Avoid Balance Transfer Fees By Having A Check Sent To You

Almost all card issuers these days charge a fee for each balance transfer.  If you have multiple balances that you want to transfer over to one card, rather than paying a transfer fee for each one separately, simply have them send a balance transfer made out to you.  That way, you can deposit it into your checking account and write out personal checks to pay off your other cards, and you will only be charged one transfer fee.

Do Not Transfer To A Card With An Existing Balance

Credit card issuers enforce what is known in the industry as “payment hierarchy”.  What this means is that all payments that you make to your credit card are thrown at the lowest rate balances first while the higher rates continue to accrue interest at the higher rate.

If you have a $100 balance at your purchase APR on the card and then transfer over some balances, you are going to be paying interest on that initial $100 at the higher rate until you have paid off the entire portion of the balance that you have transferred over.

Check all your statements the following month!

Many issuers charge residual interest on your card.  This means that they are charging interest every single day.  If you call one card company to get your balance, and then transfer that amount over to another card, in many cases you will be charged interest on that balance each day from the day you got the initial payoff quote until the funds actually cleared the bank.

This means that another 7 to 10 days worth of interest charges may rack up, and they are very easy to forget about after you transfer the balances.  What’s really nasty is that some issuers can increase your new low balance transfer rate if they see that you missed a payment on another credit card…. don’t let this happen to you!

For an up-to-date list of balance transfer offers, head over to the balance transfer comparison section at CardSense.net

This can be beneficial for those that are wanting to speed up the process as much as possible so that they can take advantage of the available credit as soon as possible.

The quickest way to get instantly approved for a credit card is to search for the cards, compare them and apply for them online.  You do have the option, many times, of applying over the phone or by mail, but applying over the Internet offers the quickest turnaround time for approval and also saves you the headache of listening to a sales pitch for credit insurance or a “free” credit report that actually costs $15 a month.

When applying for an instant approval credit card online, you can save yourself some time and headaches by heading to a trusted credit card comparison website and searching through the current offers for all instant approval cards.  A lot of sites will have a section dedicated to these types of cards specifically, so you are able to see some very valuable information regarding interest rates, fees and other program details all in one place.

There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to applying for an instant approval card.  Instant approval does not mean “preapproved” or “automatically approved” it simply means that the decision of whether or not you will be approved, and how much credit limit will be approved will take a minute or less rather than the traditional method that credit card companies use by sending information through their credit department and taking up to a few weeks for a decision to be reached.

To browse the most current instant approval credit card offers available, visit CardSense.net.

There are a few banks that offer photo credit cards, and of course some.  The bank that has stepped up and led the way with the whole customized credit card initiative is Capital One.

You can actually upload an image to the Capital One website and have it applied to any credit card that you have with them.  If you are already a Capital One cardmember, you can just head over to Capital One Image Card and take care of it right away.

If you don’t currently have a Capital One credit card, all you need to do is decide which card you want to go with, apply for it, and once approved you head over to the Capital One Image Card site and upload your photo.

Note: If you are curious on which Capital One Credit card to go with, you can head to a site like this and compare them, or, you can head over to the Capital One Card Lab which actually allows you to choose your rate, choose your rewards and also choose whatever image you want on it.

Build Your Own Custom Credit Card at the Capital One Card Lab

There are a few restrictions as for what kind of image you can put on your card.  (Wouldn’t it be fun to be the guy that reviews each picture and decides if it will be accepted or not?  I bet you get quite a variety).

You May Not Use Photos Of:

• Copyrighted or trademarked material or branded names
• Provocative, lewd or sexual content
• Celebrities, musicians or other public figures
• Violent imagery
• Profanity or obscenity
• Images of money where money is the central focus of the photo
• Images of flags
• Political or religious statements
• Phone numbers or web addresses
• Competitors of Capital One
• Any reference to the olympic games or events

Head over to the Capital One Card Lab and create your own completely custom credit card

Unfortunately, the process of getting approved for a high limit credit card is not exactly an easy task.

How Banks Determine Your Credit Limit

When you submit an application for a credit card, your information is reviewed by the credit underwriting department of the card issuer.  This department takes into consideration factors such as your credit score, household income and past performance on accounts.

Many times credit card companies will set customers up with a credit line lower than they desire. If this happens to you, don’t worry, there are some options for you.

Many banks will allow you to fax in additional financial information such as tax returns, etc. if you would like the credit department to take another look at what kind of credit limit they will allow you.

Sometimes certain cards are set up with a “standard” credit line and it is up to you to make the request if you would like to have more available credit.

Another Option Of Increasing A Credit Card’s Credit Line

Some companies will also allow you to do an account consolidation.  This involves merging the credit limits of 2 credit cards (both issued by the same bank of course) into one card, closing down one of the accounts.  Not all banks allow this, but it is certainly worth placing a quick call to find out.

What Does No Preset Spending Limit Mean?

If the main reason you desire a high credit limit credit card is for making large purchases each month that will be paid off in full each statement, you will probably find that it is much easier to find and apply for a credit card with no preset spending limit.

“No Present Spending Limit” cards still have a credit limit, but you are allowed to go over it as long as you pay off the difference each month.  For example, if you have a credit card with a $3000 credit limit, but no preset spending limit, and you made $8500 worth of purchases in a month, the requirement by the card issuer would be that you pay at least $5,501 to take your balance down below the credit limit in order to avoid over the credit limit fees.

The Solution

There is one credit card company that is more or less known for offering high credit limits… American Express.  They also currently have a nice selection of rewards offerings with no preset spending limit.

Check out current American Express credit card offers

What To Do With 401(k) When You Leave Your Job

1. Leave the money in the same 401(k) plan with your former employer
2. Move the 401(k) to a new employer
3. Roll the balance over to an IRA
4. Cash out your 401(k) and pay the penalties

For the purpose of this article, we are going to be focusing on the last option listed, cashing out your 401(k).

Deciding whethor or not to cash out your 401(k) is something that you want to spend a considerable amount of time thinking about to determine if it is truly the best financial move for you, because to be honest, it is rarely ever the smartest choice.

There are a great deal of penalties involved with this option, and there are few professionals in the finance world that would tell you that its a good idea.

The problem is, life happens. Life has a tendency to throw a big fat curveball when you were thinking inside fastball, and many of these situations cause extreme financial strain, which sometimes leaves you with few choices.

Cashing out your 401(k), though definitely not the best long term financial option, does have the ability to provide a sizable sum of cash quickly for emergencies, etc.

If you withdraw money from your 401(k) before you turn 59 1/2, you are subject to a penalty of 10% of the withdrawn amount in addition to regular income taxes on it.  When it’s all said and done you may end up only getting about 60% to 70% of the balance in the 401(k) account, plus you are losing all the years of interest accrual that you would receive on the money if you were to leave it in your account.

If you find yourself in the position where cashing out your 401(k) seems to be an option you are considering pursuing, you would be better off to see if there is any way to borrow the money by means of a home equity loan or even seeing if you have the ability to take out a loan against the 401(k) balance rather than just withdrawing it.  In fact, in most cases, you would even be better off opening up a credit card account.

The bottom line is this:  If you cash out your 401(k), keep in mind that you will only end up with 60 to 70% of your 401(k) balance, and you end up completely shutting off that pipeline of money that was compounding interest for you in preparation for your retirement.  Please, only consider this option as a last ditch effort to stay afloat.

Please consult with a financial professional before deciding to tap into your 401(k) retirement savings, you don’t want to be working when you are 80 years old do you?

For those of you that have a land line telephone, it’s time to seriously consider changing your phone service to a VOIP service.

VOIP (which stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol) telephone service differs from a traditional land line phone in that the phone signal is carried over a high speed internet connection rather than the regular phone lines, so having a high speed Internet connection is a necessary requirement for having VOIP phone service.

Once you sign up with them, VOIP phone companies will provide you a small device that gets plugged into your high speed Internet modem with a phone cord, and then into your standard land line telephone with the other end of the cord. There is nothing you need to differently and you can use the same phones you used in the past.

VOIP phone service, in my experience has been great.  I have not experienced any delays, dropped calls or echoing at this point.  I am also paying less than $25 a month for my home phone with unlimited long distance and voicemail (plus a whopping 25 additional phone features).  My old land line phone only had about half the features, and if I would have chosen all the available features with them I could have expected to pay oover $60 a month for the service after taxes.

With a VOIP phone service there are no FCC taxes added onto the bill, and that alone makes a huge difference. With most phone bills from a traditional land line phone company, you are looking at anywhere from $15 to $20 in FCC taxes.

Vonage, the VOIP service I have decided to go with (and far and away the most popular provider of VOIP telephone service), allows you to transfer your telephone number to them at no extra charge and their unlimited calling plan (which provides unlimited local and long distance calling as well as 25 additional phone features) is only $24.99 a month and they currently have a promotion for the first month free so you can try them out.

Switching from land line telephone to a VOIP telephone company has allowed me to save about $27 each month in a budget category that I never thought I would be able to bring down.  Over the course of a year we are talking about a savings of $324, plus a much better phone service.

To view more information about the differences between VOIP telephone services and standard land line phones, check out the FCC’s page dedicated to VOIP technology.

1. Get a current copy of your credit report.

There are three main credit bureaus that lending institutions report to:  Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.  The information being reported on each may differ, so it is a good idea to take a look at all three of them to make sure that everything that is being reported is accurate.

If you find something that doesn’t look right, call up the bank to verify what it is that their records indicate (the bank phone number is usually on the credit report).  If you disagree with what is being reported you have the ability to file a dispute.

Don’t get suckered into one of those fee based credit report programs that claims to be “free”… there is nothing free about a service that has a monthly fee… and believe me… they do.

If you want to take a look at your credit reports for free (and by free I mean… well… free) head over to www.annualcreditreport.com.  The federal government has made it a requirement that Americans are entitled to one free credit report each year from each of the 3 reporting agencies.  Keep in mind, when you go this route you do get your credit reports free, but your credit score is not included, so if you want to see that you will have to check elsewhere and you will have to pay a fee for that information… though it’s usually less than $8 to $10.

2.  Do not open any new lines of credit.

If your goal is to increase your credit score, do not apply for any credit cards or loans.  The more available credit you show on your credit report, the lower your score can end up dropping.  It is best to keep the accounts that you currently have, but focus on paying down the debt on them.

If you don’t have any credit at all, you may want to open a credit card account with a small credit limit.  Just make sure to be disciplined and only charge a small amount on it each month and pay it off in full.  One great way to do this with discipline is to just use the credit card for gas purchases, making sure to set aside each month to pay it back.

3.  Continue to make all of your monthly payments on time.

It is extremely important when you are working on increasing your credit score that you remain focused on making all of your monthly payments on time.   Making a late payment to any credit account can have some pretty negative effects on your credit score.

Also, when paying off your balances, pay close to the minimum amount due on all of your accounts except the one with the smallest overall balance.  This is the account you want to focus all of your extra money at.  It’s much easier to start wiping out credit accounts one at a time if you start with the smallest one, and each one that gets paid down to a zero balance will gradually raise your credit score.

]]> http://www.bankblab.com/credit/credit-score-rating/3-easy-ways-to-increase-your-credit-score/feed/ http://www.bankblab.com/credit/credit-score-rating/3-easy-ways-to-increase-your-credit-score/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bankblab/~3/JZcQOwl10X4/ http://www.bankblab.com/credit-cards/world-of-warcraft-credit-card-%e2%80%93-practical-financial-tool-or-geeky-hunk-of-plastic/#comments Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:31:58 +0000 bankblab http://www.bankblab.com/?p=82

With all the rage surrounding the popular online role playing game World of Warcraft, it comes as no surprise that a Visa card has been branded with the World of Warcraft name and imaging.

The World of Warcraft credit card, issued by the First National Bank of Omaha, at first glance seems to be nothing more than an attempt to provide a credit opportunity specifically tailored to the massive online community of World of Warcraft gamers, though after spending some time reading through the terms and conditions of the offer, it really doesn’t seem too bad.  If you are one of the almost 11 million members of this community, this card is probably worth taking a look at.

There Are Currently 13 Card Designs To Choose From

Apply For The World of Warcraft Visa Credit Card

The features of this card that really set it apart from competitors is that it rewards users with free online game play, and 13 different “W.O.W. themed” card designs to choose from.  Not to mention no annual fee and an introductory 0% interest rate.  The standard purchase APR (which ranges from a variable rate of 13.99% to 17.99% depending on your credit) is right in line with other platinum card offers out there.

Features of the World Of Warcraft Visa Credit Card

• 0% APR* for the first 6 billing cycles on purchases after your account is opened.*
• Earn Gametime with card purchases.
• Earn a month of World of Warcraft game time upon first use during the first three billing cycles after your account is opened.*
• No annual fee
• Online access to view transactions, pay your bill, view up to seven years of prior statements and more!

The application process is pretty slick too, you just need to head over to the website, enter your World of Warcraft account name, choose which of the 13 designs you want, fill out your info and you are sent.

What’s next… the Facebook Platinum Rewards card?

Apply For The World of Warcraft Visa Credit Card

I took some time to look at it this morning as I have been thinking about switching to a different gas credit card, and there seems to be a good number of BP gas stations around.

On the surface, I thought the offer sounded pretty sweet, the cover of the brochure boasts a hearty 10% return on all BP purchases during the first 60 days after account opening as well as 4% back on purchases made everywhere else.  After that initial 60 day period you get 5% back at all BP locations and then 2% back on purchases made everywhere else.

I pored over the terms and conditions of the offer and found that the APR wasn’t all that great, though most folks that use gas credit cards pay them off in full each month.  In terms of APR, the elite pricing rate is currently variable at 13.99% while standard pricing is quite high at a variable rate of 20.99%.

The only other thing, which was a minor disappointment at the most, is that you are unable to have the cash back applied directly to your card balance.  The options that you have for redeeming BP credit card rewards are either in the form of BP gift cards (which I have been told can be used right at the pump), a check made payable to you or a donation to the Conservation Fund.

There are definitely some great features of the card though.  If you fill up at BP stations, this card may be for you.

Compare Gas Credit Cards at CardSense.net