behind Visa, Mastercard, and American Express), yet it can be proud of having 57 million cardholders, including many with below-average credit scores. Its cards are well-regarded for their rewards, travel offers, and fraud protection.

Discover has split the difference between snail mail and expedited shipping by providing priority mail shipping on all cards. You don’t have to ask for it, it’s automatic and free. Expect your card to arrive in three to five business days. Also, many of its credit products have free overnight card replacement if yours is lost or stolen.

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Some issuers offer expedited shipping that’s free and easy to obtain. Others require a compelling reason and may charge a fee.

Or, you may encounter an issuer like Discover that offers free priority shipping in lieu of expedited shipping. Some issuers don’t offer expedited shipping at all, even if you’re willing to pay for it.

Most credit cards will arrive in seven to 10 days. Naturally, the shipment must wait on approval, so it makes sense (for several reasons) to apply for cards that offer a reasonably good chance of approval.

Often, an application enters pending status because some piece of information is missing. You can help the process by contacting the issuer’s customer service department and see what’s causing the delay. It may be as simple as verifying your employer or annual income.

Some issuers offer same-day approval. If you’re in a rush, choose one of them.

That way, you’ll know right away whether you have to apply somewhere else. That’s a lot better than waiting a few days before finding out your application was denied.

Another reason why it may take a while to receive a new credit card is that it must be manufactured. It’s faster to make a simple plastic card than a fancy heavy-weight. And we can imagine that some fabrication operations are more efficient than others.

Standard shipping requires about seven to 10 days for a card to arrive. That’s almost a 50% variance in delivery times.

What’s that three-day span all about? Part of it is doubtlessly due to how quickly the issuer gets the card into the capable hands of the postal service.

The major credit card issuers must keep costs down by operating efficiently. They handle millions of cards each year and any operational hiccups can cause unnecessary expenses or customer dissatisfaction.

Therefore, we may expect big issuers to get cards into the mail as soon as possible, meaning the same or next business day.

But, as we mentioned earlier, some cards may take longer to fabricate. For instance, heavy metallic or carbon-fiber cards may require more complicated fabrication techniques.

Card fabrication became more complicated a couple of years ago with the introduction of cards bearing EMV chips. These chips contain custom information that increases card security.

Initially, the new technology required extra processing time to manufacture, but those kinks by now have been worked out with virtually all new cards having chip technology.

We think it stands to reason that the issuers that offer overnight expedited shipping, such as Chase, must have extremely efficient card fabrication operations. They may be your best bet for quicker mailing, even when it’s not expedited.

Perhaps you’re not aware of it, but some issuers allow immediate use of your credit card account without waiting for receipt of your physical card. This allows you to make card-not-present (CNP) purchases while the card is in transit.

Issuers can implement same-day usage in a couple of ways. The simplest is to send you your new account number.

That’s convenient, but it may not be the safest if they send you the number via email. If you are worried about security, you probably don’t want your credit card number arriving in an email. If your email is hacked, you’re open to fraud.

Alternatively, the issuer may offer virtual card numbers to use while you wait for your card to arrive. A virtual card has a random account number and is good for a single card-not-present transaction. You can get a new virtual number for each CNP purchase, which allows same-day use of your new credit card.

Capital One offers virtual card service through its Eno® assistant feature. Eno also tracks spending and monitors for fraud.

Select Citi cards provide virtual account numbers through its online interface, but you must first register the real account number. However, Citi immediately releases the real account number for only its co-branded cards.

Chase is another issuer that allows you to start using your card instantly. You can add your new card directly to your digital wallet without waiting for it to arrive. Chase allows you to use the card to check out online or in an app through Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay buttons. If you choose to make a purchase with your card in-store, you can simply select your Chase card in your digital wallet and tap to pay.

Bank of America will provide you with your credit card number upon approval, but only if you applied via the Bank of America mobile app. You can then use the card in your digital wallet.

Our review of credit cards with expedited shipping reveals the 12 best cards for folks in a hurry. We give top honors to Chase for offering free expedited shipping and/or same-day mailing on all its cards.

We also appreciate Discover’s middle-of-the-road approach of shipping all cards via priority mail. The bottom line: When you want your card now, you’ve got good options.