Apple may be violating standards and laws with its credit card policy for iPhones, an informal investigation has revealed. Typically, buying an iPhone at an Apple Store requires either a credit or a debit card, although it may be possible to pay as little as $1 of the $399 price in this way. The company does not accept payments entirely in cash however, and has not so far explained why. It is suspected that this is done to aid tracking purchases, since shoppers are limited to two phones per person, a measure to prevent bulk purchases for the gray market, whether domestically or in Europe, where the phones must also be hacked.
The difficulty with this, according to professionals within the credit card industry, is a global standard called PCI DSS. This is meant to protect users against privacy violations, specifically by detailing how information from a card can be used. The professionals claim that if Apple is tracking customer data via credit cards, this may violate a PCI DSS policy that numbers should only be used to complete transactions. This policy is also reflected in some agreements formed between card issuers and credit companies, as well as laws in various regions.
Employees at Visa have been told about the potential conflict, but have not yet responded on the subject of standards compliance. Based on the unusual delay, it is rumored that lawyers are now probing the legitimacy of Apple's policy in legal, contractual and PCI DSS terms.
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/11/05/iphone.credit.card.policy/
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Processing Online Credit Card Transactions
If you’re going to be charging money for a product or service, you’ll probably want to give your customers the opportunity to use credit cards on your site. While the basic PayPal only route is always available, it’s not the most professional-looking approach sending customers to another url in order to complete a transaction. My friends, what you need is to start processing online payments the big boy way and get yourself ready to learn about payment gateways, merchant accounts, and safety.
Payment Gateway
A payment gateway is the application you’ll use to run your transactions through. Think of it as the machine used in stores to swipe a physical credit card. Gateways also provide other great services like allowing you to monitor transactions, authorize refunds, run reports, etc. For Wufoo, we went with Authorize.net because their API was extremely easy to understand, very friendly, and contained an interface that was relatively easy to use. Their prices are reasonable, and so far, their customer support has been fantastic.
Two competitors with some name recognition that we didn’t go with are Verisign and PayPal. I’ve heard good things about Verisgn, but their prices seem to be a little high and their Payflow Pro service allows for only 1000 transactions before charging an additional 10c per transaction. I don’t know exactly when we’ll be running 1000 transactions a month, but chances are I really won’t want to worry about it when we do.
Now, we did try to go with PayPal’s Website Payments Pro service since Ryan had experience with PayPal’s API for Treehouse Magazine’s checkout system. Lucky for us, PayPal initially rejected our application for some unknown reason and then accepted us mysteriously after we had the Authroize.net system already up and running. I say lucky because Authorize.net’s API turned out to be a lot easier, and as I’ll explain in the next section, ended up saving us some money too.
Merchant Account
After you decide on a gateway, you’ll need a merchant account, or someone who can actually process the credit card transactions. If it’s starting to sound tricky, don’t worry because obtaining a merchant account is easy. Authorize.net has a list of approved resellers for you to choose from. We went with United Bank Card because they had a respectable-looking web site, a solid reputation, friendly customer service reps, and competitive pricing. The application process consisted of filling out and faxing some basic business information and waiting a couple days for approval. Once approved, they provide us with an Authorize.net login and transaction code to get our store up and running.
Some vendors such as PayPal are all-in-one solutions and provide a merchant account along with a payment gateway. This might seem more attractive and less of a hassle, but tends to come at a cost. With Paypal, you’re charged between 2.2% to 2.9% plus .30c per transaction. With the merchant account/Authorize.net combo, you should be able to negotiate somewhere around 2% plus 20c per transaction. All of the merchant account providers are selling the same product, so don’t be afraid to haggle a little. In the long run, every cent counts.
Be Safe
If you’re going to be processing credit cards, make sure your credit card transactions are as safe as possible. To help out, here are some links to get you started on securing your transactions.
* Godaddy SSL - You’re going to want SSL and Godaddy has great prices and top notch customer service to get you through it.
* Authorize.net Security WhitePaper – “Maintaining tight security, including using both standard and advanced fraud detection and prevention tools, is crucial to maintaining a successful business. No merchant can afford to overlook the need for protection against fraud and other types of abuse. This document details tools and security best practices that are recommended to merchants for detecting, preventing, and managing online transaction fraud.”
* Visa Cardholder Information Security Program - When customers offer their bankcard at the point of sale, whether its over the Internet, on the phone, or through the mail, they want to be sure that their account information is safe. That’s why Visa USA has instituted the Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP). Mandated since June 2001, CISP is intended to protect Visa cardholder data–wherever it resides–ensuring that members, merchants, and service providers maintain the highest information security standard.
* Cautious Advice for Accepting Online Payments – Great article by Duncan Davidson on accepting online transactions.
http://particletree.com/notebook/processing-online-credit-card-transactions/
Payment Gateway
A payment gateway is the application you’ll use to run your transactions through. Think of it as the machine used in stores to swipe a physical credit card. Gateways also provide other great services like allowing you to monitor transactions, authorize refunds, run reports, etc. For Wufoo, we went with Authorize.net because their API was extremely easy to understand, very friendly, and contained an interface that was relatively easy to use. Their prices are reasonable, and so far, their customer support has been fantastic.
Two competitors with some name recognition that we didn’t go with are Verisign and PayPal. I’ve heard good things about Verisgn, but their prices seem to be a little high and their Payflow Pro service allows for only 1000 transactions before charging an additional 10c per transaction. I don’t know exactly when we’ll be running 1000 transactions a month, but chances are I really won’t want to worry about it when we do.
Now, we did try to go with PayPal’s Website Payments Pro service since Ryan had experience with PayPal’s API for Treehouse Magazine’s checkout system. Lucky for us, PayPal initially rejected our application for some unknown reason and then accepted us mysteriously after we had the Authroize.net system already up and running. I say lucky because Authorize.net’s API turned out to be a lot easier, and as I’ll explain in the next section, ended up saving us some money too.
Merchant Account
After you decide on a gateway, you’ll need a merchant account, or someone who can actually process the credit card transactions. If it’s starting to sound tricky, don’t worry because obtaining a merchant account is easy. Authorize.net has a list of approved resellers for you to choose from. We went with United Bank Card because they had a respectable-looking web site, a solid reputation, friendly customer service reps, and competitive pricing. The application process consisted of filling out and faxing some basic business information and waiting a couple days for approval. Once approved, they provide us with an Authorize.net login and transaction code to get our store up and running.
Some vendors such as PayPal are all-in-one solutions and provide a merchant account along with a payment gateway. This might seem more attractive and less of a hassle, but tends to come at a cost. With Paypal, you’re charged between 2.2% to 2.9% plus .30c per transaction. With the merchant account/Authorize.net combo, you should be able to negotiate somewhere around 2% plus 20c per transaction. All of the merchant account providers are selling the same product, so don’t be afraid to haggle a little. In the long run, every cent counts.
Be Safe
If you’re going to be processing credit cards, make sure your credit card transactions are as safe as possible. To help out, here are some links to get you started on securing your transactions.
* Godaddy SSL - You’re going to want SSL and Godaddy has great prices and top notch customer service to get you through it.
* Authorize.net Security WhitePaper – “Maintaining tight security, including using both standard and advanced fraud detection and prevention tools, is crucial to maintaining a successful business. No merchant can afford to overlook the need for protection against fraud and other types of abuse. This document details tools and security best practices that are recommended to merchants for detecting, preventing, and managing online transaction fraud.”
* Visa Cardholder Information Security Program - When customers offer their bankcard at the point of sale, whether its over the Internet, on the phone, or through the mail, they want to be sure that their account information is safe. That’s why Visa USA has instituted the Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP). Mandated since June 2001, CISP is intended to protect Visa cardholder data–wherever it resides–ensuring that members, merchants, and service providers maintain the highest information security standard.
* Cautious Advice for Accepting Online Payments – Great article by Duncan Davidson on accepting online transactions.
http://particletree.com/notebook/processing-online-credit-card-transactions/
Why are credit card rates still out of control
It has been more than six months since Congress began looking into what Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., called the “unfair or abusive” practices of the credit card industry.
In March, bank executives were called to testify before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. So much public attention was focused on the issue at that time that several big banks announced they would modify or eliminate a few of their most egregious practices. Committee members vowed to write legislation to protect American consumers.
So far Congress has done nothing to reduce or limit the exorbitant fees and sky-high penalty interest rates being charged to cardholders. And even though the Federal Reserve cut a benchmark interest rate this week, consumers are about to take it on the chin yet again.
“Credit card issuers continue to make subtle changes to squeeze a little bit more out of their customers,” says Bill Hardekopf of lowcards.com. “We’re seeing it in late fees, cash advance fees, and default fees.”
Hardekopf provided the following examples. Discover just boosted its cash advance rate from 20.99 percent to 22.99 percent. At the end of September, the penalty for a late payment will also go up.
Right now, the late fee on a Discover card is $15 on balances up to $500 and $39 on balances over $500. For billing periods after Oct. 1, the late fee will be $19 on balances up to $250 and $39 on balances over $250.
Hardekopf says some credit card issuers have figured out another way to generate even more money from late fees. They have added a third tier.
Chase, for example, now charges $15 on balances up to $99.99, $29 on balances between $100 and $249.99, and $39 on balances over $250.
“That’s a real stiff penalty to pay for being as little as one day late,” says Linda Sherry of Consumer Action, a San Francisco-based consumer group. “And when consumers mail in their payment seven to 10 days in advance and they still get hit with a late fee, something is really wrong.”
The Fed's half-point rate cut will eventually trickle down to borrowers who use variable-rate credit cards, says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at bankrate.com. "But the bad news is that this won't happen overnight, as issuers are much slower to pass along a lower rate than they are to pass along a higher rate," he said.
In any cases, lower base rates will have little or no impact on penalty rates and fees.
One of the most punitive fees created by the credit card industry is called “universal default.” If you make a late payment on any bill or loan reported to the credit bureaus, you could see your interest rate skyrocket to the default rate — even if you have a perfect payment record with that card.
Days before the March congressional hearing, Citibank announced it was eliminating universal default. Capital One testified it did not have a universal default penalty. But many other banks do.
Until now, the top default rate was a ridiculously high 30 percent. Chase just bumped it up to 32 percent. Before long, you can expect to see other banks boost their default rates.
How would you describe an interest rate of 28 percent to borrow money through your credit card? That is what Chase now charges for a cash advance on its standard accounts – 28.24 percent.
Hardekopf calls it “outrageous … almost a legal robbery.”
Other cards are not far behind. The Household Bank MasterCard has a cash advance rate of 25.15 percent. Blue from American Express and Sun Trust’s Visa charge 23.34 percent.
And remember, there is usually a transaction fee of 3 percent or more on top of that outrageous interest rate.
Use your Chase card to get a $1,500 cash advance, and in one year you would pay $465 in interest and fees.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20811184/
In March, bank executives were called to testify before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. So much public attention was focused on the issue at that time that several big banks announced they would modify or eliminate a few of their most egregious practices. Committee members vowed to write legislation to protect American consumers.
So far Congress has done nothing to reduce or limit the exorbitant fees and sky-high penalty interest rates being charged to cardholders. And even though the Federal Reserve cut a benchmark interest rate this week, consumers are about to take it on the chin yet again.
“Credit card issuers continue to make subtle changes to squeeze a little bit more out of their customers,” says Bill Hardekopf of lowcards.com. “We’re seeing it in late fees, cash advance fees, and default fees.”
Hardekopf provided the following examples. Discover just boosted its cash advance rate from 20.99 percent to 22.99 percent. At the end of September, the penalty for a late payment will also go up.
Right now, the late fee on a Discover card is $15 on balances up to $500 and $39 on balances over $500. For billing periods after Oct. 1, the late fee will be $19 on balances up to $250 and $39 on balances over $250.
Hardekopf says some credit card issuers have figured out another way to generate even more money from late fees. They have added a third tier.
Chase, for example, now charges $15 on balances up to $99.99, $29 on balances between $100 and $249.99, and $39 on balances over $250.
“That’s a real stiff penalty to pay for being as little as one day late,” says Linda Sherry of Consumer Action, a San Francisco-based consumer group. “And when consumers mail in their payment seven to 10 days in advance and they still get hit with a late fee, something is really wrong.”
The Fed's half-point rate cut will eventually trickle down to borrowers who use variable-rate credit cards, says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at bankrate.com. "But the bad news is that this won't happen overnight, as issuers are much slower to pass along a lower rate than they are to pass along a higher rate," he said.
In any cases, lower base rates will have little or no impact on penalty rates and fees.
One of the most punitive fees created by the credit card industry is called “universal default.” If you make a late payment on any bill or loan reported to the credit bureaus, you could see your interest rate skyrocket to the default rate — even if you have a perfect payment record with that card.
Days before the March congressional hearing, Citibank announced it was eliminating universal default. Capital One testified it did not have a universal default penalty. But many other banks do.
Until now, the top default rate was a ridiculously high 30 percent. Chase just bumped it up to 32 percent. Before long, you can expect to see other banks boost their default rates.
How would you describe an interest rate of 28 percent to borrow money through your credit card? That is what Chase now charges for a cash advance on its standard accounts – 28.24 percent.
Hardekopf calls it “outrageous … almost a legal robbery.”
Other cards are not far behind. The Household Bank MasterCard has a cash advance rate of 25.15 percent. Blue from American Express and Sun Trust’s Visa charge 23.34 percent.
And remember, there is usually a transaction fee of 3 percent or more on top of that outrageous interest rate.
Use your Chase card to get a $1,500 cash advance, and in one year you would pay $465 in interest and fees.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20811184/
Where do credit card fees come from
I had a CPA tell me the the other day, “I’m a smart guy. I understand numbers, pricing and reconciliation, but for whatever reason I just cannot get my head around credit card processing fees.” He’s not alone. There is no doubt that understanding the fees that merchants pay to accept credit cards is very challenging. Hopefully this post will clear up some of that confusion. I’ll provide some context about where credit card fees come from, who’s making the money, and how they are determined.
Banks make roughly 80% of all credit card fees
To use a simple example, let’s say that a business is paying 3.5% to accept credit cards. Roughly 80% of that 3.5% in fees is going to the issuing bank, or the bank that gave the consumer their credit card. The rest of the 20% is divided among Visa/MasterCard, the credit card processor, and if there is one, the reseller, or ISO as they are referred to in the industry.
How do banks justify the fees they charge?
Let’s say that you bank at Chase and that they issued you your credit card. When you spend money with your credit card, Chase honors your purchases and pays the business you bought the good or service from. At the end of the month, Chase sends you a summary statement outlining all of your transactions and a due date to pay the outstanding balance. For you, it’s convenient to pay with a credit card, it’s secure with fraud protection, it’s helpful to get a monthly accounting of purchases, and it’s nice to have a 15 to 45 day float on the money that you spend (assuming you are paying your bills on time).
For Chase, it costs them money to pay for your purchases in advance of getting paid themselves, cover customer default and fraud losses, provide you customer service, and produce a monthly statement. It also costs them money when they offer you some sort of rewards program like cash back or frequent flyer miles. Chase recoups their cost and makes a profit by charging businesses a fee on every transaction their card holders make. Their fee is a part of ‘interchange’, or the wholesale cost of the credit card processing world. So back to our example, if you buy movie tickets for $20 and the movie theater is paying 3.5%, Chase would roughly make $0.56 ($20 x 3.5% = $0.70, they would get roughly 80% of that or $0.56).
What again is “Interchange”?
Interchange refers to the rates and fees that the banks and Visa/MasterCard collectively charge. So continuing with the ticket example, if Chase is making $0.56 on the transaction, and Visa is making another $0.02, then interchange would be $0.58. Resellers and credit card processors mark up interchange and sell the processing services to merchants and then pocket the difference between the rates charged and interchange.
That seems simple enough, why does everyone say it’s so complex?
Well, there are over 100 different interchange rates, and the interchange rate that is charged on any given transaction depends on five different variables:
1) What type of card is used in the transaction i.e. debit, credit, rewards, or business card.
2) Where the card is used i.e. restaurant, retail, gas, business to business, ecommerce, etc.
3) How the card is used i.e. swiped, over the phone, or via the internet.
4) What information the business captures during the transaction i.e. name, address, tax ID, tax amount, unit description, etc. (the information required is a whole other layer of complexity).
5) When the transaction is submitted to the processor for settlement and funds transfer.
As you can imagine, it’s a very complicated matrix. Very few people, including those who’ve been in the industry for years, really understand interchange.
Wasn’t there a lawsuit a few years ago about interchange?
Yes, Wal-Mart successfully started and won a class action lawsuit worth billions of dollars because the courts decided that interchange was being improperly priced. Wal-Mart and others claimed that debit card interchange should be priced less than regular credit cards because among other things debit cards cost less (i.e. banks don’t have to float purchases because debit cards have money immediately come out of their account). Visa and MasterCard had to pay Wal-Mart and other retailers billions of dollars in overcharged fees.
The outrage over credit card fees
Businesses are generally upset about credit card fees for two reasons. First, interchange has increased by a whopping 117% since 2001. Credit card fees are now one of the largest expenses retailers face in selling their goods. Second, even giants like Wal-Mart who have tremendous buying power have had very limited success dealing with interchange fees. You can see where the rub is when Visa and MasterCard control over 70% of all cards processed and businesses are essentially forced to accept credit cards in order to be in business.
You now understand why you find a credit card offer in your mailbox everyday. Outside of the 18% interest rates, annual fees, and late fees, being a card issuer is a lucrative business! You make money on both the front and back end.
One more layer of complexity to interchange: Downgrades
To briefly mention one more layer of the complexity, transactions can be ‘downgraded’ when they don’t meet interchange requirements. Reasons for downgrades include not capturing the correct information when processing, settling the transaction after a certain peroid of time, not swiping the transaction and many more.
For example, if an employee at a restaurant swipes your credit card on their terminal and it won’t read the magnetic strip, when the employee hand key’s the transaction it’s ‘downgraded’. Or in other words, the transaction is penalized because ‘non swiped’ transactions carry more risk and therefore higher fees. The difference in a ‘downgraded’ transaction can range from 30 to 90 basis points (100 basis points equals 1%), a significant penalty for any business. So instead of paying 1.79% and $0.25 on a particular swiped transaction, you would pay something like 2.4% and $0.25. Actual numbers vary according to what ever you have with your existing provider.
Downgrades are most frequenly seen with businesses that are ‘card not present’, such as ecommerce, business to business, and mail/telephone order. I don’t have hard data on this but I would estimate that the average business has somewhere between 20% and 50% of their transactions downgraded due to some reason.
Downgrades are the industry’s dirty little secret. It’s also where service providers make most of their margin because they don’t disclose these fees or make them legible on your monthly statement. My company is the provider in the industry that I know of that has created a specialty in helping companies minimize the number of downgrades they have (please pardon the plug, but it’s worth mentioning because it highlights a significant challenge for merchants and the unaligned incentives between providers and customers).
Your undecipherable monthly credit card statement
As icing on the cake, the unreadable format most credit card companies use to present this information to you on a monthly basis doesn’t help. Of course, the format used is not because they have no other option, it’s because that’s what makes them the most amount of money.
http://www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com/blog/where-do-credit-card-fees-come-from/
Banks make roughly 80% of all credit card fees
To use a simple example, let’s say that a business is paying 3.5% to accept credit cards. Roughly 80% of that 3.5% in fees is going to the issuing bank, or the bank that gave the consumer their credit card. The rest of the 20% is divided among Visa/MasterCard, the credit card processor, and if there is one, the reseller, or ISO as they are referred to in the industry.
How do banks justify the fees they charge?
Let’s say that you bank at Chase and that they issued you your credit card. When you spend money with your credit card, Chase honors your purchases and pays the business you bought the good or service from. At the end of the month, Chase sends you a summary statement outlining all of your transactions and a due date to pay the outstanding balance. For you, it’s convenient to pay with a credit card, it’s secure with fraud protection, it’s helpful to get a monthly accounting of purchases, and it’s nice to have a 15 to 45 day float on the money that you spend (assuming you are paying your bills on time).
For Chase, it costs them money to pay for your purchases in advance of getting paid themselves, cover customer default and fraud losses, provide you customer service, and produce a monthly statement. It also costs them money when they offer you some sort of rewards program like cash back or frequent flyer miles. Chase recoups their cost and makes a profit by charging businesses a fee on every transaction their card holders make. Their fee is a part of ‘interchange’, or the wholesale cost of the credit card processing world. So back to our example, if you buy movie tickets for $20 and the movie theater is paying 3.5%, Chase would roughly make $0.56 ($20 x 3.5% = $0.70, they would get roughly 80% of that or $0.56).
What again is “Interchange”?
Interchange refers to the rates and fees that the banks and Visa/MasterCard collectively charge. So continuing with the ticket example, if Chase is making $0.56 on the transaction, and Visa is making another $0.02, then interchange would be $0.58. Resellers and credit card processors mark up interchange and sell the processing services to merchants and then pocket the difference between the rates charged and interchange.
That seems simple enough, why does everyone say it’s so complex?
Well, there are over 100 different interchange rates, and the interchange rate that is charged on any given transaction depends on five different variables:
1) What type of card is used in the transaction i.e. debit, credit, rewards, or business card.
2) Where the card is used i.e. restaurant, retail, gas, business to business, ecommerce, etc.
3) How the card is used i.e. swiped, over the phone, or via the internet.
4) What information the business captures during the transaction i.e. name, address, tax ID, tax amount, unit description, etc. (the information required is a whole other layer of complexity).
5) When the transaction is submitted to the processor for settlement and funds transfer.
As you can imagine, it’s a very complicated matrix. Very few people, including those who’ve been in the industry for years, really understand interchange.
Wasn’t there a lawsuit a few years ago about interchange?
Yes, Wal-Mart successfully started and won a class action lawsuit worth billions of dollars because the courts decided that interchange was being improperly priced. Wal-Mart and others claimed that debit card interchange should be priced less than regular credit cards because among other things debit cards cost less (i.e. banks don’t have to float purchases because debit cards have money immediately come out of their account). Visa and MasterCard had to pay Wal-Mart and other retailers billions of dollars in overcharged fees.
The outrage over credit card fees
Businesses are generally upset about credit card fees for two reasons. First, interchange has increased by a whopping 117% since 2001. Credit card fees are now one of the largest expenses retailers face in selling their goods. Second, even giants like Wal-Mart who have tremendous buying power have had very limited success dealing with interchange fees. You can see where the rub is when Visa and MasterCard control over 70% of all cards processed and businesses are essentially forced to accept credit cards in order to be in business.
You now understand why you find a credit card offer in your mailbox everyday. Outside of the 18% interest rates, annual fees, and late fees, being a card issuer is a lucrative business! You make money on both the front and back end.
One more layer of complexity to interchange: Downgrades
To briefly mention one more layer of the complexity, transactions can be ‘downgraded’ when they don’t meet interchange requirements. Reasons for downgrades include not capturing the correct information when processing, settling the transaction after a certain peroid of time, not swiping the transaction and many more.
For example, if an employee at a restaurant swipes your credit card on their terminal and it won’t read the magnetic strip, when the employee hand key’s the transaction it’s ‘downgraded’. Or in other words, the transaction is penalized because ‘non swiped’ transactions carry more risk and therefore higher fees. The difference in a ‘downgraded’ transaction can range from 30 to 90 basis points (100 basis points equals 1%), a significant penalty for any business. So instead of paying 1.79% and $0.25 on a particular swiped transaction, you would pay something like 2.4% and $0.25. Actual numbers vary according to what ever you have with your existing provider.
Downgrades are most frequenly seen with businesses that are ‘card not present’, such as ecommerce, business to business, and mail/telephone order. I don’t have hard data on this but I would estimate that the average business has somewhere between 20% and 50% of their transactions downgraded due to some reason.
Downgrades are the industry’s dirty little secret. It’s also where service providers make most of their margin because they don’t disclose these fees or make them legible on your monthly statement. My company is the provider in the industry that I know of that has created a specialty in helping companies minimize the number of downgrades they have (please pardon the plug, but it’s worth mentioning because it highlights a significant challenge for merchants and the unaligned incentives between providers and customers).
Your undecipherable monthly credit card statement
As icing on the cake, the unreadable format most credit card companies use to present this information to you on a monthly basis doesn’t help. Of course, the format used is not because they have no other option, it’s because that’s what makes them the most amount of money.
http://www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com/blog/where-do-credit-card-fees-come-from/
Credit Card Interest Rates - Destroyer Of Finances
Interest kills your finances. Especially on credit cards. Did you realize that paying the minimum payment on your credit cards just builds a deeper and deeper hole for you?
I have a wonderful strategy for those of you who have credit card debt on more than one card.
Take out your credit card statements and write down the interest rate and the balance of each. For example, let's say you have three credit cards that have interest/balance as listed.
Card#1 13.9% with a balance of $555.00 Card#2 17.9% with a balance of $486.00 Card#3 19.9% with a balance of $322.00
Note that card #3 carries a higher interest rate than #1 or #2. In fact, Card #3 would cost you more than 40% more in interest dollars over a period of a year if they had the same balance! Do you understand what I am saying here?
The plan to eliminate is easy. Pay the minimum balance due on the lower rate cards (in this case Card#1 and #2) and pay as much as you can afford to pay on Card#3. (For example, you are paying minimum payments of $15.00 on Card#1 and #2 and you can pay $100, $150, $200 ... whatever you can afford to pay. Make it hurt a little.
Continue paying this way until Card#3 is paid off. Cut it up and throw it away. You don't want a higher interest card do you?
Now, apply the same strategy to Cards#1 and #2. Card#2 is the next highest rate (actually 25% higher in interest than Card#!). Pay the minimum payment on #1 and pay the same payment you were making for Card#3 plus the minimum payment you were making on Card#2. You have already seen you can get by without the minimum payment. Do it!
Continue until Card#2 is paid off. Now, follow the same routine until Card#1 is paid off.
I promise you will feel good about yourself. You will save money that you didn't even realize you were spending before.
If you have followed this far, realize you can do the same thing with your hoousehold loans such as your mortgage and car loans. Many car loans have higher interest rates and can be paid down much quicker in this manner.
Remember, start with the highest interest rates and when your way down. Good luck!
About the author:
The author makes a living in the field of research. If you have found this article useful, click on his specialist resource sites, www.nofee-creditcard.info and http://www.carloanreview.info . For more information on this topic and others, go to www.moreinformationservices.com.
I have a wonderful strategy for those of you who have credit card debt on more than one card.
Take out your credit card statements and write down the interest rate and the balance of each. For example, let's say you have three credit cards that have interest/balance as listed.
Card#1 13.9% with a balance of $555.00 Card#2 17.9% with a balance of $486.00 Card#3 19.9% with a balance of $322.00
Note that card #3 carries a higher interest rate than #1 or #2. In fact, Card #3 would cost you more than 40% more in interest dollars over a period of a year if they had the same balance! Do you understand what I am saying here?
The plan to eliminate is easy. Pay the minimum balance due on the lower rate cards (in this case Card#1 and #2) and pay as much as you can afford to pay on Card#3. (For example, you are paying minimum payments of $15.00 on Card#1 and #2 and you can pay $100, $150, $200 ... whatever you can afford to pay. Make it hurt a little.
Continue paying this way until Card#3 is paid off. Cut it up and throw it away. You don't want a higher interest card do you?
Now, apply the same strategy to Cards#1 and #2. Card#2 is the next highest rate (actually 25% higher in interest than Card#!). Pay the minimum payment on #1 and pay the same payment you were making for Card#3 plus the minimum payment you were making on Card#2. You have already seen you can get by without the minimum payment. Do it!
Continue until Card#2 is paid off. Now, follow the same routine until Card#1 is paid off.
I promise you will feel good about yourself. You will save money that you didn't even realize you were spending before.
If you have followed this far, realize you can do the same thing with your hoousehold loans such as your mortgage and car loans. Many car loans have higher interest rates and can be paid down much quicker in this manner.
Remember, start with the highest interest rates and when your way down. Good luck!
About the author:
The author makes a living in the field of research. If you have found this article useful, click on his specialist resource sites, www.nofee-creditcard.info and http://www.carloanreview.info . For more information on this topic and others, go to www.moreinformationservices.com.
Which Type Of Credit Card To Choose?
If you are worried about getting a credit card or have a credit card and it is not working out for you, then maybe you should look at some of the alternatives on offer. There are a growing number of card alternatives to credit cards, some of which may be a better option for you.
Why look at alternatives?
There are plenty of reasons why looking at credit card alternatives are a good idea. Although credit cards have their uses, they also have many dangers and problems. Credit cards tempt you to spend more than you can afford, and then the high interest rates mean your debt increases quickly.
Credit cards can also be difficult to get if you have poor credit or you are young and have never borrowed before. Therefore, it pays to look at the alternative card options.
Charge cards
Charge cards are the most popular alternative to credit cards. Although many people believe that cards like Diner's Club and American Express are credit cards, they are in fact charge cards. Charge cards are similar to credit cards apart from the fact you have to pay the balance off in full before a set time period expires. This is useful for people who know they can pay balances off each month or couple of months.
Credit limits on charge cards can be high, which is good if you need to make an expensive purchase. The problems with charge cards are that they are not as widely accepted as credit cards, and if you do not pay the balance off the interest rates and charges are extremely high
Debit cards
Another alternative to credit cards are debit cards. Debit cards can be used in much the same way as a credit card, but instead of having credit and paying money off each month, debit cards take money directly from your bank account. You can only spend the amount that you have in your account.
The value of debit cards is that you do not overspend, because you are only spending what you can afford. There are also no interest rates because you are not borrowing money. Debit cards are also as widely accepted as credit cards. The problem with a debit card is exactly its strength; you cannot spend more than you have. This is a problem if you need to buy high value items. Also, the security and buyer protection for debit cards is much lower than for credit cards.
Prepaid cards
One of the newest alternatives to credit cards are prepaid cards. Prepaid cards work like a credit card, with all the security features and spending capabilities. However, they also have the features of a debit card in that you do not borrow money, and only spend what you can afford. You prepay money on to the card, which you can top up much like you do for mobile phone credit. You can then use the money on the card for credit purchases.
These types of cards are especially useful for teenagers and young adults, who need some form of card but who also have to control their spending. Parents can monitor and control a child's spending by only putting a certain amount each month onto the card.
Although prepaid cards cannot offer the credit you need to buy expensive items, they do offer protection and security as well as stopping you from getting into debt. If you are having problems with your credit card spending, then getting a debit or prepaid card could be a good option for you.
About the author:
For additional articles and an extensive resource for everything about credit cards, please visit us at No Interest Credit Cards and Credit Cards UK
Why look at alternatives?
There are plenty of reasons why looking at credit card alternatives are a good idea. Although credit cards have their uses, they also have many dangers and problems. Credit cards tempt you to spend more than you can afford, and then the high interest rates mean your debt increases quickly.
Credit cards can also be difficult to get if you have poor credit or you are young and have never borrowed before. Therefore, it pays to look at the alternative card options.
Charge cards
Charge cards are the most popular alternative to credit cards. Although many people believe that cards like Diner's Club and American Express are credit cards, they are in fact charge cards. Charge cards are similar to credit cards apart from the fact you have to pay the balance off in full before a set time period expires. This is useful for people who know they can pay balances off each month or couple of months.
Credit limits on charge cards can be high, which is good if you need to make an expensive purchase. The problems with charge cards are that they are not as widely accepted as credit cards, and if you do not pay the balance off the interest rates and charges are extremely high
Debit cards
Another alternative to credit cards are debit cards. Debit cards can be used in much the same way as a credit card, but instead of having credit and paying money off each month, debit cards take money directly from your bank account. You can only spend the amount that you have in your account.
The value of debit cards is that you do not overspend, because you are only spending what you can afford. There are also no interest rates because you are not borrowing money. Debit cards are also as widely accepted as credit cards. The problem with a debit card is exactly its strength; you cannot spend more than you have. This is a problem if you need to buy high value items. Also, the security and buyer protection for debit cards is much lower than for credit cards.
Prepaid cards
One of the newest alternatives to credit cards are prepaid cards. Prepaid cards work like a credit card, with all the security features and spending capabilities. However, they also have the features of a debit card in that you do not borrow money, and only spend what you can afford. You prepay money on to the card, which you can top up much like you do for mobile phone credit. You can then use the money on the card for credit purchases.
These types of cards are especially useful for teenagers and young adults, who need some form of card but who also have to control their spending. Parents can monitor and control a child's spending by only putting a certain amount each month onto the card.
Although prepaid cards cannot offer the credit you need to buy expensive items, they do offer protection and security as well as stopping you from getting into debt. If you are having problems with your credit card spending, then getting a debit or prepaid card could be a good option for you.
About the author:
For additional articles and an extensive resource for everything about credit cards, please visit us at No Interest Credit Cards and Credit Cards UK
The #1 Mistake Consumers Make with Credit Cards
If you have trouble controlling credit card debt, I have a simple rule for you:
If you can’t afford to pay for an item with cash, you can’t afford to pay for it with plastic either. If an emergency forces you to buy something you cannot afford (it happens, I know), make sure you are brutally honest in your assessment of what you really need. If you don’t need something, don’t charge it. I know people who pay 18% interest on Hostess Twinkies. Come on now. You know better.
The most common mistake consumers make with credit cards is using them as income supplementation. Instead of using them for emergencies or convenience, they use them as additional salary. So let’s agree right now that credit is not salary. Credit belongs to a lending institution. Credit must be repaid.
How Much Debt is Too Much?
Financial gurus suggest that total debt, excluding first mortgage, should not exceed 20% of take-home pay. This includes car payments, home equity loans, second mortgages, credit card debt, and so forth. Upper income consumers may be able to handle higher debt loads due to greater expendable income, while lower income consumers may be wise to carry less.
Of course, you probably know if your debt load is too high without whipping out your calculator. If you honestly don’t know, here is another rule of thumb: If you can’t pay off your credit card balance in full every month, you have too much debt. Credit cards, when used responsibly, help shift the timing or increase the ease of making payments – They do not exist so you can run up debt you cannot pay.
Why Do You Buy?
The buying impulse is so strong in some people that they actually believe credit card dept is their only option. Telling these people they don’t need that extra purse, pair of shoes, or suit is like telling them they don’t need food or water.
A close friend of mine used to struggle with spending. She could barely pay her utility bills and was always borrowing money from friends to keep the electricity from getting shut off. Despite her obvious lack of funds, she somehow managed to keep her closet stocked with new clothes. And there always seemed to be a new package showing up on her front porch containing things she’d purchased from the Home Shopping Network.
She tried to justify these purchases by saying, “John, you know I need to buy new clothes so I can look professional when I’m at the office.”
Well, yes, it’s important to appear professional, but she did not need to buy expensive clothing every week.
Eventually, my friend was forced to declare bankruptcy. I still remember her sitting there on her sofa, surrounded by shoes still in the box and clothes still tagged. She looked at me and said, “John, I don’t think I bought any of this stuff because I needed it. I bought it because I thought it would make me feel good.”
“Did it make you feel good?” I asked.
She paused, touching her chin. “I thought it did at the time. Now, seeing all this stuff I never used, I guess not.”
The emotional high that comes from buying something new is short-lived and cannot compensate for the emotional burden of carrying too much debt.
But What if You Really Do Need It?
Yes, there are times in life when credit can help you out of a jam. The key is being honest about what you need. The first step toward the responsible use of credit is learning to differentiate between necessity and desire.
The second step is treating every credit purchase like the debt that it is. Always pay more than the minimum payment. Dedicate yourself to getting rid of that debt as quickly as you can. Instead of throwing a few extra bones toward the payment whenever you can swing it, actually sit down and draft a timeline for expedient payment.
If you take your debts seriously, you’ll pay them off more quickly, pay less interest, and be in a better position the next time you need to finance something.
http://johnplaceonline.com/stress-management/the-1-mistake-consumers-make-with-credit-cards/
If you can’t afford to pay for an item with cash, you can’t afford to pay for it with plastic either. If an emergency forces you to buy something you cannot afford (it happens, I know), make sure you are brutally honest in your assessment of what you really need. If you don’t need something, don’t charge it. I know people who pay 18% interest on Hostess Twinkies. Come on now. You know better.
The most common mistake consumers make with credit cards is using them as income supplementation. Instead of using them for emergencies or convenience, they use them as additional salary. So let’s agree right now that credit is not salary. Credit belongs to a lending institution. Credit must be repaid.
How Much Debt is Too Much?
Financial gurus suggest that total debt, excluding first mortgage, should not exceed 20% of take-home pay. This includes car payments, home equity loans, second mortgages, credit card debt, and so forth. Upper income consumers may be able to handle higher debt loads due to greater expendable income, while lower income consumers may be wise to carry less.
Of course, you probably know if your debt load is too high without whipping out your calculator. If you honestly don’t know, here is another rule of thumb: If you can’t pay off your credit card balance in full every month, you have too much debt. Credit cards, when used responsibly, help shift the timing or increase the ease of making payments – They do not exist so you can run up debt you cannot pay.
Why Do You Buy?
The buying impulse is so strong in some people that they actually believe credit card dept is their only option. Telling these people they don’t need that extra purse, pair of shoes, or suit is like telling them they don’t need food or water.
A close friend of mine used to struggle with spending. She could barely pay her utility bills and was always borrowing money from friends to keep the electricity from getting shut off. Despite her obvious lack of funds, she somehow managed to keep her closet stocked with new clothes. And there always seemed to be a new package showing up on her front porch containing things she’d purchased from the Home Shopping Network.
She tried to justify these purchases by saying, “John, you know I need to buy new clothes so I can look professional when I’m at the office.”
Well, yes, it’s important to appear professional, but she did not need to buy expensive clothing every week.
Eventually, my friend was forced to declare bankruptcy. I still remember her sitting there on her sofa, surrounded by shoes still in the box and clothes still tagged. She looked at me and said, “John, I don’t think I bought any of this stuff because I needed it. I bought it because I thought it would make me feel good.”
“Did it make you feel good?” I asked.
She paused, touching her chin. “I thought it did at the time. Now, seeing all this stuff I never used, I guess not.”
The emotional high that comes from buying something new is short-lived and cannot compensate for the emotional burden of carrying too much debt.
But What if You Really Do Need It?
Yes, there are times in life when credit can help you out of a jam. The key is being honest about what you need. The first step toward the responsible use of credit is learning to differentiate between necessity and desire.
The second step is treating every credit purchase like the debt that it is. Always pay more than the minimum payment. Dedicate yourself to getting rid of that debt as quickly as you can. Instead of throwing a few extra bones toward the payment whenever you can swing it, actually sit down and draft a timeline for expedient payment.
If you take your debts seriously, you’ll pay them off more quickly, pay less interest, and be in a better position the next time you need to finance something.
http://johnplaceonline.com/stress-management/the-1-mistake-consumers-make-with-credit-cards/
How to Find the Best Low APR Credit Cards
Low APR credit cards are much more prevalent than in years past. Competition is stiff and credit card financial institutions offer many nice perks, rewards, points, low annual percentage rates (APR) and other inducements. They want to capture new customers who've never had a credit card but also those who already have a credit card and might like to save money by transferring that card's balance on to their new low APR credit cards.
Of course, there is nothing lower in an APR than zero - and those exist too, although sometimes for a limited time period. It may be that the lowest, or even the zero percentage APR is for an introductory period, after which the rate is higher. The permanent APR is what you want to watch out for, of course. Although if you're not opposed to doing a lot of switching, you can always purchase a low APR credit card, or zero percentage APR credit card, transfer the balance from your current high APR credit card, and then, once the introductory time period has expired and the APR is about to go up on your newest credit card, transfer the balance yet again to a brand new low APR credit card.
Let's look at a few of the low APR credit cards out there, so you know what kinds of options are typically available to you.
Citibank, for example, offers low APR credit cards that give you five percent cash back on any purchase you making at grocery stores and gas stations with your low APR credit card, and one percent back for any purchase elsewhere. The APR on transfers is zero for the first year. If your transfer transaction is at least $1500 you will earn $5 cash back with the low APR credit card. There is no annual fee and the APR after the first year is 12.24 percent.
Discover has a platinum clear card whose low APR is continual. The first year the APR is zero, but after the first year it's still a very competitive 9.99 percent. And there is no annual fee. With these low APR credit cards you earn a five percent cash back bonus on purchases made from hardware and home improvement retailers, restaurants, book vendors, and gas stations. If the retailer doesn't qualify you for the five percent discount you will always get one percent back no matter what you buy and from where with this low APR credit card.
Chase Bank offers low APR credit cards as well. Its zero percent APR is good for six months, after which you will pay 10.49 percent. These low APR credit cards have no annual fee, and offer rewards at the rate of one point for every dollar spent with your Chase card. You can get free airline flights and hotel rooms, as well as cruises and auto rentals. This card also provides $500,000 worth of travel insurance for worldwide vacationing. You can also take advantage of a fifteen percent discount off a Hertz car rental with these low APR credit cards.
http://www.informationsuperstore.net/pages/credit/
Of course, there is nothing lower in an APR than zero - and those exist too, although sometimes for a limited time period. It may be that the lowest, or even the zero percentage APR is for an introductory period, after which the rate is higher. The permanent APR is what you want to watch out for, of course. Although if you're not opposed to doing a lot of switching, you can always purchase a low APR credit card, or zero percentage APR credit card, transfer the balance from your current high APR credit card, and then, once the introductory time period has expired and the APR is about to go up on your newest credit card, transfer the balance yet again to a brand new low APR credit card.
Let's look at a few of the low APR credit cards out there, so you know what kinds of options are typically available to you.
Citibank, for example, offers low APR credit cards that give you five percent cash back on any purchase you making at grocery stores and gas stations with your low APR credit card, and one percent back for any purchase elsewhere. The APR on transfers is zero for the first year. If your transfer transaction is at least $1500 you will earn $5 cash back with the low APR credit card. There is no annual fee and the APR after the first year is 12.24 percent.
Discover has a platinum clear card whose low APR is continual. The first year the APR is zero, but after the first year it's still a very competitive 9.99 percent. And there is no annual fee. With these low APR credit cards you earn a five percent cash back bonus on purchases made from hardware and home improvement retailers, restaurants, book vendors, and gas stations. If the retailer doesn't qualify you for the five percent discount you will always get one percent back no matter what you buy and from where with this low APR credit card.
Chase Bank offers low APR credit cards as well. Its zero percent APR is good for six months, after which you will pay 10.49 percent. These low APR credit cards have no annual fee, and offer rewards at the rate of one point for every dollar spent with your Chase card. You can get free airline flights and hotel rooms, as well as cruises and auto rentals. This card also provides $500,000 worth of travel insurance for worldwide vacationing. You can also take advantage of a fifteen percent discount off a Hertz car rental with these low APR credit cards.
http://www.informationsuperstore.net/pages/credit/
Enjoying the Benefits of a Prepaid Credit Card
Prepaid credit cards are a type of plastic payment method that is becoming more and more popular, as although they can be used in much the same way as a standard credit card, they feature several crucial differences that can really make them more attractive to certain groups of consumers.
The biggest difference is that these cards do not in fact offer any credit facility, and so the name 'prepaid credit card' is perhaps a little misleading, and a better alternative is simply 'prepaid cards'. In order to spend using the card, it must first be 'loaded' with funds via a bank transfer, by debit card over the telephone, or in some cases over the counter at the bank. Once the money has been transferred onto the card, you are free to spend up to that amount in all the same places and ways that you can use a normal credit card.
But why is this an advantage? Firstly, many people are rightly concerned over the possibility of building up excessive debts by unrestrained use of credit, and prepaid cards allow all the convenience of credit cards without this risk.
Secondly, because there is no credit being extended, the approval process is usually very simple - in fact, it's much harder to be refused a card than to be accepted! There won't be any credit check carried out, and for this reason even people with very poor credit ratings are able to enjoy the benefits of paying by plastic online and by telephone, without their previous financial histories getting in the way.
The lack of credit checks also means that in most cases minors are eligible to carry the card, although in some cases it must be taken out in a parent's name. This means that parents of teenagers can load up the card for their child to use, which will be much safer than carrying cash. Should the card be lost or stolen, it can be quickly cancelled and no funds will be lost.
Prepaid cards can also be given as gifts, much as with the traditional shopping voucher schemes, but with the advantage that the gift recipient is free to spend the money anywhere they choose, not just with the retailer who issued the vouchers.
So far so good, but as with most things, there are also drawbacks. The first one is that there will normally be a flat charge made for opening an account, to cover administration costs as well as the actual physical cost of making the card. This will, however, not usually be too high.
A more serious drawback is that a fee of around 3% will be levied on everything you buy with the card. This figure may not seem too high, but in comparison to a cashback card which will actually pay you to make purchases, it's certainly not something to take lightly. You may also have to pay a flat monthly fee just to carry the card, even if you don't make use of it.
If your credit rating is good, and you're confident that you'll be disciplined enough to pay off your balance in full every month, then a decent cashback or rewards card would make a better choice than a prepaid card. However, if you have a poor credit rating, are under the age of 18, or are simply wary of taking on debt, then a prepaid card can certainly be an attractive way of enjoying the convenience of paying with plastic.
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
Michael writes for Card Sense, a UK credit cards information and review site, where you can read more about prepaid credit cards along with many other topics related to credit.
http://www.submityournewarticle.com/Article/Enjoying-the-Benefits-of-a-Prepaid-Credit-Card/231936
The biggest difference is that these cards do not in fact offer any credit facility, and so the name 'prepaid credit card' is perhaps a little misleading, and a better alternative is simply 'prepaid cards'. In order to spend using the card, it must first be 'loaded' with funds via a bank transfer, by debit card over the telephone, or in some cases over the counter at the bank. Once the money has been transferred onto the card, you are free to spend up to that amount in all the same places and ways that you can use a normal credit card.
But why is this an advantage? Firstly, many people are rightly concerned over the possibility of building up excessive debts by unrestrained use of credit, and prepaid cards allow all the convenience of credit cards without this risk.
Secondly, because there is no credit being extended, the approval process is usually very simple - in fact, it's much harder to be refused a card than to be accepted! There won't be any credit check carried out, and for this reason even people with very poor credit ratings are able to enjoy the benefits of paying by plastic online and by telephone, without their previous financial histories getting in the way.
The lack of credit checks also means that in most cases minors are eligible to carry the card, although in some cases it must be taken out in a parent's name. This means that parents of teenagers can load up the card for their child to use, which will be much safer than carrying cash. Should the card be lost or stolen, it can be quickly cancelled and no funds will be lost.
Prepaid cards can also be given as gifts, much as with the traditional shopping voucher schemes, but with the advantage that the gift recipient is free to spend the money anywhere they choose, not just with the retailer who issued the vouchers.
So far so good, but as with most things, there are also drawbacks. The first one is that there will normally be a flat charge made for opening an account, to cover administration costs as well as the actual physical cost of making the card. This will, however, not usually be too high.
A more serious drawback is that a fee of around 3% will be levied on everything you buy with the card. This figure may not seem too high, but in comparison to a cashback card which will actually pay you to make purchases, it's certainly not something to take lightly. You may also have to pay a flat monthly fee just to carry the card, even if you don't make use of it.
If your credit rating is good, and you're confident that you'll be disciplined enough to pay off your balance in full every month, then a decent cashback or rewards card would make a better choice than a prepaid card. However, if you have a poor credit rating, are under the age of 18, or are simply wary of taking on debt, then a prepaid card can certainly be an attractive way of enjoying the convenience of paying with plastic.
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
Michael writes for Card Sense, a UK credit cards information and review site, where you can read more about prepaid credit cards along with many other topics related to credit.
http://www.submityournewarticle.com/Article/Enjoying-the-Benefits-of-a-Prepaid-Credit-Card/231936
Reviewing Credit Card Statements
One of the most important ways to keep track of your finances is to regularly review your statements. This is particularly the case with Credit Cards
Where it might be easy to forget what items have been purchased on it and how much you will be able to repay come the end of the month.
Each month it is important to check your statement thoroughly. Not only is this important as a way to keep track of your finances, it is a vital way to ensure that any instance of Credit Card fraud is discovered as early as possible and dealt with.
If errors do occur on the statement it is imperative that you contact the credit card company immediately to register the problem, as it could become difficult to rectify the problem once you have begun paying back what is owed.
The internet is now increasingly being used by savvy consumers to keep track of their finances and checking on credit card transactions is no exception to this.
Online security has become incredibly tight over recent years, making it much harder for hackers to gain access to financial details and giving consumers greater peace of mind when banking online.
Using the internet to keep a check on your Credit Cards spending means that you will not have to wait until the end of the month to see how much you need to repay, therefore allowing much greater control over your own finances. However, where using the internet is not an option, it can prove useful to keep a list of what you spend on a credit card in the old-fashioned form of a pen and paper. This works equally as well as checking online – provided you always remember to note down your credit card spending – and means you can avoid going over-budget without realising it.
One of the most important ways to keep track of your finances is to regularly review your statements. This is particularly the case with Credit Cards
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
One of the most important ways to keep track of your finances is to regularly review your statements. This is particularly the case with Credit Cards
http://www.submityournewarticle.com/Article/Reviewing-Credit-Card-Statements/234658
Where it might be easy to forget what items have been purchased on it and how much you will be able to repay come the end of the month.
Each month it is important to check your statement thoroughly. Not only is this important as a way to keep track of your finances, it is a vital way to ensure that any instance of Credit Card fraud is discovered as early as possible and dealt with.
If errors do occur on the statement it is imperative that you contact the credit card company immediately to register the problem, as it could become difficult to rectify the problem once you have begun paying back what is owed.
The internet is now increasingly being used by savvy consumers to keep track of their finances and checking on credit card transactions is no exception to this.
Online security has become incredibly tight over recent years, making it much harder for hackers to gain access to financial details and giving consumers greater peace of mind when banking online.
Using the internet to keep a check on your Credit Cards spending means that you will not have to wait until the end of the month to see how much you need to repay, therefore allowing much greater control over your own finances. However, where using the internet is not an option, it can prove useful to keep a list of what you spend on a credit card in the old-fashioned form of a pen and paper. This works equally as well as checking online – provided you always remember to note down your credit card spending – and means you can avoid going over-budget without realising it.
One of the most important ways to keep track of your finances is to regularly review your statements. This is particularly the case with Credit Cards
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
One of the most important ways to keep track of your finances is to regularly review your statements. This is particularly the case with Credit Cards
http://www.submityournewarticle.com/Article/Reviewing-Credit-Card-Statements/234658
Student Credit Cards Are the First Step to Establish Credit
At present, almost all people have credit cards. And students are not an exception. While some of them use plastics wisely and build a credit history, others get lots of debts. Students that have a plastic should know how to manage their finances as soon as possible, as the time between adolescent years and adulthood is very short. Thus, the sooner students begin to manage their financial matters, the sooner their financial skills will be developed.
These types of plastics help students to learn how to be responsible for handling money. More than that, student plastics are a way of teaching young people about debt. With the wise use students will be able to get more benefits from owning a student credit product.
But on the other hand, student plastics can cause a great amount of debt that may follow students even after their graduation from college or university.
It should be mentioned that credit card companies consider students to be one of the best customers. The first reason is loyalty. Once students get a plastic card, they are likely to keep this particular credit product for years, instead of obtaining a new plastic.
At present, more and more students may get a credit card even if they don't have a steady source of income. And this is one more reason why credit card companies provide students with more and more credit products. They usually can't pay off their debts on time. Moreover, credit companies rely on this fact. They can make lots of money by charging late payment penalties, annual fees and interest fees on unpaid credit balances. Thus, cardholders who can't repay their credit balances in full each month are desirable.
It should be mentioned that the most difficult thing for students is to make the right choice among the large number of student credit card offers. One of the possible ways for students to select the suitable plastic for themselves is to speak to other students who have already had credit cards and to get advice from them.
It goes without saying, that before choosing a plastic card, a student should compare credit card offers and be aware of credit cards' terms of use. Many students who own credit cards recommend the others a plastic with no annual fee and the option to limit the amount of money that can be spent.
Every student wants to have at least one plastic, as it can help him during college years. For instance, a student will be able to buy books or concert tickets, rent a car, etc. Aside from financial help, student credit cards provide young people with other types of assist by building a credit history. Credit history is the record of all things that happen in your financial situation. Credit rating is a system based on such factors as bill paying history, late payments, type and number of accounts, debts and others.
If credit history and score are good, a student will easily get a car or house loan, definite types of financial jobs and other benefits. So, to take advantage of these benefits, a student should pay his bills on time.
Plastics can be a valuable tool for a student. They provide young people with convenience and security, and at the same time they help students to build a good credit history that may be needed in the future.
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
In her articles Rachael Wimbley puts emphasis to possible ways of taking advantage of online credit card applications and getting the right plastic card. Search for more information about points rewards cards on the website.
http://www.submityournewarticle.com/Article/Student-Credit-Cards-Are-the-First-Step-to-Establish-Credit/236239
These types of plastics help students to learn how to be responsible for handling money. More than that, student plastics are a way of teaching young people about debt. With the wise use students will be able to get more benefits from owning a student credit product.
But on the other hand, student plastics can cause a great amount of debt that may follow students even after their graduation from college or university.
It should be mentioned that credit card companies consider students to be one of the best customers. The first reason is loyalty. Once students get a plastic card, they are likely to keep this particular credit product for years, instead of obtaining a new plastic.
At present, more and more students may get a credit card even if they don't have a steady source of income. And this is one more reason why credit card companies provide students with more and more credit products. They usually can't pay off their debts on time. Moreover, credit companies rely on this fact. They can make lots of money by charging late payment penalties, annual fees and interest fees on unpaid credit balances. Thus, cardholders who can't repay their credit balances in full each month are desirable.
It should be mentioned that the most difficult thing for students is to make the right choice among the large number of student credit card offers. One of the possible ways for students to select the suitable plastic for themselves is to speak to other students who have already had credit cards and to get advice from them.
It goes without saying, that before choosing a plastic card, a student should compare credit card offers and be aware of credit cards' terms of use. Many students who own credit cards recommend the others a plastic with no annual fee and the option to limit the amount of money that can be spent.
Every student wants to have at least one plastic, as it can help him during college years. For instance, a student will be able to buy books or concert tickets, rent a car, etc. Aside from financial help, student credit cards provide young people with other types of assist by building a credit history. Credit history is the record of all things that happen in your financial situation. Credit rating is a system based on such factors as bill paying history, late payments, type and number of accounts, debts and others.
If credit history and score are good, a student will easily get a car or house loan, definite types of financial jobs and other benefits. So, to take advantage of these benefits, a student should pay his bills on time.
Plastics can be a valuable tool for a student. They provide young people with convenience and security, and at the same time they help students to build a good credit history that may be needed in the future.
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
In her articles Rachael Wimbley puts emphasis to possible ways of taking advantage of online credit card applications and getting the right plastic card. Search for more information about points rewards cards on the website.
http://www.submityournewarticle.com/Article/Student-Credit-Cards-Are-the-First-Step-to-Establish-Credit/236239
Three Reasons To Check Your Credit Card Statement
While there are some very organised people out there who open every piece of mail as soon as it arrives, and take the appropriate action straight away, many of us don't quite take the same approach. In our time-pressed lives, opening mail may not be a priority, and especially in the case of credit card statements which are usually easily recognisable from the envelope, they may sit unopened all through the month until the next one arrives. This, however, is not really a good way to deal with things, and here are three reasons why.
Credit cards are somewhat notorious for giving us the ability to run up debts without really realising what we're doing. Because it's so easy to spend when you're within your limit, there can be little to stop us from making impulse purchases or even using the card to pay essential bills from time to time. Opening your statement each month as soon as it arrives helps us to keep a realistic impression of how much we're spending. If you don't check your account very often, it's all too easy to receive a nasty surprise, with the debt being a lot larger than we anticipated.
The second reason that you should examine your statement each month is to detect any possible fraud before too much damage is done. We tend to think that if somehow our card details find their way into the hands of criminals, then the account will be cleaned out straight away. Not all fraudsters work in this way though, with more subtle attempts to 'fly under the radar' by only withdrawing small amounts. By doing this they are less likely to be detected, as the card issuers' monitoring systems might not spot the fraud as easily. By checking that you recognise each transaction on your statement, you stand a much better chance of minimising the damage caused identity theft and fraud.
Thirdly, your statement will include details of any charges or changes made by the credit card issuer that you might not have been aware of otherwise. For example, a change to your statement date may mean that your regular payment now misses the due date, leading to late payment fees. Or, a change to the minimum repayment may mean that you need to change the amount you automatically pay each month - only by checking your statement will these circumstances be made clear, especially considering the legalese used in the typical credit card terms and conditions leaflet!
So, even though dealing with regular mail such as credit card statements may seem like a chore, and something that we can neglect in favour of more interesting or important activities, reading your statement could actually end up saving you time and money, and it really only needs to take a few minutes a month!
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
http://www.submityournewarticle.com/Article/Three-Reasons-To-Check-Your-Credit-Card-Statement/240100
Credit cards are somewhat notorious for giving us the ability to run up debts without really realising what we're doing. Because it's so easy to spend when you're within your limit, there can be little to stop us from making impulse purchases or even using the card to pay essential bills from time to time. Opening your statement each month as soon as it arrives helps us to keep a realistic impression of how much we're spending. If you don't check your account very often, it's all too easy to receive a nasty surprise, with the debt being a lot larger than we anticipated.
The second reason that you should examine your statement each month is to detect any possible fraud before too much damage is done. We tend to think that if somehow our card details find their way into the hands of criminals, then the account will be cleaned out straight away. Not all fraudsters work in this way though, with more subtle attempts to 'fly under the radar' by only withdrawing small amounts. By doing this they are less likely to be detected, as the card issuers' monitoring systems might not spot the fraud as easily. By checking that you recognise each transaction on your statement, you stand a much better chance of minimising the damage caused identity theft and fraud.
Thirdly, your statement will include details of any charges or changes made by the credit card issuer that you might not have been aware of otherwise. For example, a change to your statement date may mean that your regular payment now misses the due date, leading to late payment fees. Or, a change to the minimum repayment may mean that you need to change the amount you automatically pay each month - only by checking your statement will these circumstances be made clear, especially considering the legalese used in the typical credit card terms and conditions leaflet!
So, even though dealing with regular mail such as credit card statements may seem like a chore, and something that we can neglect in favour of more interesting or important activities, reading your statement could actually end up saving you time and money, and it really only needs to take a few minutes a month!
Article Source: http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com
http://www.submityournewarticle.com/Article/Three-Reasons-To-Check-Your-Credit-Card-Statement/240100
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