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Tips for College Students Credit Card Use

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:25:00 -0700

College students juggle plenty: part-time jobs, research projects, dating, keeping up with the family at home.

So we like to go out on a limb and say most college students are more focused on their GPAs than on their credit scores. And it's way too easy to make some really dumb moves on campus that can ding your credit score. Lower scores mean higher costs when taking on adult-size purchases, such as car loans and mortgages, down the road.

Since 2010, credit card companies can no longer offer T-shirts, coupons for free pizza, coffee mugs or other gifts on campus to college students who agree to fill out a credit card application. They can still market cards on campus — just no freebies.

If a student is younger than 21, it is now tougher to get a credit card. But it's doable. A credit card can be opened if consumers under 21 can prove they can afford payments or have a parent or someone else who is older co-sign.

"If they want to get a credit card, they're still finding ways to get credit cards," said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at SmartCredit.com in Atlanta.

It may remain fairly easy to open credit cards at a store or even a Visa, if the card issuer can verify that applicants have a job and some income, Ulzheimer said.

College students still can get into plenty of trouble when it comes to credit.

Todd Albery, CEO of Detroit-based Quizzle, a credit-information website that's part of the Quicken Loans family, said he can easily think of two areas that cause college students to have lower scores. We're talking about high credit card balances and credit inquiries.

Albery noted that many students don't know that just applying for new cards can damage a credit score. It's not as bad as missing payments, but it can add up.

"So you may want to think twice about trying to save an extra 10% on your next purchase" by opening yet another store-branded credit card, Albery warned.

Students who have credit cards should not use plastic as if it's the same as cold cash. They might have seen parents pull out plastic for everything to build up airline points or other rewards. But students can run into trouble if they buy items like pizza or jeans and just keep charging.

Credit-scoring systems consider something called credit utilization, or the amount you owe on your card divided by the credit limit. You face a lower score, the more you use up that credit line.

If you charge $100 on a card with a $200 limit, it can ding your score.

"Many people don't realize how much their credit score suffers when they put too much on their credit card and can't pay it off," Albery said.

Generally speaking, lenders want to know how much of your available credit you're actually using. One realistic range of credit utilization, Albery said, is to use less than 25% of your available credit.

Experts point out that FICO says consumers with the highest scores typically use about 10% of their available credit.

Even students who don't have a credit card can get in trouble with their scores.

Gerri Detweiler, director of consumer education for Credit.com, notes that over the years she's heard from many college students who graduate and are shocked that their credit scores have been hurt by unpaid utility bills.

They all move out of the house or apartment they rented off campus, and no one pays the bill. The utility bill goes into collection and the student with the name on the bill gets hit on the credit report. Such a move might hurt a student's score by 50 points or so.

"It's easy for a bill to slip through the cracks and go unpaid," she said. It could even be an honest mistake, such as assuming a medical bill was covered by insurance.

Parents who are worried about credit may want to help a student build a credit history by adding a child in college as an authorized user on a low-balance card. The parent or card holder is responsible for the bill, of course, not that authorized user. So you really want to make sure that the student understands the limits. After all, a parent's score could suffer if the student goes overboard and maxes out that card.

On the plus side, when a parent authorizes a child as a user, Ulzheimer noted, the parent is easily able to kick the child off the card if the student abuses the card. It's harder to do if a parent co-signs for a card with a student.

What is 0% APR Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:23:00 -0700

The primary benefit of a 0% APR credit card is the introductory 0% APR interest rate. This rate is available anywhere from 3 to 12 months from when the credit card account is opened, and depending on the card offer, it will be applied to new purchases, balance transfers or both.

What is Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:21:00 -0700

The Debit cards and Prepaid cards can help you control your spending. A reloadable debit card allows you to only spend up to the amount you have pre-deposited into the account. If you tend to overspend or would like to control your spending then a debit card or a prepaid card could be a good card for you.

What is Instant Approval Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:19:00 -0700

Don't wait for an answer, receive an instant response to your credit card or prepaid card application! Although issuers strive to provide an instant response whenever possible, more time may be needed in certain circumstances to determine if your application is approved.

What is Travel and Airline Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:17:00 -0700

The following travel credit cards offer airline or hotel rewards. You can earn frequent flyer miles or rewards points when you travel or when you spend. The frequent flyer miles or rewards points can be redeemed for airline discounts or free nights at participating hotels. If you are a frequent flyer or travel a lot, an airline or travel credit card could help save you money.

What is Cash Back Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:16:00 -0700

The cash back credit cards feature reward programs that offer cash back or rebate incentives. A Cash Back Credit Card rewards you for using them with cash back incentives and rebate programs. Credit cards with cash rebates and incentives usually require a good to excellent credit rating for approval.

What is Balance Transfer Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:15:00 -0700

The balance transfer credit card offers are designed to help people consolidate their credit card debt onto one card, thus saving money on interest charges. Some of the credit card offers below even feature a low introductory 0% APR interest rate on credit card balance transfers.

What is Secured Credit Card

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:13:00 -0700

Secured credit cards are great for establishing or rebuilding your credit history. Unlike prepaid cards, secured credit cards give you a credit line, and your payment activity will be reported to the major consumer reporting agencies. Getting a secured card is easy! Funds you deposit at the bank are used as collateral for the credit card. You use the card like any credit card. You can rebuild your credit history by making on time monthly payments to all of your creditors and by maintaining your balances under the credit limits.

Visually Reinforce Your Credit Card Fields

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 06:45:00 -0700

During our checkout usability study we noticed that many test subjects didn’t consider security until they had to enter their credit card details. However, we also made another and far less obvious observation: several test subjects talked about certain parts of the checkout page as being “secure” and “insecure”.
For example the parts of the checkout page with security icons, badges or text and a general “robustness” were perceived as being more secure, while parts without these visual clues inspired less confidence – despite the fact that these fields were all part of the same form on the same page. From a technical perspective this of course doesn’t make any sense, as all the form fields on an HTTPS-page are equally encrypted. However, most people don’t know this and will perceive some parts of your checkout page as more secure than others, whether it’s logical or not.

By adding visual clues (such as borders, a background color, and security icons) to the credit card form fields on your payment page you can increase the perceived security of those sensitive fields and make your customers feel more comfortable in handing over this information.

89% Get it Wrong

As of April 2012, a whopping 89% of the top 100 grossing e-commerce sites didn’t visually reinforce the credit card fields during their checkout. While a lot of the sites featured security badges on the payment page (SLL, Hacker Tested and similar) these badges and instructions weren’t placed in close proximity to the the credit card fields. Instead these security indicators were typically located in a sidebar, a navigation header or the site footer.
Only 11% visually reinforced their sensitive fields to some degree by either visually encapsulating the fields, or by positioning security badges in close proximity. Let’s take a look at those sites and see what they did right.

Examples From the 11% That Utilize Visual Reinforcement

One way to increase the perceived security of sensitive fields is to visually encapsulate them. This can be achieved by the use of borders, background colors, shading, and other visual styling that will make one part of the form seem more robust than the rest. Office Depot is one examples of how to do this:

It’s important to note that if you use a similar style elsewhere during your checkout, but for less sensitive information, it will likely be considered generic styling and not yield the desired uptick in perceived security. So in order to achieve the effect of visual encapsulation it must be distinct and unique for your credit card fields (or whatever sensitive fields it may be).

When it comes to the positioning of security badges, placing them in close proximity to the credit card fields will generally increase the confidence in those fields. Peapod is a good example:

By placing the security badges in very close proximity to the credit card fields the customer is reminded that the form is secure at the exact time they start to worry about security – a strategically placed symbol of credibility to soothe the anxious customer. Furthermore by placing it close to those fields, and not in a generic place like the header or footer, the sites are also implying that the VeriSign logo apply to those fields in particular (although it’s technical nonsense).
Only one site out of the top 100 grossing e-commerce sites managed to do both visual encapsulation and place the security badge close by the credit card fields: Eddie Bauer.

Eddie Bauer utilizes the concept of visual reinforcement by both visually encapsulating their credit card form (with a border and a background gradient) and by positioning their security badge within the encapsulated form.

Technical Security vs Gut Feeling

Technically, there was no difference in security between Eddie Bauer and the 89% of the top e-commerce sites that didn’t visually reinforce their payment fields. But when designing your payment page you have to consider that most customers don’t have any technical understanding of web forms, PCI compliance or Secure Socket Layer (SSL). Instead the customer must rely on her gut feeling and determine if your website seems secure or not.

As we’ve seen it’s fortunately a relatively simple procedure to lift the perceived security of sensitive fields in your form – simply encapsulate the fields with a border or background and place your security badge nearby.

Debit Cards With Credit in Burma by 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Tue, 7 Aug 2012 04:29:00 -0700

Burma’s leading local banks are to offer Giro Billing Payment System (GBPS) and debit cards from this month with credit cards planned before the 2013 SEA Games, according to Co-operative Bank Managing Director Pe Myint.

Currently five of the eleven banks currently allowed to offer foreign currency accounts will introduce GBPS, which helps customers with the easy payment of utilities such as telephone or electricity bills. They will also start debit cards by the end of the month which will be the first step towards allowing credit cards.

“We have already passed many steps to reach a fully functioning banking system,” Pe Myint told a press conference on Monday. “At first, we started to open foreign currency accounts and then we also linked with external banks to offer remittance money from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand where major populations of Burmese people are based.”

Pe Myint explained that, while at first money could only be sent into Burma, now local people can also move cash abroad for amounts less than US $10,000.

“If they wish to send in excess of $10,000 they have to show some documents to support the reasons of money transfer to the Foreign Exchange Management Department, an arm of the Central Bank in Burma,” he added.

A spokesperson for Asia Green Development Bank said they plan to make an all-in-one card so people do not need to hold many cards for different accounts.

“GBPS is aimed to provide an excellent service to customers who have no time to pay phone or electricity bills. They just need to open a GBPS account and the bank will give them their username and password,” said Oo Thein Myint, assistant general manager of Co-operative Bank, adding that there will be a 500 kyat service charge for each transaction.

“When they sign in with their username and password, they will see the amount that they have to pay for their bills and that amount will be deducted from their GBPS account,” he added.

Similar to the GBPS system, holders of debit cards must have sufficient funds in their accounts before making purchases at restaurants, shops or via the internet. The hope is that Burmese banks will be able to offer credit cards in time for hosting the 2013 SEA Games.

“Debit cards are a pre-paid system and people have to put money in their bank account first. Whenever they use this card for shopping or in a restaurant, their money will move to the business or shopping center account,” explained Oo Thein Myint.

“For credit cards, people can use them until the 21st day of each month when they must pay their bill. If they pay before the 21st, they can use the card without having to pay interest. Currently the Central Bank does not allow the use of credit cards, but I hope to offer this very soon.”

Comparing Credit Cards’ Auto Rental Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Tue, 7 Aug 2012 04:27:00 -0700

Many credit card companies offer accident insurance when the cards are used to pay for a rental car. But details of coverage vary depending on the network behind the card, a report from CardHub.com finds.

Many people end up buying extra insurance when they rent a car because they are confused about whether their own auto policies cover them while driving rentals, as well as what sort of protection their credit cards may provide, the report says.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, most automobile insurance policies cover a policyholder driving a rental. Details vary, though, and there are sometimes exclusions; some policies don’t cover a driver, for instance, who is renting while on business. So you should check with your insurance agent or company.

Similarly, there’s a great deal of variation in the coverage that credit cards provide. All four major card networks — American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover — provide some form of insurance coverage. (MasterCard, the report found, is the only network that does not provide coverage to all cardholders; a cardholder has to check the agreement to determine eligibility.)

CardHub ranked the networks on likelihood of coverage (maximum points: 55), quality of coverage (35 points maximum) and logistics of using the insurance and filing a claim (10 points). Visa ranked at the top over all, in part because of its coverage of towing and because it covers the charges imposed by the rental car company for the loss of use of the damaged car. Discover, American Express and MasterCard followed in the rankings.

Odysseas Papadimitriou, CardHub’s chief executive, noted that all networks require that the driver decline the rental car company’s supplemental insurance coverage for a card’s coverage to apply. So do not take the rental company’s coverage unless you are sure you need it, because in effect you’ll be declining your card’s policy, he said.

He noted that all networks generally exclude very expensive cars or antique models from coverage. But consumers should be aware that American Express also excludes popular sport utility vehicles like the Chevrolet Suburban, Lincoln Navigator and Toyota Land Cruiser.

MasterCard and Visa, furthermore, do not cover accidents on dirt or gravel roads. So beware if you are driving in rural Vermont, say, or overseas in Greece.

And again, if you’re going overseas, American Express, Visa and MasterCard exclude coverage in certain countries. MasterCard, for instance, excludes the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel and Jamaica. Discover, which is the least accepted card network internationally, is the only network that does not have any country-specific exclusions, the report found.

Credit Card Protection Plan - Six Things to Know About That

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Tue, 7 Aug 2012 03:41:00 -0700

Credit card protection plan is an insurance cover against loss, theft and fraud of credit, debit, ATM, membership or loyalty cards. This is offered by banks and Credit card firms in association with CPP India.
Standard plans cost about Rs 3 per day. The annual fee is deducted as a lump sum at the beginning of the membership. The premium charges differ depending on the benefits offered to customers.
The membership begins as soon as the fee is paid and is valid for one year. There is a 30-day cooling off period when the membership can be cancelled and a refund taken if no claims are made.
In case of a card-related loss, theft or fraud, the card holder must call CPP's 24-hour helpline to report it. The CPP will, in turn, call all the issuers and ask them to cancel the cards that have been reported lost.
For claims, one needs to fill a form and send it to CPP, along with original documents like credit card statement and a police complaint. All claims must be received within the specified period, usually 30 days, from the date of loss.
The service also includes emergency travel assistance, which includes advance for settlement of hotel bills and arrangement of return travel tickets.

Credit Card Benefits

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Tue, 7 Aug 2012 03:39:00 -0700

Pulling out the right credit card might save you money, even as you spend it. Cards often have valuable benefits that could cut your bills. Kelli Grant, Senior Consumer Reporter for SmartMoney.com gives tips on what to look for.

The next time you rent a car, pay with a card that has rental insurance as a perk. It could save you $20 a day. CardHub.com recently found that Visa cards have the most comprehensive coverage. But read the terms. Cards may exclude certain rented vehicles and areas, and could also limit coverage for things like driving on dirt roads or crossing state lines.

Most cards boast a concierge, but people rarely take advantage. They can handle a lot -- making dinner reservations, buying show tickets, handling travel arrangements. The service is free, and anything you have them buy or book gets charged to your card.

Most American Express and MasterCard cards, as well as Visa Signature cards, automatically double the manufacturer's warranty on products you purchase with the credit card. That adds up to another year of coverage, and saves you as much as $100 to buy an extension from the retailer. Just save the receipt, to prove you're covered.

Issuers often offer cardholders early access to concert and other event tickets, a perk that can help you avoid secondary market premiums for hot acts. In most cases, those prices are double what a shopper might pay at the box office. Cards also usually offer exclusive discounts at partners: Visa, for example, has 20% off suites at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas.

OK, it's not a card benefit, but you do want to watch out for these when you're tempted to pull out your card. More businesses are starting to offer different prices for credit and cash. Some also offer flat discounts. Usually the savings are about 3% -- the cost for merchants to process a card transaction - but sometimes it's up to 10%.

Credit Card Fraud Prevention Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Fri, 3 Aug 2012 06:22:00 -0700

If you are accepting online orders and would like to greatly reduce your exposure to credit card fraud and check fraud, implementing protective measures can reduce online fraud by approximately 80%. If you would like to have access to more tools and techniques to further reduce and automate this fraud prevention, please consider becoming a member of AntiFraud.Com

The Internet is the perfect environment for every crook, thief, and pickpocket to ply their trade with almost complete anonymity. Being in the online software business, I have seen a tremendous increase in fraudulent purchases made with stolen credit card information. In many cases, the thief has more complete and current information about the actual cardholder than the credit card company. In some cases, credit card numbers that receive an approval number turn out to be totally fictitious numbers -- based on the algorithm used to produce authentic numbers.

I recently formed an alliance with a large merchant account provider specializing in providing credit card merchant accounts for Internet and Home-Based businesses. Through working closely with the credit card companies and other online merchants, I know the bottom line is this: You, as a merchant, are the one who is going to get stiffed! The cardholder is not responsible for more than $50 of fraudulent purchases. The issuing bank of a stolen credit card really doesn't care because they will simply charge the merchant back for any fraudulent purchases, plus a $10-$15 charge back fee. In fact, the issuing banks actually make $50 on these situations. They get the $50 from the cardholder, then they charge back each and every merchant for all the fraudulent charges.

So why is this situation getting so bad? Technology! Yes, the very same technology that allows us to have a profitable online business also allows others to rip us off. The advent of free, web-based, non-ISP e-mail addresses such as @hotmail.com, @usa.net, @juno.com and the hundreds of e-mail forwarding addresses afford a credit card thief a perfect veil to hide behind. The free e-mail addresses can't be traced back to the real owner;it usually takes a court order to get an e-mail forwarding service to disclose customer information. For those of us in the software, subscription or membership business, the e-mail address is the only point of contact we have. That address is where our products are shipped.

To make matters worse, there are now underground software programs available that can generate an unlimited number of mathmaticaly valid, yet fictitious credit card numbers. Combine that with complete anonymity and it spells big trouble for any business conducting online commerce. In addition, there are newsgroups out there that actually post stolen credit card data. So someone picks your pocket now and ten minutes later all your data is available world-wide.

So, what can you, as a merchant, do to protect yourself -- short of not accepting online credit card orders? Over the last few month, my company has had to establish certain procedures for all online orders:

1. No order is accepted unless complete information is provided including full address and phone numbers.

2. We no longer accept any order originating from a free, web-based, or e-mail forwarding address -- the customer must provide an ISP or domain based address: one that can be traced back to a "real" person.

3. Since the list of these types of e-mail addresses is growing daily, we check every e-mail address by going to a browser and putting a www in front of the domain. Try this with joesmith@cyberdude.com -- you will see that www.cyberdude.com puts you on I-names' (150+ free e-mail domains) homepage. We don't accept orders unless the e-mail/domain is a legitimate website or ISP -- something that can provide definitive identification of the e-mail address in question. This method is not fool-proof. When in doubt, go to step number 4.

4. If in doubt, we call the phone number listed on the order. We have alerted many cardholders that their card information was being used by making this phone call. On the other hand, the party on the other end may have never heard of the "customer." This results in a call to the issuing bank of the credit card to alert their fraud department.

5. We use the HTTP_USER_AGENT and REMOTE_ADDR code on all our order forms. This line works with most form handlers such as FormMail, cgiemail and others. The exact syntax varies with the form handler, but it provides information about the computer used to send the order, including the IP address. The IP address can then be traced to its owner -- usually an ISP. You can then contact the ISP System Administrator and inform them of the illegal activity. Members of AntiFraud.com are provided an automatied way to do this. Check the documentation for your particular form handler or cgi script for implementation of this input field.

6. Virtual Checks -- we receive a great number of orders via online virtual checks. While this has greatly increased our sales, the same cautions prevail. Having been burnt a few times, we now call the account holder's bank and verify the account number, account holder's name and current funds to clear the check before processing the order.

How to Transfer credit card balance

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 1 Aug 2012 05:50:00 -0700

The facility to transfer the outstanding balance from one credit card to another is called credit card balance transfer. It is typically used to take advantage of lower interest rates or waiver of interest on the balance that is transferred.

It can also be used to consolidate credit in a single card to make it more manageable and close a card that is not used too often. The customer pays the transferred amount to the credit card issuer to whom the balance has been transferred. He may also be offered the option of repaying this amount as equated monthly instalments (EMIs).

How to Improve Your Credit Score

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Wed, 1 Aug 2012 05:46:00 -0700

There are no quick fixes to improve your credit score. But you can raise your score over time by consistently managing your finances responsibly. One way to learn how to do this is with Quizzle.com, where you’ll get access to a Credit Personal Trainer that will show you exactly what it takes to reach your credit potential. In the meantime, any of the following ten tips can help you to improve your credit score:

Pay your bills on time. This is the best way to improve your score, and it’s never too late to start. Even if you’ve had serious delinquencies in the past, those will count less over time if you keep paying your bills on time.

Keep credit card balances low. High outstanding debt can pull down your score. Don’t go maxing out your credit cards all the time.

Check your credit report for accuracy. It’s possible that there may be inaccurate information on your credit report that can be easily cleared up (see How To Fix Credit Report Inaccuracies). If this proves to be the case, then you should contact one of the three credit reporting agencies — TransUnion, Experian or Equifax.

Pay off debt rather than moving it around. Consolidating your credit card debt onto one card or spreading it over multiple cards will not improve your score in the long run. The most effective way to improve your score is by simply paying down the amount you owe.

Keep your credit cards – but manage them responsibly. In general, having credit cards and installment loans that you pay on time will raise your score. Someone who has no credit cards tends to have a lower score than someone who has managed credit cards responsibly.

Don’t open multiple accounts too quickly, especially if you have a short credit history. Opening too many accounts in too short of a time period can look risky because you are taking on a lot of possible debt. New accounts will also lower the average age of your existing accounts, something that your FICO score also considers.

Don’t open new credit card accounts you don’t need. This approach could backfire and actually lower your score.

Don’t close an account to remove it from your record. It’s a myth that closing an account removes it from your credit report. This is untrue — even closed accounts remain on your report, possibly for an indefinite period of time and may still be factored into the score. In fact, closing accounts can sometimes hurt your score unless you also pay down your debt at the same time.

Shop for a loan within a short, focused period of time. FICO scores distinguish between a search for a single loan and a search for many new credit lines, based in part on the length of time over which recent requests for credit occur. If you shop for a number of loans over too long a time period, it can count against you.

Contact your creditors or see a legitimate credit counselor if you’re having financial difficulties. This won’t improve your score immediately, but the sooner you begin managing your credit well and making timely payments, the sooner your score will get better.

Bad Credit Loans to Ease the Pain

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 06:15:00 -0700

Even though the banks have become more conservative in recent years, there are lenders who will still provide bad credit loans realizing that they can charge a little more interest on these loans because of the perceived greater risk involved. Recent financial problems have had an impact worldwide and North America has certainly not avoided the problems.

What began as a financial crisis spread throughout the economy with the resultant fall in consumer demand and business closures. That had a knock on effect both on employment and the real estate market. A country which had had a tendency to live on credit suddenly found credit more difficult to come by.

Default meant a hit on credit scores and the impact of that meant that many households found it more difficult to pay their bills regularly. While banks have been generally disinterested in being part of the solution, other lenders have found that the demand for bad credit loans has risen. Their initial experience of applicants' willingness and ability to repay on a monthly basis has been good and confirmed their decision to explore this market.

It does require some experience, and perhaps instinct to look behind the stark fact of a poor credit score and see someone who will successfully repay a loan.

The online process is simple. Some initial research may prove valuable to see what is on offer though in a competitive market place, everyone seems to be aware of its competitors and keeps abreast of the best offers. An applicant needs to provide name and address with ideally some security of tenure on the address.

The most important part of being granted bad credit loans is being able to demonstrate the ability to make the payments. That can be shown by providing employment details, certainly for a period of the past three months and showing a regular income that is not purely commission based. An applicant should also have a checking account with recent transactions in order even if the previous history was poor.

Bad credit loans may be secured or unsecured and the rate of interest charged will vary between the secured and the unsecured. If someone is confident of acceptance and is prepared to pay slightly more, it means that their real estate need not be lodged as security because the ultimate sanction of defaulting is repossession. A lender will proceed with unsecured loans based on accepting the accuracy of the information that has been provided.

Responsible families have certainly had a shock that they do not want to experience again. Bad credit loans can ease the pain perhaps being used to pay off credit card balances with punitive rates of interest or to do some essential repair to the house or the car, or perhaps pay tuition fees for someone in the family. As long as complacency becomes a thing of the past, and the use of any remaining credit card is with a view to paying outstanding monthly balances in full when the statement arrives, the path to a brighter future may come even from bad credit loans.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Atiqul_Haque

Credit Card Debt Reduction Assistance: Tips On Lowering Your Debt

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 06:08:00 -0700

Although credit cards can give you a lot of financial freedom and are great for emergencies, if not managed properly, they can also land you in a lot of credit card debt. The average American owes about $6,500 on their credit cards with many people owing well over $10,000. If you are under high credit card debt and are just managing to pay the minimum balance on your cards each month, with the new credit card laws that have increased the minimum payments considerably, you may just find yourself in immediate need of debt help. Below, we'll show you how.

Credit Card Minimum Monthly Payments Are Going Up!

The government’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave guidelines to all major credit card companies that they had to increase the minimum balance payable on their credit cards. Companies were given three years to increase their rates gradually. However, no one did anything for three years and now, with the deadline running out in mid 2006, most credit card companies have suddenly increased their rates for credit card minimum balance payments. So what does this mean for those who are under credit card debt?

It means that people need to be more aware about their credit card debt and try and get out of debt more seriously than ever before. With minimum payments increasing drastically, your credit card debt will continue to rise if not paid off as soon as possible.

Tips For Debt Management

To help you do just that, here are some credit card debt reduction tips:

Cut up all your credit cards (barring one for emergencies) immediately. This way you will not use your credit cards and will thus not keep increasing your outstanding balances.
Keep track of all your expenses on a weekly basis and try and cut down all those costs that are not absolutely essential.
Budget some minimum amount each week that will go towards debt reduction. Once you budget this amount, make sure you send the check to your credit card company each week. Don’t wait till the end of the month. This way you can lower your interest payments significantly.
Look around for offers where you can transfer your credit card balance to another loan with a lower interest rate. You may also be able to find zero interest balance transfer offers, where you won’t have to pay any interest for the first 8-12 months.
Make your payments on time, even if it is only the minimum balance due. Late payments have a nasty way of increasing your interest payments and you will also have to bear increasingly high late payment fees. Even ONE late payment can cause your credit score to drop by 30-100 points!
Keep credit card accounts you have paid off open, just do not use them (assuming the annual fees are not outrageous)! Your credit score reflects total available credit vs. outstanding balances. The more your available unused credit, the better.

If you are unable to handle your credit card debt management on your own, you should think about getting debt reduction assistance or some kind of debt help. A debt reduction counselor will be able to work with you and create a payment plan which will help you to get rid of your credit card debt in the least time possible. Just do your homework here – make sure you are not going with someone who will make your credit situation worse.

You can also use our free personal budgeting software to help set aside money to pay off your credit card debt. The sooner you are free of debt, the sooner you can regain control of your financial life.

Credit Card Payment Assistance

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 06:03:00 -0700

If you are encountering issues using a Credit Card on Battle.net, review the troubleshooting steps below.

Clear Cache/Temporary Internet Files

We recommend that you first clear the cache and all temporary internet files on your internet browser before attempting to add the card into our system. You may consider using another web browser if the issue persists. For exact steps on clearing these files, see your browser's support documentation.

Verification Code Use

For Visa, Master Card, and Discover, the credit card verification code is generally the last set of digits in the numeric string located in the signature field on the back of your card. An American Express card's verification number is four digits long and is printed on the front of the card.

This verification code is only present on more recent cards. If you have an older card, it is possible that you do not have one of these codes. In this case, call the credit card company directly to have a new code issued to you.

Pre-Paid Cards and Virtual Credit Cards

Because of address verification problems, pre-paid credit cards and virtual credit cards may not be accepted by our authorization system. If you are attempting to use a payment type of this nature and it is not being accepted by our system, you may wish to consider purchasing a 60 Day pre-paid Game Card from a local retailer.

Supported Regions

Any credit card used must be from within the supported North American region (the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand). Any credit card with a billing address residing outside of this region will be rejected from our system, regardless of your current geographical location. In addition, the billing address of the credit card should match that of the Battle.net account.

How to Verify PayPal account Without Credit Card

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 01:09:00 -0700

This post will for all Indian residents who regularly use PayPal for sending or receiving money.

For adding funds in your PayPal account & lifting limits you would need a credit card. But as we all know not everyone is interested in having a credit card or some people are ineligible to be issued a credit card. A credit card can only be issued to a person above 18years of age and earning regular income.

First why not use Virtual Credit Card (VCC)…

Many people to use a Virtual Credit Card (VCC). But I don’t recommend it because the purpose of the PayPal verification is to validate your personnel information. Their goal is to verify the information given by you is correct. VCC’s cheat the system and do so in such a way that compromises the entire network. So even if you were able to verify using VCC, there is constant risk that PayPal might detect it and freeze your account. That’s why I don’t recommend using a Virtual Credit Card (VCC).

Use E-wallet by ICICI Bank

E-wallet is a VISA card issued by ICICI bank. It works exactly like a normal credit card and it is accepted on all online stores(including PayPal). It would be issued under your name. You will also get regular online statements for it.

It is different from a normal debit/credit as:

you won’t get a physical card.
you have to fill it before doing any transaction via B2 Internet Banking. It works like a prepaid debit VISA card

How to Get an E-wallet

E-wallet service is a Part of ICICI b2 saving account. For getting E-wallet service you have to Apply for a B2 account.

Eligibility and charges: Its a free service without any charges and is available to all Indian residents. b2 account is also a zero balance account, so do not worry about minimum balance.

Verifying PayPal with E-wallet

After your b2 account is activated (it takes 10-15 days) and you have moved money into this account via NEFT or Cheque deposit, login into your account. In summary tab, Under E-wallet Section click on “Allocate Funds”.
Now Click on “Fill now” and follow other onscreen directions. If it asks you to enter few grid values from security card and you won’t know what to do, probably you haven’t received your security card yet, please wait for few more days. security card will be sent to you via postal mail.
Please remember to fill your E-wallet with Higher amount like Rs2,500/-. Doing Transactions with international merchants in foreign currency need some extra balance. Don’t worry after completing verification you can withdraw this amount.
Logon to you PayPal Account and go to Add your Card form to-do list. Now enter your E-wallet card number and other details. All this details can be found in your b2 saving account. check in Card > E-wallet
Wait for 2-3days and check statement of your E-wallet for 4-digit PayPal code. Statement can be found in Card > E-wallet section > View statement
Now login to your PayPal account and enter that four digit code! After you have successfully confirmed your card, PayPal will refund you that $1.95 USD.

Congrats, now you are a verified PayPal member and you have done that without using any unfair means.

Which Type Of Credit Card You Need To Choose

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:59:00 -0700

All credit cards are not the same, some will be more suitable for you depending on how you not make repayments, and you're spending habits. It is very important to find the right credit card for your circumstances, to avoid paying excessive interest every month.

Credit cards are popular because they offer flexible use and payment terms, they are very convenient. Especially when you don't have sufficient cash in your wallet. Unfortunately, they can also lead very quickly to a heavy personal debt, if not used correctly. That is why is essential to find the correct credit card to suit you.

In an ideal world, you will own a credit card because convenience and ease of use that it gives. You would pay the entire balance in full at the end of the month. That way, avoiding high interest payments accrued on the card, on any balance outstanding. You get the convenience of the use of a credit card in shops and restaurants, online and by phone, without the expense of interest on late payment fees.

That of course is all in an ideal world. In reality, most people pay off part of their balance every month and often just the minimum payment requirement. For people who take this route, one good option is to consider the so-called, rewards card.

With a rewards card, the user earns points every time the card is used, that way earning back a percentage of their spending from the credit card company.
There are also times when you need to spread out the payments on perhaps a more high cost item, in this case a zero percent card would be the best choice for these circumstances. These cards give you a much longer period that is free of interest, allowing you time to get money together to pay off your bigger item purchases.

You quite possibly already have several cards with reasonably large balance amounts. You will find the card companies are probably charging you are very high rate of interest. Therefore, you should consider switching to a zero percent balance transfer card. Thus avoiding the high interest rates of your the cards. You do need to take into consideration any costs involved, such as transfer fees they may be charged by these card companies. These fees may be as high as 3%, on any balance transfer you make.

If you use this card for balance transfers, you should not use it for purchases. The reason is that all payments you make go to paying off your zero percent balance. There will not be any money paid off anything you buy until after the zero percent balance has been paid off in full. This means you could be paying a high interest rate and any purchases you made on the card.

So keep in mind that the zero percent usually refers to balance transfers, a normal or even higher interest rates may be charged on any purchases you make. You need to read the small print when you apply the card to make sure you know what the situation is with purchase interest.

Although it is inconvenient, it is certainly in your interest to read through all the boring small print on the back of the application, or in the information sent to you with the card. This way it should be clear to you what the situation is with regards to interest rates, and any possible hidden fees.

Unfortunately, many credit card companies are experts at concealing aspects of interest and fees within a cleverly worded legal small print. If you are unsure call or e-mail, the company they are legally obliged to clearly explain any details that concern you.

The Office of Fair Trading has taken action to try to ensure that credit card companies make their fees and interest rates clear. In any agreement or correspondence, any problems with unclear jargon can be reported to them.

It is also up to you to do your own investigation, comparing fees and interest from several card companies to find the best and most suitable deal your situation.
The Office of Fair Trading is about to launch a new website that will have clear and concise comparisons between leading credit card suppliers. Enabling the public to make easy and simple comparisons to find the best card for their needs.

Canadians Trimming Credit Card Debts

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:54:00 -0700

Growth in non-mortgage debt is down 30 per cent this year over last year, mostly because Canadians are paying off their credit cards, the latest report from Equifax Canada shows.

Canadians are still taking on more debt, but at a much slower pace than they were last year, said Nadim Abdo, vice-president, Consulting and Analytical Services, Equifax Canada.

“Instead of opening up new loans or credit cards, they’re using their existing credit,” Abdo said.

It appears they’re also being smart with their money, transferring high-interest credit card balances to lines of credit, which typically have much lower rates of interest, Abdo said.

“People are still buying things with their credit cards, but then they’re transferring those balances to lines of credit and paying the balance off over time,” Abdo said.

Scott Hannah, president of the Credit Counselling Society, said the average indebtedness of the people seeking help from his organization this year is down about five to 10 per cent this year over last year, but the number of people seeking help is up about eight to 10 per cent.

The average person seeking help from the Credit Counselling Society has about $23,000 in credit card debt and is only able to make minimum payments, Hannah said.

Credit card debt has been going down for the past seven quarters, and dropped 3.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 over last year, Equifax found. While credit card balances are dropping, bank loans and lines of credit are growing, albeit more slowly than in the past. Bank instalment loans grew 3.4 per cent, while lines of credit, which typically have larger balances than credit cards, grew 0.5 per cent.

Michael Atkinson, Vancity’s director of sustainable wealth management, said he didn’t have the statistics to show whether consumers were paying off credit cards with lines of credit, but that if they are, lines of credit still require discipline to be paid off.

Credit Card Settlement: Merchants Question Benefit

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:54:00 -0700

There's one thing plenty of people agree on about the new $7.25 billion settlement reached between big banks and retailers on credit card swipe fees: They don't like it.

"People on both sides of the issue are disappointed," says Anisha Sekar, VP of credit and debit products for NerdWallet, a website that helps consumers decide which credit card program is best for them.

Under the proposed deal—which, if approved by a judge, would be the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history--merchants would be free to tell customers at checkout how much extra they're paying to use a given credit card than if they'd paid by cash. Merchants also would have the option of imposing a surcharge on credit card purchases, which would help them recoup some of the hefty fees they pay to banks for credit card transactions.

The Wall St. Journal reports that for many retailers, those fees represent the third-biggest cost of doing business, right after rent and payroll. A merchant's average fee, says the Journal, is 1.5 percent to 3 percent of each credit card transaction.

Defenders of the settlement reached last week say that under it, merchants' costs would be reduced; and further, that consumers would get more information to help them make better decisions about which card to use (or whether to use a card at all, and instead to pay cash).

Jeffrey Shinder, an attorney who represents some 145,000 convenience stores through the National Association of Convenience Stores (NAC), questions how much of a benefit consumers might get.

"If this goes through intact," he says, "you should ask yourself: Are merchants really going to surcharge? I have my doubts."

A merchant's appearing to single out credit card customers for a special charge he calls "a PR nightmare in a tight economy." Moreover, he says, state law in New York, California, Texas and seven other states prohibits such surcharges. These states together, he says, account for 42 percent of transaction volume. So, the settlement's terms "won't affect half the country."

"All of which is to say," says Shinder, "that I don't think there's going to be much impact. It's why this is not a landmark settlement. It's not going to benefit consumer welfare."

It could, however, be a huge pain in the neck for merchants. Doug Kantor, counsel for NAC, foresees widespread confusion and frustration: "At the end of the day, merchants will throw up their hands and say, 'I can't do it,'" he predicts.

NerdWallet's Sekar likes some elements of the settlement.

She points to its collective bargaining provision, under which merchants can band together to negotiate lower fees from banks. It's a "major step forward," she thinks, in bringing downward pressure on fees, and thus downward pressure, potentially, on what consumers have to pay.

"In the long term, it might be effective in lowering rates," she says. "As of now, each individual small business person has little influence. But a group of independent drug stores, say, can hash out fees with Visa."

As for fairness of forcing Mastercard and Visa buyers to pay a surcharge, she likens the situation to airline passengers' having to pay more for checked luggage. When bag fees first were introduced, she says, "There was this visceral reaction from consumers—'how unfair.'" Now, she says, travelers like her who never check a bag love the fees. Reason: They no longer have to pay for a service they don't want or need.

Monmouth Police Investigate Credit Card Fraud

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:48:00 -0700

Monmouth police are investigating more than 10 cases of credit card fraud that occurred this week. Police began receiving reports Monday, but the incidents occurred as early as Saturday, said Deputy Chief Joe Switzer.

At least two banks were involved. The card numbers have been used in different cities in Illinois, as well as Georgia, Swtizer said.

“Periodic or sporadic fraudulent credit card activities come from someone getting ahold of someone else’s number,” he said. “This goes beyond that, and we are uncertain how that information was attained because of the large amount of victims we have had.

“The number of reports that have come in is unusual for the incidents in the last several days. ... We are currently tracking down how that information was released.”

Pam Morath of Monmouth found her account was compromised while in Peoria with her husband Bruce on Saturday. As she attempted to pay with a debit-credit card, it wouldn’t register. It had been flagged.

Credit Card Fraud Accused Wanted To Get Rich Overnight

noreply@blogger.com (Mrugesh Modi) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:38:00 -0700

The investigators of the American Express credit card fraud case are baffled by the details the probe had thrown up. According to the investigators, the accused Akshita Attri, 27, Akshay Mishra, Rahil Arora and Joginder Singh were in the grip of get-rich-overnight
syndrome.

The spurt in white-collar crimes has been worrying sociologists and police. Psychologists say there is more to it than a mere case of fraud.

Dr Brahm Sindhu, senior psychologist and head of the District Mental Health Programme, said, “The psychology of the Gen-X that has grown to in their 20’s, are more often influenced by the video games they played for years. In these games, committing crimes such as bank robbery and murder are a fun. Cyber crimes are also the result of this. While working on internet, the youngsters take it as if they are not being watched and committing cyber crime becomes just another computer game for them. During consultation, I tell them that taking escalator for becoming rich can be dangerous as after sharp rise there comes a sharp fall in such cases and therefore take stairs preferably.”

The police said all the accused are educated and belong to rich families. Main accused Akshita is the daughter of a retired senior government official while her sibling sister has migrated to Canada.

She, earlier too, had worked in reputed companies such as Kingfisher and Dell, drawing high salaries.

Akshay, an engineer, worked with Dell and had been in live-in relationship with the main accused. According to Akshita, it was Akshay who had lured her into the fraud. Akshita purchased many consumer durables and luxury items using the credit card details of a UK citizen.

Akshita told HT: “Akshay had been doing this for long and I found it very tempting. He said no one would come to know and asked me to get card details of customers during my stint in CRM Synergies Digital Private Limited. I had access to a lot of credit card details as I worked as customer care executive.”

Inspector Suresh Kumar said, “The parents of Rahil Arora have reached the city from Amritsar. They are unaware of their son’s involvement in the crime.”

Akshita, later, deserted her former live-in partner and started living with Rahil Arora. They were planning to get married soon. Rahil said, “I did not know what Akshita was doing. She once got me a Samsung Galaxy Note, but I paid for it. I had travelled with her to places such as Goa and Jaipur and she foot the bills. She said she was getting good salary.”

The police are probing whether more persons are involved in the crime. The other two accused Joginder Singh and Akshay Mishra are absconding.