Archive for the ‘credit cards’ Category

Should you have a bad credit rating, whatever the reason may be, you may find that a credit card might be hard to come by. This is where secure credit cards can be useful.

A cash collateral deposit is a requirement for secure credit cards. Where the provider permits you a spend of up to a certain limit of their funds per month, secured credit cards need you to deposit some of the money individually, unlike a traditional credit account. Confused? Don’t be - here’s how it works.

Under a secure credit card arrangement, the debtor - that’s you - places funds on deposit with the bank or financial institution providing the card.

The lender then allows you to make credit card purchases, up to a value of 90%-150% of the amount you’ve placed on deposit. That percentage depends upon your individual circumstances and your arrangement with the bank. For example, if you’re arrangement allows 120% credit, and you have placed 500 on deposit, you have access to 600 on your credit card.

While secure credit cards are often the only choice available to consumers with a bad credit history, they’re also often the only option for those who are new to credit, such as university students and teenagers. Without a credit history, banks can be nervous about extending even small-scale credit facilities to you.

Thus, the purpose that secure credit cards serve is to enable people with poor or non-existent credit histories to use a credit card, and establish a fresh pattern of repayment and spending habits. Meanwhile, the bank feels that the risk of taking on a poor-credit customer is balanced out, as they have a cash deposit they have on file, which can be tapped into to repay the credit card debt if necessary.

Usually, that cash deposit must not to be withdrawn while you have a secured credit card account. You will earn interest on the account - generally, the interest rate is on-par with what you would earn on an ordinary savings account with your bank - but you’ll need to speak with your lender about specific rules regarding adding and withdrawing from the savings account. You should also ask how long your money is required to remain on deposit once you close the account, as some lenders may elect to hold the deposit for an extra month or two, to cover any late transactions and charges.

There are plenty of lenders on the market who are willing to offer secure credit cards, but it absolutely pays to shop around. Fees, charges and restrictions vary drastically, including application fees, interest rates, mandatory card insurance costs and annual fees, so remember to read the fine print.

Just as the term brings to mind, student credit cards are credit cards meant particularly for students, many who are not earning a documented income with employment. Credit card issuers are alert to students and their credit challenges so they make accommodations for students when building student credit card offers specifically. Typically, the only restriction when applying for a student credit card is the age of the student, and as mandated by the law of the country, which is typically 18 years old and above at the time of application. In many ways, a student credit card is very similar to traditional, run-of-the-mill credit cards. But the major difference, is the standard APR, or interest rate, levied for card purchases, which is relatively higher than a traditional credit card APR.

Student credit cards give more financial flexibility for young students. But, while it may come in handy when paying the rent, paying tuition, purchasing books, and other must get items like food and clothing, uncontrolled card swiping can sometimes lead to financial trouble, especially in the form of poor credit scores and damaged credit histories. To a certain extent, this can be blamed on a lack of education or awareness as young people, often times, will not think too much about the concept of credit scoring or the idea of building a good credit history. As a result of this lack of comprehension, they will usually not hold themselves back from using the credit card freely either.

The danger of poor credit scores will not become readily obvious, but will certainly become apparent when the student approaches a bank for credit at a later point in time. Credit profiling or credit scores, as determined by any of the three credit bureaus, represent an individual’s credit life history, and black marks on credit histories, however they are acquired, will make it tough, at worst, more expensive, at best, to secure the lowest possible interest rate on the loan or financing. So, consequently, even if one manages to get the home loan or car loan, for instance, the interest rate, in order to allow the bigger credit risk anticipated by the bank, will be higher than normal, and in turn, much more expensive for the borrower. The bottom line is that student credit cards represent a potential risk to future economic standing if the cards are not used judiciously.

As previously mentioned, it is clear that unrestrained use of a student credit card can easily damage an individuals budding credit score and credit history profile. But on the flip side, knowledgeable spending and timely payback can go a long way toward building a solid credit history and credit score. Using the card for essential purchases that are well within his/her payback capabilities and making the payments within the due date can improve one’s credit rating exceedingly.

The rules of credit bureaus are pretty straightforward. The amount of money that an individual borrows will be returned in his or her credit report and the credit limits that each person can hold on to will be reflected in the amount of credit that the individual has previously “borrowed” and has paid back on time. Simple, right?

One additional point of interest…the credit card company is supposed to report each transaction that is been done on a particular credit card account to the three major credit bureaus hastily. But this does not happen in every case. More distinctively, secure student credit cards or prepaid cards, often times will not report transactions to the major credit bureaus. Therefore, it is the user’s responsibility to make sure that the credit card transaction history is indeed being reported to the credit bureaus and is being done done in a timely manner. Remember, an unnoticed credit transaction does not do any good to improve your credit history.

In order to get out of credit card debt takes perseverance and willingness to succeed. So whether or not you are being swallowed by the sink hole of credit card debt or you are just starting out to dig yourself into credit card debt - you have to take action before it’s too late in order to be come debt free.

The six tips listed below will help you get out of credit card debt…if you use them.

1. Stop using your cards - By using your credit cards you are paying additional interest on the credit card balance you owe on which you’ve already been charged interest. Unless you pay the new charges when you are billed you are accumulating additional interest on both present and past charges. (Don’t you love credit companies…and yes this is legal for them to do.)

2. Figure out how much credit card debt is costing you. How you may ask! You can find out how much credit card debt is costing you by seeing how much interest rate you have to pay. This is done by reading the fine print on your latest credit card statement. If you do not understand then you call your credit card company and have them explain it to you. (By law they have to explain it to you.)

3. Lower your interest rate you are currently paying on your credit cards. Lowering your interest rate is the most effective and easiest way to get your credit card debt problem under control. You can lower the interest rate you are paying by transferring high interest rate amount balances to lower or no interest credit cards. Once you’ve stopped using your credit card you’ve stopped your situation from getting worst, it’s now time for you to improve it.

4. Call your credit card companies and tell them to lower your interest rates. Since you already know the interest rates it is time for you to ask your banks and credit card companies to lower the interest rates. You should call them and ask to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor has the authority to give you a lower interest rate.

This is what you tell them: The rates are too high and you want it lowered. And also let them know that if they are not willing to lower your interest rate you are considering to close your account and transfer all your credit card balances to the company that is willing to give you the lowest interest rate.

5. Consolidate your credit card debts - transferring all credit card balances to one credit card - is an effective way of getting out of credit card debts. So when negotiating to get a lower interest rate you should let it be known that your ultimate goal is to get out of credit card debt at the lowest possible cost and not credit card shuffling.

6. Cut your savings in half. It would be foolish to be paying high interest rates while continuing to save the usual amount, if you are indeed saving. If you are already so deep in debt that no one company is willing to loan you the money to consolidate your credit card debts then you would have to resort to this tactics.

It works like this. Get all your credit card balances. Divide each balance by the minimum amount you are required to pay each month. This tells you how long it would take to pay off each balance. Start by paying off the one that takes the least amount of time (half your savings + minimum payment). Continue making minimum payments on the rest. When that least payment is finished you would pay the next least payment and so on. You would continue using this tactics until you are no longer in debt.

If you follow the above tips and tactics you should be on your way to getting out credit card debts in very short order.

In the last several years, credit card fees have been getting ridiculous. That’s because the credit card companies have had free reign to charge just about anything they wanted. They’ve also been able to hide much of it from us by burying the details in long-winded fine print and legalese.

But now, things are changing in the consumer’s favor. Predatory and borderline ethical practices are being scrutinized and there’s a real chance that change is coming. Maybe there’s a way we can help ourselves a bit in the meantime though. Let’s see if we can avoid credit card fees altogether by using prepaid debit cards. Here’s what I propose.

It may not be easy to do, but if you can, shut down your credit card spending. Buy a prepaid debit card and, little by little (or faster), switch the purchases you usually make on your credit card over to the prepaid card. At the same time arrange to make your credit card payments automatically and well before the billing date. Then, when the switch is complete, take the credit card out of your wallet and don’t use it again.

This will not only give you some peace of mind but it will also get you off the credit card fee merry-go-round. Fees you see are how these companies make their money and that, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing. But the credit card companies stack the deck against you and manipulate you into positions where you’re actually tricked into some fees. Let’s take a case in point, the over-limit fee.

An over-limit fee is the penalty fee you’re charged whenever you run up your balance over your credit limit. Since you can do this pretty easily, your “limit” obviously isn’t really a hard and fast number. Rather, it’s more of a threshold that triggers extra fees from the company. Then, if you just pay the minimum payment (which the company so conveniently calculates for you) you’ll drop below the limit right? Well, not quite. You see, often the next finance charge will send your balance right back over the limit and guess what? You got it, you get charged another over-limit fee. It’s pretty sneaky if you ask me. If you used a prepaid debit card, that scenario would never happen.

Prepaid cards don’t come with tricky monthly finance/billing cycle calculations either. These are the computations the credit card companies make to determine how much they’re going to charge you to carry your balance from one month to the next. There are actually 6 or 7 different ways these charges can be calculated and everyone is designed to yield the highest return for the company based on your spending habits.

Another great (and hidden) fee the credit card companies receive is the interchange fee. These are pretty much secret fees that businesses pay the companies to cover the actual credit card transaction costs. Then of course the businesses pass the expense onto their customers by charging higher prices. There are some estimates that say consumers pay about $2.00 in interchange fees for every $100.00 they spend with a credit card. That $2.00 adds up to tens of billions every year for these companies.

Consumers have virtually no leverage when it comes to dealing with credit card companies. The only real thing any of us can do is to take our business elsewhere. And we can’t do that completely if we can’t completely pay off our balances. But we can begin to do it if we make the change to prepaid debit cards. If we make that commitment, make that switch, we can start to regain control over our own financial future. It won’t happen overnight, but with some diligence, it will happen.

Mobile EFTPOS allows many benefits and lets a business receive payment when a customer doesnt have cash on hand but has a debit or credit card. However, for businesses on the move, an EFTPOS solution sitting on a counter back at the office isnt much good.

A technician can, for example, make a service call, invoice the customer and receive immediate payment rather than manually imprinting the customers credit card, which requires the business to get the paperwork to the bank or to enter it electronically at a later time, and which carries no guarantee that the charge will be authorised.

For these businesses a mobile EFTPOS is vital.There are a number of reasons why mobile EFTPOS is good news for mobile businesses and one of these is the immediacy of payment.

A technician can, for example, make a service call, invoice the customer and receive immediate payment rather than manually imprinting the customers credit card, which requires the business to get the paperwork to the bank or to enter it electronically at a later time, and which carries no guarantee that the charge will be authorised.

The differences between mobile devices themselves is whether the terminal does the communicating or if a mobile phone or PDA is used instead. The terminal is a far better option in the long run and allows the business to accept both credit and debit cards.

From the customers point of view, there is an increasing wariness of manual credit card processing systems. This is because they display the customers credit card number on all copies of the dockets, which isnt the case with electronic solutions.

The differences between wireless eftpos and other mobile devices themselves is whether the terminal does the communicating or if a mobile phone or PDA is used instead. The terminal is a far better option in the long run and allows the business to accept both credit and debit cards.

If you want to get out of credit card debt, it takes action on your part. So whether or not you are being swallowed by the sink hole of credit card debt or you are just starting out to dig yourself into credit card debt - you have to take action before it’s too late in order to be come debt free.

The six tips listed below can help you get out of credit card debt…if you use them.

1. Stop using your cards - By using your credit cards you are paying additional interest on the credit card balance you owe on which you’ve already been charged interest. Unless you pay the new charges when you are billed you are accumulating additional interest on both present and past charges. (Don’t you love credit companies…and yes this is legal for them to do.)

2. Figure out how much credit card debt is costing you. You can find out how much credit card debt is costing you by seeing how much interest rate you have to pay. This is done by reading the fine print on your latest credit card statement. If you do not understand then you call your credit card company and have them explain it to you. (By law they have to explain it to you.)

3. Lower that interest rate!!!! Lowering your interest rate is the most effective and easiest way to get your credit card debt problem under control. You can lower the interest rate you are paying by transferring high interest rate amount balances to lower or no interest credit cards.

4. Call your credit card companies and tell them to lower your interest rates. Since you already know the interest rates it is time for you to ask your banks and credit card companies to lower the interest rates. You should call them and ask to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor has the authority to give you a lower interest rate. (Don’t take no for an answer)

This is what you tell them: The rates are too high and you want it lowered. And also let them know that if they are not willing to lower your interest rate you are considering to close your account and transfer all your credit card balances to the company that is willing to give you the lowest interest rate. (since they don’t want to loose the future profits from you they may lower your rate in order to keep your business.)

5. Consolidate your credit card debts - transferring all credit card balances to one credit card - is an effective way of getting out of credit card debts. So when negotiating to get a lower interest rate you should let it be known that your ultimate goal is to get out of credit card debt at the lowest possible cost and not credit card shuffling.

6. Cut your savings in half. It would be foolish to be paying high interest rates while continuing to save the usual amount, if you are indeed saving. If you are already so deep in debt that no one company is willing to loan you the money to consolidate your credit card debts then you would have to resort to this tactics.

It works like this. Get all your credit card balances. Divide each balance by the minimum amount you are required to pay each month. This tells you how long it would take to pay off each balance. Start by paying off the one that takes the least amount of time (half your savings + minimum payment). Continue making minimum payments on the rest. When that least payment is finished you would pay the next least payment and so on. You would continue using this tactics until you are no longer in debt.

If you follow the above tips and tactics you should be on your way to getting out credit card debts in very short order.

Hackers broke into a computer at Wyndham Hotels, in July 2008. They were able to steal tens of thousands of customers’ credit card records, card numbers, including guest names, expiration dates and highly sensitive data from the cards’ magnetic strip.

It’s a company’s worst nightmare, particularly in the face of an economic downturn, and to make matters worse, Wyndham didn’t realise the theft had occurred until September. The company remains unsure about how many individual credit card accounts were negatively affected by the Wyndham incident, however, it’s safe to say today most holiday-makers will think twice before paying for their vacation on credit!

So exactly how did such an incident occur? The fraudsters involved in this plot had clearly devised an in-depth plan to steal the data, but the truth is, thousands of hackers steal credit card information on a daily basis, using far simpler tactics.

There are two main strategies hackers use to access credit card information: through password theft, or via a virus or Trojan horse.

Password Theft

Cracking someone’s password is the most common method that hackers use to bypass security software, and access data such as your credit card information.

A password is really just a simple combination of letters, numbers and special characters - and, thus, there are a select number of combinations that can be generated. A high-end computer will be able to, eventually, crack any password, no matter how complicated or long it may be, but you can take certain measures to combat their efforts.

As a consumer, your best bet in protecting yourself is to create the strongest password possible. This means a unique combination of letters and numbers, special characters if you can remember them, and even a mix of upper and lower cases if possible. The greater the strength of your password, the longer it takes for the computer to crack - and the longer it takes to crack, the greater the risk of the hacker being caught. Simple passwords will get cracked first, so aim for long, complex, and unusual combinations.

Worms, Viruses and Trojan Horses

Viruses appear in all shapes and sizes, and have many - mostly nasty - purposes. Some viruses are written to delete your files, and others are written to send out lots of spam - but the absolute worst viruses will infect your computer and collect valuable information. These are called Trojan Horses.

A Trojan Horse will typically install itself and run covertly in the background, and the user of the computer - that’s you - is none the wiser that it’s even there. It sits silently and collects data on everything you are doing, from logging into your internet banking to making online purchases, and then sends that information back to its creator.

The thing about Trojan horses is that you must open the virus for it to activate - so if you practice extreme caution when web browsing and opening emails, you should be able to avoid an infection.

If you receive an email from ‘Jenny Shields’ with an attachment that says ‘Great_picture.exe’, for example, and you don’t know anyone called Jenny Shields, then delete the email immediately. When surfing the internet, if a bright and flashy pop-up demands your attention to claim a prize, don’t click on it - it’s a scam. Practicing common sense will definitely help you avoid becoming a victim.

Anti-virus and anti-spyware software should also be considered to aid in keeping your identity safe. Usually, the software will search and find viruses on your computer and in your inbox. It’s available for free, and the protection it offers could save you a lot of money, time, and hassle in the long term.

By enforcing these simple rules into your day to day life and using a trusted credit card can immediately lower the risk you’re at from fraudsters infiltrating your life!

One good way of earning money back is to get a cash back credit card. Once you have established credit for yourself and have been using them as a matter of convenience and not making any late payments, then it would be well worth it for you to get your hands on a cash back card. They are available for both personal and business people alike.

Using these cards makes makes good sense because you have to make purchases anyway, so you might as well use them and get cash back. If you have own a gas card, you might choose instead to use cash back credit cards to purchase your gas. The gas cards most likely do not give you anything back in return, but people will always need to purchase gas anyway for work, shopping and just getting around so you might as well get some money back for purchasing your gas.

When you use cash back cards for your gas purchases and pay cash for everything else, you will get some money back for your gas purchases and continue to pay off the bill each month. You need to keep up with your monthly payments or else it will end up costing you way more when it comes to paying for your gas. With the way that gas prices continue to rise, that’s probably the last thing that you want to do, is to be late with your monthly bill.

Bank issuers and card companies want you to charge as much as you can, because they want you to carry a balance on your card. Carrying a balance on your card, you will need to pay interest. Interest rates are high on some cards because they are unsecured debt. Some high interest cards have interest rates of 21 percent or more. You certainly do not want to pay an extra 21 percent interest on your gasoline purchase, if you fail to meet your monthly payments. Always pay the your bill off promptly and be sure not to go over the spending limit.

Card companies make money on fees, and are charged to you as well as to the vendors. The vendors pay a fee of upward of 5 percent to allow you to use your card. One of major reasons that vendors don’t mind paying the fee is because they know you will be spending more money when you are paying with a plastic card and not cash.

Also they make money on fees that you will have to pay if you go over your limit or if you are late on your payments. And,in many cases, you will have to pay about $30 - $40 each time you are late on your credit payment. When added to the interest fees you already owe, this can really end up being a lot more.

In the last several years, credit card fees have been getting ridiculous. That’s because the credit card companies have had free reign to charge just about anything they wanted. They’ve also been able to hide much of it from us by burying the details in long-winded fine print and legalese.

The tide is beginning to turn now though. More and more people are realizing what’s been happening to them and more and more people are starting to do something about it. One technique that can help us avoid the burden of monstrous fees is to switch off our credit cards and switch on prepaid debit cards. Let me explain.

If you’re in a position to do so, I propose you start converting all of your existing credit card spending over to prepaid debit cards. Month-by-month, phase out all of the credit card purchases until you make no more. Then (again, if you can), set up an automatic payment to your credit card, something that is higher than the minimum payment required and something that is scheduled to arrive at least a few days in advance of the billing due date. Then lock the credit card away in a drawer!

This will not only give you some peace of mind but it will also get you off the credit card fee merry-go-round. Fees you see are how these companies make their money and that, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing. But the credit card companies stack the deck against you and manipulate you into positions where you’re actually tricked into some fees. Let’s take a case in point, the over-limit fee.

Every credit card customer has a credit limit but the companies don’t stop you from exceeding it because if they did, they wouldn’t be able to charge you an over-limit fee. But what’s really shady is that your next minimum payment will only pull you under your limit temporarily. As soon as you pay it and your finance charge is calculated, you very often go back over the limit. Then wham - another over-limit fee. it’s amazing that this practice is even legal. That would never happen with a prepaid debit card because you simply wouldn’t be allowed to spend more than what you’ve loaded to the card.

Prepaid cards don’t come with tricky monthly finance/billing cycle calculations either. These are the computations the credit card companies make to determine how much they’re going to charge you to carry your balance from one month to the next. There are actually 6 or 7 different ways these charges can be calculated and everyone is designed to yield the highest return for the company based on your spending habits.

There are also hidden interchange fees that all credit card customers pay. These are fees that are paid by the retailers for the actual transactions costs of doing business with a particular credit card company. They’re negotiated in secret and aren’t really published anywhere. But you can be sure that consumers are paying them in the form of higher prices so the retailers can cover their costs. And these represent a huge profit for the credit card companies because these fees will be paid even if you can’t pay your monthly bill.

These are just a few of the reasons why switching over to a prepaid debit card can benefit you as a consumer. Let’s face it; the credit card companies have almost all the leverage. About the only options we have left is to cut our losses and prevent them from preying on us in the future. So if you’re in a position to do so, I invite you to take a good long look at prepaid debit cards and see how they can become your sensible, more consumer-friendly alternative to credit cards.

In July 2008, hackers broke into a computer at Wyndham Hotels. They stole tens of thousands of customer credit card records, including guest names, card numbers, expiration dates and highly sensitive data from the cards’ magnetic stripe.

It’s a company’s worst nightmare, particularly in the face of an economic downturn, and to make matters worse, Wyndham didn’t realise the theft had occurred until September. The company remains unsure about how many individual credit card accounts were negatively affected by the Wyndham incident, however, it’s safe to say today most holiday-makers will think twice before paying for their vacation on credit!

So exactly how did such an incident occur? The fraudsters involved in this plot had clearly devised an in-depth plan to steal the data, but the truth is, thousands of hackers steal credit card information on a daily basis, using far simpler tactics.

Two main strategies are commonly used by hackers to access credit card information: through password theft and via a virus or Trojan horse.

Password Theft

Cracking someone’s password is the most common method that hackers use to bypass security software, and access data such as your credit card information.

A password is really just a simple string of letters, numbers and special characters - and, subsequently, there are a finite amount of combinations that can be created. A powerful computer will be able to eventually crack any password, no matter how long or complicated it is, but you can do your best to thwart their efforts.

As a consumer, your best bet in protecting yourself is to create the strongest password possible. This means a unique combination of letters and numbers, special characters if you can remember them, and even a mix of upper and lower cases if possible. The greater the strength of your password, the longer it takes for the computer to crack - and the longer it takes to crack, the greater the risk of the hacker being caught. Simple passwords will get cracked first, so aim for long, complex, and unusual combinations.

Worms, Viruses and Trojan Horses

Viruses appear in all shapes and sizes, and have many - mostly nasty - purposes. Some viruses are written to delete your files, and others are written to send out lots of spam - but the absolute worst viruses will infect your computer and collect valuable information. These are called Trojan Horses.

Trojan Horse’s will typically install itself and run hidden in the background, and the user of the computer - yourself - is none the wiser that to it even being there. It sits silently and collects data on everything you are doing, from logging into your online banking to making purchases over the internet, and then sends that information back to its creator.

The thing about Trojan horses is that you must open the virus for it to activate - so if you practice extreme caution when web browsing and opening emails, you should be able to avoid an infection.

For example, if you receive an email from ‘Jenny Shields’ with an attachment that says ‘Great_picture.exe’, and you don’t know anyone called Jenny Shields, then delete the email immediately. When surfing the worldwide web, should a bright and flashy pop-up demand your attention to claim a prize, don’t click on it - it’s most likely to be a scam. Practicing common sense will almost certainly help you avoid becoming a victim of fraud or infection.

You should also consider using anti-virus and anti-spyware software to help keep your identity safe. Usually, this software will search for viruses on your computer and in your inbox. It’s available for free, and the protection it offers could save you a lot of time, money and hassle in the long run.

By enforcing these simple rules into your day to day life and using a trusted credit card can immediately lower the risk you’re at from fraudsters infiltrating your life!