Before the 2008 financial collapse, credit card issuers were extremely lax about the approval criteria for card applicants. They offered long introductory periods with zero-percent APR, tons of cash-back bonuses and easy balance transfer options, and they approved people with low credit scores who probably shouldn't have had unsecured credit cards. After the collapse, credit card companies cut back on their extravagant offers and started getting a lot pickier about the applicants they approved.