Historical Nuggets
1. In the beginning, charge cards were just charge accounts, offered by individual stores and only usable at those stores. The first charge card that could be used at multiple locations was offered by The Diner’s Club in 1950. (full story)
2. Diners Club issued that first card to only two hundred customers and it could only be used at twenty seven restaurants in New York City.
American Express History
3. American Express started off as a shipping company in 1850, shipping products across the United States and capitalizing on the limited reach and slow speed of the United States Postal Service. Their main customers were banks and they shipped various financial instruments like stock certificates and other notes. They began selling money orders and traveler’s checks in 1882 and issued its first charge card in 1958. (full history)
4. In 1984, American Express billed their Platinum Card as extremely exclusive and it had an annual fee of $250 ($484.84 in 2006 dollars). Today, the extremely exclusive card for American Express is their black Centurion card with a $2,500 annual fee! (and requirement to spend $250,000 a year)
MasterCard & Visa History
5. MasterCard and Visa are networks of banks and financial institutions. American Express is its own company and Discover Card is a subsidiary Morgan Stanley (who is spinning off the business).
6. Visa was originally called BankAmericard, a card offered by Bank of America in 1958 in California. By 1970, they had created an association, called the National BankAmericard, Inc., of all the US Banks that issued the BankAmericard. It wasn’t renamed to Visa until 1976. (full history)
7. Visa actually stands Visa International Service Association.
8. The Visa logo colors were chosen because the blue represented the sky and the gold represented color of the hills in California where Bank of America was founded. (from Wikipedia).
9. Originally formed under the name Interbank Card Association and they acquired the MasterCharge brand and logo in 1969. MasterCharge was originally formed by four California banks in 1967, who joined together to form the Western States Bankcard Association to battle the BankAmericard of Bank of America. MasterCharge was renamed MasterCard in 1979.
10. In 1984, MasterCard was the first to use a hologram on its cards to deter fraud.
Discover Card History
11. Discover Card was introduced by Sears in 1985 and gained notoriety because it charged no annual fee.
12. At the time, Sears also owned the brokerage Dean Witter Reynolds Organization and the Discover brand was integrated into that organization. When Dean Witter merged with Morgan Stanley in 1997, Discover went along for the ride.
Useful Things That Make You Go Hmmmm…
13. Wonder why minimum payments are so low? It allows consumer to carry more debt while keeping to the same low minimum payment. You can give someone with the ability to pay $100 per month a credit limit as high as $5,000 if they only had to pay 2% a month. If the minimum payment were 5%, they could only have a credit limit of $2,000. The lower the minimum payment, the deeper in debt someone could be in.
14. It is against the merchant agreements of MC, Visa, and AMEX, for a vendor to require you to provide your phone number, home address, or other personal information for credit card transactions. In fact, some states make it illegal for them to require it. (It’s not illegal to ask, but it is if they refuse to process the transaction without that information)
15. Under the merchant agreements of MC, Visa, Discover Card and AMEX, you do not need to present a driver’s license in order to complete a charge card transaction.
16. Under the merchant agreements of MC, Visa, and Discover Card, vendors may not require a minimum purchase amount. Under AMEX, it’s more of a hint that the vendor shouldn’t put up any barriers to use but AMEX also has a discrimination rule, so if there is no minimum amount for MC/Visa, there cannot be a minimum amount for AMEX. (Consumerist has all the relevant merchant agreements consolidated)
17. Under the merchant agreements of MC, Visa, and Discover Card, vendors may not charge a surcharge for using the card (the anti-discrimination rules still apply for AMEX). In some states, it is actually illegal to charge a surcharge for charge card purchases. This rule does not apply to government agencies.
18. On the flip side, offering a discount for cash payment (over credit card payment) is permitted by all of the card companies (looooophole!).
19. A merchant may, on taking a personal check, require that you offer a charge card number. It is against merchant agreements to charge a charge card in the event of a bounced check (and it’s also very dangerous to have all that juicy information on one little slip of paper, plus this may also be illegal in your state).
20. You can lower your interest rate with a phone call. credit card companies are like cell phone and cable companies, they’re afraid you’ll leave and join with one of their competitors. Use this to your advantage by comparing offers from other credit cards and bringing this information to your credit company.
21. When you use your card, you agree to the cardholder agreement, you don’t have to sign anything. If you get an update to the agreement, you also agree to the updates once you use your card.
22. A fixed interest rate on a credit card can change with only 15 days of notice. Fixed is not fixed in the sense that a mortgage loan is fixed, it’s fixed in the sense that the charge card company can change it with only 15 days notice!
23. If you have multiple balances with different interest rates on one card, payments are generally applied to the balance with the lower interest rate. You will have no choice in the matter and you cannot request it be made to the higher balance. So if you have a $100 balance at 19.99% and a $5,000 balance at 4.99%, your payments apply to the $5,000 at 4.99% first. A note about this will be in your agreement.
24. The charge card sale process works as follows: The vendor sends an authorization request for the value of the sale. The credit card company checks the card limit and reduces the credit limit by that amount (it puts a “hold” or a “block”) and sends the vendor electronic confirmation that the card is good. The vendor sends a deposit transaction or a sale transaction. The credit card company sends the money. This process is usually quick and painless… with the following exceptions:
25. Hotels and rental car agencies usually send an authorization request for the estimated cost of your stay or rental and they keep this “block” on your card for 10 to 15 days (independent of how long you actually stay there) even if you pay with something else.
26. When you use a charge card at a gas pump, the pump authorizes the purchase for something in the neighborhood of $50 first. So if you have less than $50 left on your limit, the pump will reject your purchase attempt.
27. Restaurants typically will authorize a charge card purchase for the amount of the bill plus 25% (for gratuity), so again, if your limit can’t handle the extra 25%, the purchase transaction will be rejected.
Technobabbliciousness
28. Ever notice all your charge cards are of uniform shape and size? Their dimensions are governed by the ISO 7810 standard, an international standard for identification cards. Banking cards, as well as driver’s licenses and retail cards, follow ID-1 (passports follow ID-3). If your card has a smart chip, it follows ISO 7816, and if it has RFID, it follows ISO 14443.
29. The expiration date on the card is “fake.” You can still use the card after its expiration date because the card number on your replacement will be the same. The reason why cards do expire varies from company to company but mostly it’s because the credit cards take a lot of abuse and just need replacing (they estimate the magnetic strip is good for only about three or four years of swiping).
30. Interested to know what’s on the magnetic stripe? Check out this breakdown of the three tracks on Wikipedia (the rest of the page explains other magnetic stripes).
31. There are generally two types of magnetic strips, high-coercivity and low-coercivity, with the high-coercivity being stronger and more durable (also requiring more expensive equipment to handle). (from Wikipedia)
32. Higher-coercivity are usually black and low-coercivity strips are a dark brown, but there are special cases such as American Express’ patented silver colored magnetic strip.
33. Hotel keys and other low-coercivity stripped cards are susceptible to being scrambled by a weak magnetic force, including cell phones.
34. credit card numbers conform to the Luhn algorithm, which is just a simple checksum test on the number. What you do is start from the right and double each second digit (1111 becomes 2121), then add them all together, and you should end with a number evenly divisible by ten. If it doesn’t, it’s not a valid charge card number.
35. The first digit of the number is the Major Industry Identifier. 1/2 are for airlines, 3 is for travel/entertainment, 4/5 for banking and financial, 6 for merchandizing and financial, 7 for petroleum, 8 for telecommunications. 0 and 9 are for other assignments but you’ll likely never see them. If you look at an American Express card, you’ll see it starts with a 3, a throwback to their travel/entertainment roots.
36. The first six digits will correspond to the issuer, including the major industry identifier. 34xxxx/37xxxx are for American Express, 4xxxxx is for Visa, 51-55xxxx is for MasterCard, and 6011xx is for Discover.
37. The rest of the digits (except the last one, which is a checksum digit) is your account number.
Legal Ways You’ve Been Hosed & Un-Hosed
38. Minors, those under the age of 18, are not obligated to pay back any charges to their charge cards (unless a parent co-signs, but then its the parent who is on the hook) because they are not allowed to enter into a binding contract.
39. If there are unauthorized charges on your card, you’re on the hook for $50 each, maximum (unless your agreement says you are responsible for less, you cannot be responsible for more). If you report your card missing and an unauthorized charge appears after you’ve reported it, you are liable for $0.
40. By law, you are only allowed to dispute charges for “unsatisfactory goods or services” if you made the purchase in your home state or within 100 miles of your billing address and the purchase was for more than $50. (and if you’ve made a good faith attempt to resolve it with the vendor) While a charge card company may not hold you to this, they are protected by the law for purchases outside your home state/100 mile radius.
41. credit card companies are prohibited by law from sending you a card that you didn’t ask for, unless it’s a renewal or a substitute card. If you get a credit card you didn’t apply for, contact the Federal Trade Commission and file a complaint.
42. A common clause in most user/member agreements is that the cardholder waives their right to sue the credit card company. The cardholder must instead go through a binding arbitration hearing with the credit card company and cannot take the company to court or participate in a class action suit.
43. Before 1996 and the Supreme Court case Smiley vs. Citibank (517 U.S. 735, Thanks j), there were restrictions on how much a credit card company could charge for a late payment. The ruling in Smiley vs. Citibank lifted that restriction and fees that were once around $5-$10 jumped to $30 or more today.
44. There is no federal law regulating the rate of interest a charge card company can charge! The federal government use to regulate but repealed those laws during the Great Depression and never put them back in place, they now rely on the states to handle usury.
45. In the Supreme Court case Marquette National Bank v. First of Omaha Service Corp (439 U.S. 299, Thanks j) in 1978, the Court decided that national banks only need to follow the usury laws of the state they are headquartered in, not the state in which their customer resides.
46. charge card companies are all headquartered in states with high or no cap on interest rates. American Express is located in Utah (no cap), Bank of America is in Arizona (36%), Citibank is in South Dakota (no cap), Capital One is in Virginia (no cap), Providian is in New Hampshire (no cap), and JP Morgan Chase, MBNA (now Bank of America), Morgan Stanley/Discover, and HSBC are all located in Delaware (no cap).
Department of Holy Crap They Make A Ton of $$$$$
47. Each American household receives approximately 6 offers a month. The typical response rate is .33% (one third of one percent). You can opt out of these mailings via OptOutPrescreen.
48. Each direct mailing acquisition costs approximately $80, according to R.K. Hammer, bank card advisory firm.
49. charge card companies earned $90.1B in interest in 2006, up from $89.4B the year before (according to R.K. Hammer).
50. credit card companies earned $55.2B in fees in 2006, up from $54.8B the year before (according to R.K. Hammer).
Bonus Fun Fact:
Mastercard’s market capitalization is a whopping $14.24B, American Express’s stands at $71.62B, and Morgan Stanley stands at $86.40B. Visa is not publicly traded (yet). While you can’t compare their market caps because such a large part of Amex and Morgan Stanley’s businesses are not in credit cards, it’s still interesting to look at the numbers. Incidentally, Bank of America has a market cap of $239.17B.
Finally, the most important fact, when searching for credit card always trust Discover cards and Chase credit cards
Many people believe that it is simple to obtain a reward credit card and that every American will get approved for one. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Reward creditcards are made for consumers with good to excellent credit ratings. The reason for this is that rewards cost the bank money so, they make sure only to give the card to someone who they are going to make profit off of. However, if you do have good credit ratings, and you would like to get a reward credit card, here are some important aspects to remember:
1. Keep an eye on the interest rate - Sometimes, you will find rewards credit cards that will end up having a higher than average APR. These higher interest rates are normally found in retail store rewards cards. Personally, this is the reason I would never advise people to take part in using retail store rewards cards. Most major bank rewards cards will have great interest rates. As a matter of fact, Chase credit cards has the Chase Sapphire card, which offers not only outstanding rewards but also the interest rate is not too shabby. I does however take a good-excellent credit score to qualify for this card.
2. Make sure you will utilize the rewards - Rewards cards are there to offer the client who has worked extremely hard to keep perfect credit scored something extra. If you qualify for one of these credit cards make sure that you get one that you are going to take full advantage of. As I like to say, if you are scared of heights there is no reason for you to obtain a skymiles credit card. You will not use the rewards therefore it is a waste of your money paid to interest. I would like to make sure you know a few major types of rewards cards and what they are best used for:
*Balance Transfer Credit Cards - These cards are designed as a way to pay your current credit card debt off at a lower interest rate. The vast majority of these cards will come with a promotional interest rate. Many of them come with a 0%. This promotional interest rate will normally last for 6 to 12 months. This promotional period gives you a great opportunity to pay down your credit card debt at an extremely low interest rate. When applying for these cards however, you want to make sure to look out for 2 things. 1, Transfer fees for balance transfers that you plan to process. 2, The standard interest rate you will have to pay once the promotional rate expires.
*Cash Back Credit Cards - These cards are one of the most used rewards cards. The reason for this is because just like the title of the card suggests, you obtain points to earn cash back rewards. Discover credit cards has one of the best cash back card offers, the Discover More Card. With this card, you can get up to 5% cash back on certain purchases like home improvement.
Chase credit cards are all over the news these days. Are they a good thing or a bad thing? Do credit card companies play by the rules? What’s with all this charge card reform, anyway? If you’re a little overwhelmed by it all, you’re not alone. It’s easy to get lost in all the industry terminology and lose sight of how the upcoming legislation will affect you, the cardholder. So here’s an easy guide to credit card reform and what it will mean for you.
No Universal Default. If you’re late on your utility or mortgage payment (or any other payment that isn’t related to your charge card), credit card issuers will no longer be able to hike up your interest as a result.
No Double-Cycle Billing. If you pay off your balance in full, that balance will not be subject to finance charges on your next billing cycle.
Limits on apr Increases. Card issuers will only be allowed to increase your apr if you make a late payment; if you agreed to a variable apr; or if the low rate was part of a time-limited promotion. Otherwise, the issuer has to give you 45 days’ warning of a rate hike. You’ll also have 3 billing cycles after the increase to decide whether or not the new terms are agreeable. If not, you can close your account and pay off your balance at the previous interest.
Reasonable Due Dates. Lenders will be required to give consumers at least 21 days to pay their bill before it’s considered late. The due date and time will be clearly printed on the credit card statement. Lenders will no longer be able to change due dates and times arbitrarily.
Fair Payment Allocation. Card issuers will be required to apply your payments to higher-interest charges first. For example, your payments would be first applied to a cash advance with 24% interest rather than regular purchases made at 12% interest.
Limits on Over-Limit Fees. Holds placed on the credit card (such as those made when reserving a hotel room or rental car) will no longer push you over your credit limit. Cardholders will also be able to choose whether they want to be able to go over their credit limit and pay the resulting fees, or whether they want their cards to simply be declined when they reach their limit.
An End to Fee-Harvesting Cards. As subprime cardholders will tell you, sometimes the cost to obtain a charge card is higher than the actual credit limit! The reform will put rules in place for charge cards that have high start-up and maintenance costs, including full disclosure of the card’s terms and how much credit will be left after start-up.
More Transparency. Your credit card’s terms must be clearly printed on your monthly statement. Bills will also contain a summary of all the interest and fees you’ve paid in the past year. credit card offers must tell you the criteria used to determine your interest and credit limit. Also, foreign transaction fees must be clearly disclosed before you sign up for a new charge card account.
Finally, my research shows that Chase credit cards and Discover credit cards have the best credit card offers.
Many of us know what a bad credit score is. Well if you don’t then I will explain it. If you have ever missed a payment of your instalments or have made late payments then your credit score decreases. This is one reason why you will end up having a poor credit score.
What happens when you have a bad credit score?
Companies or any individuals who have bad credit history are declined any loans, credit cards and mortgages. They are also declined any products they wish to purchase on any instalments package. People are always looking to pay in instalments for the products they wish to purchase or any insurance they wish to buy so for this to be approved your credit score needs to be good if you wish to be granted with the loans.
There are various solutions to improve your credit history and one of them is to get bad credit credit cards. Bad credit credit cards are meant for people who have bad credit history. This is definitely one way of increasing your credit score. After getting the card just make sure you do not miss any payments or make late payments. Normally people tend to spend all their money before the end of the month. And most companies and individuals have direct debit set up for the end of the money and they completely miss the payments. Many individuals have bad credit score through their University lives. You are always looking for some extra cash when at University. You apply for credit card and when you get one you spend the money not thinking about the money you have spent is owed to someone else and you have to pay the credit card company back. when you spend your credit card limit you won’t be able to make payments to the credit card company till your LEA loans comes through to your account in that time you would miss a few month’s payments.
The above is an example of how an individual gets a bad credit score, so how do companies get bad credit history?. Most likely the same way and also bankruptcy. If a company declares itself as bankrupt that is the worst credit score anyone can ever get. Bankruptcy is an inability of a company to pay their creditors and dealing with debts you just cannot pay back.
So if you still have a question on how to improve credit rating then read reviews on poor credit credit cards and you will find your answer.
Most people look at credit card companies as all powerful companies that will do whatever they can to milk you of your last dollar and does not care about the consumer. As much as I would like to say that I agree with this statement, I can’t. Banks just like a small store down the street, rely souly on customers to survive. Without you and the millions of other consumers that use banking institutions they would be out of business.
Most banks have a financial hardship program that is designed specifically for those who are having a hard time paying off their credit cards. These programs will usually require the client to close the account but are well worth the sacrifice. If you are looking into an option like financial hardship programs, you are most likely having a very hard time keeping up with your credit card accounts. Closing your account in most cases will be the best thing for you to do to help you regain controll of the accounts. Also, in closing the accounts on a hardship plan, you are going to recieve a very low interest rate that in most cases will last for the duration of the debt. This will allow you to pay off the balances at a much more accelerated rate and start to regain your financial stability.
To find out if you will qualify for a financial hardship program from your lending institution, gather your bills and write down how much money you spend on rent/mortgage, credit cards, secured loans, insurance, food, utilities, phone, cable, internet, child care, medical expences….. You want to really know exactly how much money leaves your home for necesities on a monthly basis. Once you have this number figured out, you need to figure out how much money comes in your home as income on a monthly basis and write this number down. Now the most important part of preparing to see if you qualify for a financial hardship program; figure out your reason for the hardship. Have you experienced a reduction of hours at work? Has your spouse lost their job? Have your children moved in? Have you experienced increased medical expenses over the last few months? Anything that will increase expenses or decrease income on a monthly basis counts as a reason for financial hardship. Now all you need to do is go call the bank. Explain to the representative everything that is going on, they will then transfer you to a hardship specialist that will assist you. If they deem you in need of a hardship program, they will place you on one then and there that will take effect within the next couple of billing cycles. Also, just a quick note, Chase credit cards are the most cooperative when going through a hardship situation.
If you need help with this or would like to discuss any other financial subject, feel free to contact us:
By phone - (561) 355-0069
By email - Support@JemCreditCards.com
On the web - www.JemCreditCards.com
I regret to say we live in a time where if there is money, there is fraud. When it comes to down to it, credit cards are no different. On credit cards just as well as in a purse there is money to be stolen, even more so then you would carry on yourself. Although credit card companies boast that credit card accounts are the easy and safe way to pay, I have to say that I dissagree! As a matter of fact, credit card fraud is known to affect more victems and cost more money each year than robery and burglary combined. There are a few things to know that can make the credit card a safer way to pay:
1. Only use credit card accounts on trusted websites - A good rule of thumb is that if you don’t know who you are buying the item from online do buy it! Also, there are other ways to tell if your personal information will be safe online. First off, when you do anything online, you are accessing what is called a server to view webpages, servers can be secure and unsecure. Any time you are completing a form that requires information to charge you, look at the web address at the top of the browser. If the web address starts with http:// such as http://www.JemCreditCards.com then that server is not secure therefore, you should not imput personal information however if the web address starts with https:// such as https://www.JemCreditCards.com then this website works from a secure server and your information will be completely safe. Also, as far as over the internet transactions, if you use E internet explorer there is a pad lock image on the bottom right hand corner, if this is open the site is not secure and if it is closed the site is secure.
2. Keep tabs of your current credit card balances - This has to be the easiest part, however, I have to say that less than 10% of my clients actually know what the exact balance is on their credit card accounts. If you know your balance, you are able to quickly identify fraudulant transactions.
Now that you know ways to prevent it I think it is also crucial that you know how to reverse fraudulant transactions on credit card accounts as well. This is actually pretty simple, call the toll free customer service phone number and explain to the representative that there is a transaction that you do not recognize posting to your credit card. That representative will then transfer you to the claims, fraud, or disputes department depending on which credit card company that you are using. Once you get to the department that can help, explain the cituation and the banker will send some paperwork for you to fill out. Simply fill the paperwork out and send it back in, and if the investigation proves the charge to be fraudulant, you will not have to pay for that charge. Also, I would like to point out that in my experience I have found that Discover cards are the best as far as customer service with billing disputes.
For more information on this topic or to discuss another topic feel free to contact us:
By phone - (561) 355-0069
By email - Support@JemCreditCards.com
On the web - www.JemCreditCards.com
Consumers are going to be in for a shocking surprise to be shown on billing statements for credit card accounts. Did you know that the average card holder only pays off only $2,000.00 every 3 years on their credit cards. If I would have said this to you 2 years ago, you probably would think that I am a nut! How can it be legal for credit card companies to charge you over 20% interest and on top of that keep you in debt for such a long time. Well, now you are going to see that I was not lieing 3 years ago! Due to the new credit card reform, credit card companies are going to have to show you how long it will take to pay off your debts. The eye opening aspect of this is that on some of these statements credit card companies will have to clearly print that YOU WILL NOT IN YOUR LIFETIME PAY OFF THIS ACCOUNT PAYING ONLY THE MINIMUM PAYMENT. I can already feel your reaction! It’s probably something like “What! Are you kidding me, how, why, can they do that?”. The answer is yes they can and they will! I want to explain how, and why:
How:
The majority of credit card companies with the exception of few such as Discover credit cards, structure minimum payments as 1% of the balance plus interest. Some of these banks will even charge less as a minimum payment! Just for this example I am going to use 1% plus interest so you can fully understand how this works! Lets say you have a balance of $25,000.00 on one of your credit cards. On this card you are paying 20% interest. Well 1% of this balance will be $250.00 which is all you will put toward the balance this month. Interest this month will be $416.67 meaning your overall payiment will be $666.67 for the month. Knowing that only $250.00 of that payment will actually go toward the balance is anoying enough but now hopefully you can see how they can keep you in debt for so long!
Why:
Well if you look at it from the banks point of view this is actually a great thing for them. Over the term of your debt they are going to make more than what they loaned to you in the first place. Even if you never pay the debt off, the bank still stands to turn a huge profit from your account! Now that you understand how and why they do this, I would like for you to go to www.JemCreditCards.com and learn how to get around it and actually get the chance to pay your debts off!
For more information on this topic or to discuss any other topic, feel free to contact us:
By phone : (561) 355-0069
By email : Support@JemCreditCards.com
On the web : www.JemCreditCards.com
In past American civilization, credit was not a big issue. There are actually records of major business contracts and loans without a signature, a simple firm handshake was enough to close any deal. Through the last 40 years, credit has become increasingly important to the average American. These days, a firm handshake just doesn’t quite cut it. Even though credit is so extremely important, the fine art of building your score is not mastered by too many consumers. I would like to go over just one piece of the credit building puzzle and that is using credit cards as a fast track to great credit scores.
The credit card also a fairly new piece of the average American lifestyle, is a piece of plastic that can be used to take a last minute loan for any item from groceries to auto insurance. The versitility of the newly found credit card is endless. However, for new borrowers it can prove to be a bit difficult to get your paws on one of these mysterious pieces of plastic. There is however one type of credit card that is designed not only to use as a last minute loan but also to generate great credit scores. This credit card is most widely refered to as the secured credit card and is offered by almost any major issuer from Bank of America to Discover credit cards.
Secured credit cards are a great tool for many things. Using secured credit cards can prove to be very benificial in building great credit history. Although there are great upsides to using secured credit cards, there are some aspects about them that may prove to be a little concerning when you first open the account. When opening a regular credit card account, there is no up front cost, this differs from secured credit cards. Secured credit cards are called secured credit cards because of the security deposit required to open the account. When opening one of these credit card accounts you are required to place a security deposit usually somewhere between $250.00 and $500.00. This security deposit then becomes your credit line. So with that said, you are essentially paying interest to borrow your own money. I know this can be disturbing however, it will work out for the best as long as you use the account properly. Usually after about 12 to 18 months, the security deposit you placed to open the account will be refunded to you and at that point, the secured credit card becomes an unsecured credit card and you are now borrowing the bank’s money.
With that said, I want to make sure you know the proper way to utilize secured credit cards or any other credit card for that matter. There are a few general rules of thumb to go by when using credit cards and here they are:
Rule #1 - Always pay your bills on time or early - Even though the due date is the 21st, that does not mean you can wait untill the 21st to put the check in the mail, if you do, that payment will arrive late! As a matter of fact, I always advise that you send payments no later than 2 weeks early. This will allow time for mailing delays and for the credit card company to process the payment.
Rule #2 - Never over use a credit card - This concept is simple always stay below 50% of your total credit line. If your credit limit is $500.00 never carry a balance of more than $250.00 on that account. This will show creditors great money management abilities on your end and help to build and maintain a great credit score.
For more information on this topic or any other financial topic, feel free to contact us:
By phone - (561) 355-0069
By email - Support@JemCreditCards.com
On the web - www.JemCreditCards.com
Some might refer to the good ol’ credit card account as the Fantastic Plastic. As recent statistics have shown, charge card accounts in the western world are proving to be anything but fantastic, especially for card holders who succumb to its use. Debt quickly emerges and strangles the card owner somewhat like a Boa Constrictor strangling its host.
Deceptive Plastic
Perhaps it would be better referred to as Deceptive Plastic. Many credit card account holders don’t realize what their balance is, on a day to day basis, or just how much percentage they are paying on funds not paid in full by the due date.
Others should think of dubbing their charge card accounts Drastic Plastic. These are the individuals who call on their charge card accounts for emergencies, yet they have no management plan for the newly acquired debt. They resort to using their credit card accounts when times are lean, or when the temptation of a purchase makes their financial situation even more drastic!
credit card account Debts
credit card account debt is at record levels, as the cash-strapped struggle to give up a certain standard of living, or forego a lifestyle that is not necessarily essential to their basic daily living requirements. Instead, they continue to over-commit themselves financially, and look to utilize a band-aid solution of putting it on the plastic. They believe they have survived to live and play another day. Another day, that is, until the debt escalates and becomes insurmountable.
credit card accounts Use
There are those who use their credit card account to ‘keep up with the Joneses’. Others possess a…‘I would like to have’ mentality. When cash and household budgets are tight, cutting back on frivolous spending, and doing without should be a preferred way of thinking, especially when so much of life’s necessities are already being paid for by credit card account. In harsh economic times, think smart, buy smart and save smart.
On average, students in the USA carry in excess of $4,000 on credit card accounts by the time they graduate. Indeed, education has its price. At the other end of the demographic, pensioners each carry an average of over $10,000 in credit card account debt by the time they retire.
Savings or Credit?
There are ironies aplenty when one think abouts the credit card account and how it is used. At the point of sale, the sales person or cashier, after swiping the card, is often heard to ask, Is that savings or credit? Understandably, the consumer is entitled to snicker – Savings? For many, savings is something that has gone the way of the Unicorn and the Dodo into folklore oblivion. Something of fictitious existence in a time no longer known.
The further irony of charge card accounts is the advice given by the financial sages of our day: Only use your charge card account if you have the cash. Why use a charge card account if you have the cash? Also, is cash not king? If so, the plastic is just that – plastic, false, and best used for making cheap ornaments, and not to be used as a method of transacting financial interaction between buyer and seller.
The concept of charge card accounts is seductively cruel. We hear it all the time: Buy now! Pay later. Beware! The promise could end up like financial herpes, as you keep paying, and paying, and paying to levels beyond your wildest dreams and for amounts well above what you originally signed up for.
The message with charge card accounts is clear. You need to make sure that your fantastic plastic is your servant and not your master. If you can’t clearly determine how this is done, it is best to slip it out of your wallet or purse and leave it at home in the dark corners of your bedside drawer.
Now that you know how to use charge card account go to JemCreditCards.com, and get one. I advise Discover Credit cards.
Are you one of the thousands of consumers that cringes when you open a new credit card bill? Are you disgusted with the interest rates that you are paying on your charge card accounts? Well, there is a way around these interest rates! Many people refer to credit card companies as all mighty corporations that are reluctant to help people. As much as I would love to agree with this, I have to say that it is not a fact. Banks are a lot like a mom and pop store in a way. Without clients, they will go out of business. You can use this fact to obtain lower interest rates on your credit cards. There are a few steps that you should follow during these negotations:
1. Know the facts! - Don’t start contacting credit card companies until you have figured out the facts about the account in question. Get your last bill and find out exactly what the APR is on the account. Also, it is a good thing to figure out what your balance on the account is and how close you are to your line of credit. This will come in handy when negotiating if you are not too close to your credit limit.
2. Call your bank - When calling banks it is crucial that you are polite! Being rude will get you no where especially when you take into account that the banker does not have to do a thing for you. So once again I can not stress it enough, be polite! When you first call, on average you will have to enter some information in an automated system that allows the credit card company to make sure to transfer you to the right department. Go ahead and answer the questions on the automated system. Once you get to the representative, very politely say “I was going through my credit cards and I noticed that this charge card has the highest interest rate. I like the charge card, and I like working with this credit card company but of course I am a little upset about the rate on this account. Is there anything that you can do to make this interest rate a bit more competative?”. After you say this, the representative is most likely going to put you on hold. When they come back they are most likely going to explain to you that there are now lower rates that can be placed on the account at the moment. This is OK don’t get mad don’t start being rude just move on to the next step.
3. Get to the retention department - Just about every bank has a retention department. This is a department specifically designed to do what ever possible to retain the customer including the ability to lower interest rates. To get there just simply ask “ok I understand but I have balance transfer offers coming in the mail and I do not want to go through the hassel of going to another bank can you please transfer me to the retention department?”. The representative will most likely gladly transfer you. Once you get to that department use the same line with them that you used with the customer service representative “I was going through my credit cards and I noticed that this credit card has the highest interest rate. I like the credit card, and I like working with this credit card company but of course I am a little upset about the apr on this account. Is there anything that you can do to make this interest rate a bit more competative?”. Once again you will be put on hold, but this time when the representative comes back, you will most likely get a lower rate.
If you don’t get a lower rate, I know of a company that is by far the best and a very reasonable price called Jem Credit Cards you can contact them:
By phone - (561) 355-0069
By email - Support@JemCreditCards.com
On the web - www.JemCreditCards.com
Just a good piece of information, if you don’t have one already, Discover card is the best credit card as far as rates, rewards, and customer service is conserned. To find the best one for you go to www.JemCreditCards.com
Copyright © 2008 Credit Cards: from Choosing Best Credit Card to Application
RSS FEED