Everything About Credit Cards

Not only national and household debt that are the major things of concern for the people in this nation, the amount of student credit card debt is also considered to be a major problem for the US students. As per reports, from the last quarter of 2010, the student credit card debt amount was gradually growing out of control and majority has been opting for debt consolidation. You may also be one of those students who’s knee deep in credit card debt. But, better not lose heart as there are various options through which you can pay off your student credit card debts.

Credit card consolidation options
 
There are different ways in which you can consolidate the credit cards that you had used while you were a student:

1. Taking out consolidation loan – You can obtain debt consolidation/credit card consolidation by taking out a consolidation loan. There are two types of consolidation loan – the secured and the unsecured consolidation loan. If you take out a consolidation loan, you may be able to consolidate the student credit cards you have and pay those off.

2. Opting for balance transfer – You can consolidate your student credit cards through balance transfer. Balance transfer is the process through which you transfer the balance from all the credit cards that have high interest rates to a new credit card that if offering you 0% interest on balance transfer. You will have to remember that it is important for you to pay off the whole debt amount within the offer period. Otherwise, once the offer period ends, the interest rate is going to rise and this is going to increase the debt amount too.

3. Getting credit card debt help – You can consolidate your student credit cards through a debt consolidation program. For that you will have to go to a credit card consolidation company, they will analyze your debt situation and help you budget. They will then negotiate with the creditor so as to lower the interest rates on the credit cards. Then you are supposed to make a large but single monthly payment to the credit card consolidation company. They will then forward the payment to your creditors. This can help you to become free of your student credit card debt.

So, if you are in credit card debt, you have the above discussed credit card consolidation or debt consolidation options through which you can become free of the dues. Thus, you will be able to pay off your student credit card debts in full and also improve your credit in the process.

If you have a credit report, which has generated a score below 600, then it is time that you consider repairing your credit score. It is very important that you have a good credit score in order to get your new loan requests granted. Your credit report is the judging parameter for a lender or bank to decide whether or not the loan request will be granted. Thus you should try your level best to repair your credit score.

How can credit card consolidation help you?

Most of the times your credit report is affected negatively when you default on your monthly payments that you have to make to pay off your debts. If you see that you’re able to make only the minimum monthly payments then you can opt for credit card consolidation. While consolidating your debts, you can take out a new loan at lower rate of interest and pay back all your original credit card debts. In this method, all your multiple debts are consolidated into a single monthly payment which is convenient to make and keep a track of. Also your interest rate on the new loan is less, which in turn ensures the monthly payments get reduced. Thus you save a lot of money in the long run. But in order to take out a loan at sufficient low rate of interest, you need to improve your credit ratings to some extent.
 
How can you improve your credit ratings?

These are some steps that you can take to improve your credit ratings.

1.    Dispute incorrect information – Many a times your credit report may have inaccurate negative information. It is necessary for you to evaluate your credit reports thoroughly and note down all the incorrect information which you need to dispute. These mistakes can either be attributed to clerical errors or wrong reporting by credit card company.

2.    Clear any unpaid judgements – It is important that you clear any outstanding judgements you have. Otherwise, this will keep hurting your credit till you have either paid it off or it falls after 7 years, whichever comes earlier.

3.    Checking your payment history – You should get current on delinquent accounts in order to improve your credit scores. You may also negotiate with your debt collectors to remove collection accounts and charge-offs from your credit report in return of certain sum of money.

If you take these necessary steps, then you can improve your credit score to some extent, which will help you take out a loan for credit card consolidation at suitable terms. Once you have paid all your debts through this loan, your accounts will be updated in your credit reports as “Paid in Full” and this may improve your credit score. 

Besides the financially savvy or those predispositioned to be accountants, who really enjoys making budgets?  No one!  If living paycheck by paycheck, worrying about paying your bills, coming up short, stress, and the inability to save for those higher ticket items such as vacations is a lifestyle you enjoy, by all means, skip the budget.  If your dreams, however, are greater than that, then making a budget is one evil that you cannot avoid.  

Do not be alarmed, the budget project is not as difficult as one might think.  A person’s budget starting point should always begin at income.  How much money is coming into your household?  Start with the total dollar amount as the top line item.  Next, list your bills as individual line items.  Go through your bank statements and check to see what the absolute most is that you spend on all of your bills.  Be sure to include water, sewage, natural gas, cable, phone, electric, entertainment, grocery, loan and credit card payments, charitable contributions, car and mortgage payments, insurance, gas, and anywhere else your money goes on a regular basis. 

After one determines where there money is going, they should then determine how much income they have left over.  It is important to only spend 90% or less than your monthly income; save the other 10% in an emergency fund.  Check for luxuries disguised as necessities, this may be where precious dollars can be saved.  For example, your cable could be reduced to a basic plan, or you could live without cable at all.  Is it really necessary to have a home phone and cell phones?  Also, be aware of unnecessary cash leakage.  It is easy for those little ATM fees to add up, or those 411 calls.  Stop handing your hard earned dollars over to fees and charges.

Last, do not count on year-end bonuses, and cost of living pay raises.  Bonuses are never guaranteed, and neither is employment.  Cost of living pay raises are for just that, inflation and ever rising gas prices.  Live off of what you make now, and anything else count as an extra blessing. 

If you need more budget assistance feel free to Contact us at Indianapolis Bankruptcy Attorneys

Marketing has been around since the first products were sold. Universities have offered advanced degrees in marketing for many years where the trends and techniques of advertising and promotions were isolated and studied for various brick and mortar businesses.

The internet has expanded the scope of marketing and also made marketing trends clearly visible even to non-experts. Marketing is about positioning your products for maximum sales.

Amazon Chase Credit Card Review

Amazon has taken a huge step in online marketing with introduction of the Amazon Chase Credit Card.

Amazon is a huge consumer marketplace where you can find almost any product you can think of. Not only will you find that product – you will find related products and competing products as well. The driving force behind Amazon’s amazing growth is the competitive pricing and free shipping on many of items sold.

Amazon moved quickly to partner with other online merchants and with offline manufacturers to provide an ever increasing range of products available to site visitors. For several years, the only competitive edge Amazon lacked was the option for buyers to use a payment method other than a credit card. The popular payment processor, PayPal, is owned by eBay which is Amazon’s biggest competitor.

Amazon’s response was to offer its own branded credit card through Chase.  Credit card account holders receive top bonus points when they use the card to make purchases on Amazon.com. Rewards can be purchase discounts or redeemed as cash back with 5000 points.

This card can be used for purchases anywhere a Visa card is accepted (which is almost anywhere in the world). For purchases at participating gas stations, restaurants and drugstores, you earn 2 points for every dollar spent when using the credit card. At all other merchants, the Amazon Chase credit card earns 1 point for each $1 charged.

However, if you are shopping on Amazon, you earn full 3 points for each dollar spent. When you receive your new credit card, your first purchase at Amazon will also reward you with a $30 credit on your credit account. That could easily pay for that first item you buy.

Two options are available – the Signature Card and the Platinum card. The Signature credit card account has the lower interest of 13.24% and is available to consumers with excellent credit ratings.

The Platinum card will have an APR of 18.24% or 21.24% depending on creditworthiness. Other fees on both Amazon Chase credit cards are similar to those offered throughout the credit lending industry today.

No annual fee

$10 or 5% transaction fee for balance transfers

$10 or 5% transaction fee for cash advances

$35 fee for returned payments or returned checks and for late payment

For the Signature Amazon Chase credit card there is no fee for going over the spending limit while the Platinum card has a $35 over limit fee assessed. Point earned can be used one you reach 2500 points which translates to approximately $830 spent on Amazon.

Advantages

With the number of products available on Amazon, it is possible to buy almost anything you need at a price high competitive and with free shipping included.

If shopping online is something you do frequently, bonus points can add up quickly.

Disadvantages

If you use credit responsibly there is no disadvantage to use of the Amazon Chase credit card. The terms are in line with offers from other credit issuing banks and the ability to accumulate points on a site you use frequently is a great option.

Summary

You can quickly build points or earn cash back with the Amazon Chase credit card. Most of the necessities we buy every day are sold at competitive pricing on Amazon’s website. High shipping costs may not be a consideration for most purchases as the majority of items on Amazon can qualify for free shipping.

This credit card can also be used for all other purchases you make from any merchant accepting the Visa logo. If you shop at Amazon and you want only one credit card, this is the perfect option for you.

Reputed to have over 50 million customers, the Capital One card is recognized as a credit card from a major lending institution.

What has Changed?

When new laws regulating how credit card companies conduct business with the public Capital One pulled many of its previous credit card offers off the market. This was not unusual as it was being done at the time by every major credit card lender. It didn’t long for Capital One to realign its credit business and the company was quick of offer new credit card offers to appeal to a vast audience of consumers.

No matter what type of rewards program you prefer, you will find it offered by Capital One. For both personal and business use, Capital Cards are heavy competitors in the credit lending marketplace. It seems no segment of the market is left unturned as even those with bad credit can obtain a Capital One credit card account.

Changes at Capital One

For several years, the marketing at Capital One was aimed at people who had less than good credit. While other lenders might focus on rewards or status of their credit cards, Capital One ads appealed to consumers those other banks might decline.

This greatly increased the number of customers using the Capital One card. However, a deepening recession led to a high number of defaults. After the new credit lending rules went into effect, Capital One began giving consumers information on the level of creditworthiness needed to obtain each of the Capital One cards.

This is a smart move as consumers can easily see whether fair, average, good or excellent credit is needed for any particular Capital One card. Decent credit ratings are required at Capital One. The lowest rating of “fair” refers to consumer with little credit but not to those with bad credit.

Rewards and Benefits

The flagship cards for Capital One today are the Venture Rewards credit accounts. The rewards program offers miles earned on every purchase made with the card. 10,000 bonus miles can be earned in the first three months if you charge $1000 to your new account.

Excellent credit is required and you can choose from a card with no annual fee or one with higher rewards and a $59 annual fee. An attractive feature is a lower than usual APR or 13.9% or 14.9%. There are two Platinum Capital One card options. The most popular requires good credit while the Prestige version carries a lower interest rate and is issued only to consumer with excellent credit.

If cash back is your favorite credit card reward program, the Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards card is a good choice. With 2% cash back for gas and groceries, your credit can build quickly if you use this credit card for day to day necessities. There are two versions of the Capital One No Hassle credit card – one requires excellent credit while the second lists fair credit as a requirement.

There are two other Capital One card options for those with little credit history. The first is the Capital One Classic Platinum card. There is a 0% introductory rate and a $39 annual fee. The 19.8% variable APR reflects the higher risk of approving an account holder with less than good credit. There are no miles or cash back awards for this account but you can create your own card design.

The Capital One Student Rewards card requires fair credit as it is assumed a college bound students would not have built a credit file as yet. The cash back reward is 2% on restaurants, entertainment venues, cell phone bills (with certain providers) and books. All other purchases are awarded 1% cash back. There is no annual fee but the interest rate is exceptionally high at 24.9% variable APR.

If you are a student applying for your first credit card it is advisable to compare other offers for student credit cards with the Capital One card. Although the cash back benefit is attractive, the high interest rate may cancel out the benefit unless you are able to charge your purchases and pay for them in full each month.

Capital One Cards for Bad Credit

Many consumers today have bad credit due to high medical bills or job loss. Bad credit can keep you from renting an apartment or buying a car. You will be charged more for insurance and turned for loans if you have a bad credit rating. Bad credit is not insurmountable. Secured credit cards from Capital One are credit lines issued after you have placed funds in a savings account to guarantee your credit card.

You could fund a debit card purchased over the counter and use it like a credit card without placing several hundred dollars as a guarantee. However, the cash debit card will do nothing to improve your credit. With the debit card, you are only spending the money you have on the card. There is no interest rate and there is no risk for company issuing the card.

A secured credit card can rebuild your credit if the lender is one reporting to credit bureaus monthly. Capital One is such a lender. You will pay an annual fee and the interest rate will be close to 20% but will be able to overcome the bad items in your credit file in time as good payment reports override the black marks.

The Capital One Secured Master Card will help rebuild bad credit as the accounts are reported to the three major credit rating bureaus. Online tools are available to help you control your use of credit and plan your purchases. This card can be used just like any MasterCard and you may qualify for credit line increases in the future with no further deposit required.

Students who have damaged credit can obtain a secured Capital One card for young adults. This card is reported monthly to rating agencies and using it wisely can rebuild your damaged credit.

Summary

Capital One is one of the leading issuers of credit cards in the country. You can apply for the Capital One card you need and be confident of approval if you heed the credit requirements listed for each account.

This credit lender has a card to suit almost any consumer need. If you want to earn miles quickly, get cash rewards on everyday items or need to rebuild you credit, there is a Capital One card for you.

The way you use your credit cards has a huge bearing on your credit scores, so here are a few hints for using them to your best advantage.

First, pay attention to the elderly. Elderly credit cards, that is. Protect them even if you aren’t using them at the moment, because the longer your credit history the better your scores.

Since credit card issuers are now closing cards for non-use, be sure to take those old cards out and use them every 2-4 months. You don’t have to carry a balance or pay interest. Just make a small purchase and then pay the bill in full when it arrives.

This is a good practice for all of your credit cards, by the way. Those who don’t close your account could instead charge you an annual “inactivity fee.”

Pay down your accounts, but do it wisely. If your balance on one card is a higher percentage of use than on other cards, work first to pay that one down – even if it carries the lowest interest rate. Try to get all your balances under 30% of your credit line.

That means you should not consolidate high interest cards onto a low interest card unless you can do it without passing the 30% mark.

Yes, you’ll save on interest now, but if you’re going to need credit in the future, that savings will cost you in higher interest on future loans. 

A strange quirk in the credit scoring models looks at each of your credit card accounts individually. So while you might have $30,000 in available credit, if you owe $8,000 and put it all on one card with a $10,000 limit, you’ll lower your scores. The same amount spread among all your cards won’t hurt you.

Ask for credit limit increases. But when you get them, don’t use them. Your aim is to widen the gap between what you owe and your available credit.

Never apply for credit you don’t need, and don’t let retailers run your credit report unless you have made the decision to buy using their financing.

Shopping for the best deal is smart when you’re making a major purchase. But allowing every store to check your credit will pull your scores down quickly.

That means you should resist those in-store offers of 10% off today’s purchases when you apply for their credit card. That 10% could cost you far more than your savings on today’s purchases.

Credit scores are touchy little things – reacting negatively to events and situations that you think should be positive.

For instance, if you’ve paid cash for everything all your life, you probably feel pretty virtuous. But when it comes to credit scores, you’re sunk, because you don’t have any payment history for the credit bureaus to report.

The same effect results if you have credit cards “in case of emergency,” but never use them. No payment history equates to lower scores.

Or, you might have several credit cards, but use only one of them, so the other card issuers have closed your other accounts for non-use. This reduces the amount of credit available to you – and again, lowers your credit scores.

Consolidating all your balances on one low-interest card in order to pay off your debt sooner also has a negative effect. Even if you have 5 cards – each with a $10,000 credit limit – a balance over $5,000 on just one card will bring your credit scores down.

It makes sense to most of us to look at the total credit available and compare it to total use, and they do take that into consideration. But they also want to see less than 50% use on each individual card – with 30% being better.

If you’re working on credit repair…

If you’ve had credit problems and are working to repair them, you can also lower your scores by practicing good habits.

It seems that each of us is put into a “category with our peers” when it comes to credit scores. People with sparkling clean credit are in one category, those with a few late payments are in another, those with a bankruptcy are in another. And those are just a few of the categories – there are many.

While only those with a clean credit history can attain the highest scores, we’re all rated in comparison to others in our category. By the same system, one late payment can drop a 700 score by 100 points, but will barely affect a score of 580.

So paying off old debts, paying down credit card accounts, having collections come off the report due to age, and other activities that should raise scores can actually lower them.

That’s because those positive actions raise the consumer into the next higher category – where he or she is rated in comparison to others in the same category.

It’s kind of like kids in school. The 9^th graders are top dogs in Junior High, but when they suddenly go off to High School, they’re once again at the bottom of the ladder.

This is certainly a setback for consumers who are struggling to raise their scores. But the good news is that with continued good habits, they’ll soon rise to the top of their current “category.”

When your credit is in the basement, those TV and e-mail ads that promise to make your troubles go away can be pretty tempting.

But the truth is, if you really do have a bad credit history, they cannot make it go away. And the ones who make those big promises are the ones you should avoid like a flu bug. These are the companies that propose to use illegal means to clear your report. And instead of helping you, they could land you in legal hot water – all while taking their heft fee, of course.

Some credit repair companies are on the up and up, but they can only do so much, and the things they can do are all things you could do on your own.

All they can do is correct errors and oversights.

For instance, if there is information on your credit report that is false, they can help you file dispute letters. This could be an account that you’ve paid in full but it is still showing as unpaid. It could be an account that has gotten on your credit report via a data entry error. It could be a data entry error that shows you owing 10 times your true balance.

If you have negative information that is old, but has not been removed from your report, a credit repair company can help you prove that the time limits have passed and get the credit bureau to remove the negative information.

If you’ve had a bankruptcy that should have removed charged-off accounts from your credit report, they can help you get that done.

The Credit Repair Organizations Act has set forth regulations for these companies, and so that you will be aware of those regulations, they are required to give you a copy of the “Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law” before you do business with them.

One of those rules is that they may not charge you any fees until they have completed services performed under a written contract with you. And, since you may have made the decision under stress, they are not allowed to perform any services until 3 days after the contract is signed. This gives you time to cancel without payment.

Your contract must set forth exactly what they will do for you, plus the total cost and payment terms. The contract must also include a time frame, and any guarantees must be in writing. In addition, they must reveal their company name, business address, and phone number. If all they have is an Internet address – stay away from them.

You have always used credit cards with a lot of discretion and responsibility. You never made expensive purchases with credit cards and paid back your dues in time. But one day you just choked when you found out that you have exhausted the credit limit. There were all kind of items in your credit card statement but you brought none of them. Why did this happen? Well, to put it simply, you were a victim of credit card fraud. This can lead to serious monetary loss and compel you to look for credit card debt attorneys.

The pretty looking plastic cards are quite convenient to use and are much preferred over cash. Moreover, the youngsters actually believe that the use of credit cards is a trendy thing. Indeed, credit cards are quite an innovation and have changed our lives permanently but it has also introduced a new genre of crime. Credit card fraud via identity theft is a crime that is soaring at an alarming rate. Unscrupulous people would draw money as well as use goods and services by using your account, in this kind of fraud. Does that mean you won’t make transactions using credit cards? No way. You just need to play smart and know some tricks in order to combat the cons. Here are some tips which would help you to counter credit card fraud:

Things to do when you receive a new credit card:

• Make sure that the seal is not tampered.
• Do not forget to add your signature on the reverse side of your card.

Protect your CVV (card verification value) number:

To protect you from credit card fraud, you are provided a CVV number by the credit card company. This is a three digit number printed on the back side of your card. If anyone gets to know this number then he can make online purchases (where the physical presence of the card is not required) using this number. To keep this number a secret, you should make sure that transaction processes are completed in your presence. If you need to provide a photocopy of your credit card to someone then leave out the side with the CVV number.  

Things to remember while making transactions online:

• Before the transaction check whether the connection is encrypted or not. This means, the URL of the concerned webpage should read like https://www.xyz.com instead of http://www.xyz.com/. The https:// stands for a secure connection where hacking is not possible.
• Be sure that the website is completely safe. You can visit siteadvisor.com or mywot.com to check the reputation of the site. Do not give your credit card details to sites you don’t know well.
• Phishing emails are all over the place these days. They would pose as legitimate businesses and ask for sensitive information like credit card details. Mark them as Spam and do not reply to any email which you do not recognize.
• Beware of clone sites. These sites resemble legitimate and trustworthy sites and deliberately deceive   people. Upon visiting, they would tempt you to shop with your credit card and subsequently steal your money.

Smart moves:

Monitor your account activity regularly to detect suspicious activity. You can use mobile alerts, offered by almost all financial institutions, for this purpose. It is cheap as well as useful.

Take caution before disposing your expired credit card or any document that mentions your credit card number. It is best to shred documents before you throw them into the trash can. Remember that if someone has enough sensitive information about you then he can also apply for a credit card in your name and start purchasing things.

You need to be a prudent and responsible person to keep the frauds away from your money. So remember what you have read to protect yourself. Good luck.

The most common issue among the consumers are making late payments and getting dunning notice from the creditors. There are several reasons for being financially strapped like losing of job, over expenses or emergency financial issues related to family.

Due to the high interest rate on the credit card that varies between 10%-30% APR, the repayment plan becomes more expensive. And prolong payment of the minimum balance along with the mounting APR charges on the outstanding balance would make it overwhelming.

What are the possible ways to get out of credit card debt?

1. Avoid paying minimum balance:

If you pay off the outstanding amount each month then it would be easier to get out of debt. Paying only the monthly minimum balance would prolong the repayment plan. And the accruing interest rate on the outstanding amount would make it unfordable for your pocket. The credit card companies lure the consumers with a bait of minimum balance payment. These companies trap the consumer into the maze of debts therefore go for a credit card debt settlement program in order to come out of debt.

2) Design a budget to avoid debt:

Preparing a budget helps to curb your reckless expenses as that would help you to avoid debt. Unless you pay off your existing debts it would not be possible to design a budget. In order to avoid the debt trap prefer changing your mode of expenditure. You need to redesign your budget plan if your expenses exceed your income. On failing to take proper measures might place you again in a severe debt problem.

3) Take up loan against 401(k) plan:

You take loan against any investment plan in order to pay off the debt. The interest rate on these loans is 1-2 points higher than the average rate. But when interest rate of the other loan is compared with the card interest rate the former appeared to be cheaper. But there is a negative aspect to it in case you plan to change your job. This debt takes 5 years to pay off but switching jobs gets the debt transferred into due. On failing to pay of the amount would be treated as taxable due that would be charged with penalty fee. If you are planning to change your work place then pay off the loaned amount immediately.

4. Hire a financial advisor:

Hiring a financial advisor would help to give you a quick relief from the mounting debts. This advisor helps to negotiate with the creditors on your behalf. He often restructures your budget plan according to your current financial situation. The financial advisor leads you towards a debt free life while giving a new meaning to it.

5. Try to settle with the creditor:

On giving a valid reason and explanation would help you negotiate with the creditor. You can settle the owed balance along with the interest rate that would make the repayment plan reasonable. If your creditor doesn’t agree with the settlement amount then threaten him of declaring bankruptcy. He would fail to retrieve the amount if you file bankruptcy therefore he might agree with the terms of negotiation.

These are the simple ways to get out of debt with ease and that would help you to achieve financial liberation.     

This article has been written by Angela Sanders. She is associated with Oak View Law Group, a trustworthy debt settlement firm.