Surviving in the world...

Surviving in the world of credit cards

Now we, customers, play a game ‘who have a better credit score’. It looks like that having a credit score is a point of pride rather than...

Some necessary researc...

Some necessary researches before getting rewards credit card

You decide to choose a credit card? OK, at first make a research to find the best variant for you. Before you request one of cards, you should be...

Advantages of reward c...

Advantages of reward credit cards

Of course, you think about worth and convenience of using a retail credit card so that when you buy something at this shop and you see something you...

A good credit history ...

A good credit history it’s very easy

Credit cards are convenient and can certainly help you to settle a good credit history, when you are young. And the good credit history is very...

What to Do If Your Credit Card Gets Stolen

Posted by: Lola Thornton  Posted date: August 17, 2010 in Credit Cards Articles
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Listening to a steady stream of advice flowing from my grandmother’s lips during the entirety of my growing up years, you’d have thought she published the world’s largest collections of “Maxims to Live By.” Of course, if the world had listened to and followed her wise counsel contained in such memorable statements as “Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” I wouldn’t be writing this blog.

Because I enjoy the convenience of credit and debit cards, or perhaps because avoiding credit wasn’t a “lesson I learned early and harmlessly,” I have to face the fact that having my credit card or my credit card number stolen is a very real possibility as it is for anyone who carries credit cards. I’m not exempt just because I write this blog. However, knowing “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” there are steps both you and I can take prior to having cards stolen that will help if that event ever takes place.

First, carry a minimum number of cards in your wallet and never carry a social security card.

Second, it’s recommended that you keep a photocopy of both sides of every card you own. This file of paperwork should

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Best Credit Card for Someone Looking to Build Credit

Posted by: Matilda Sprent  Posted date: August 17, 2010 in Credit Cards Articles
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Bad credit? No credit history? Before I begin to sound like a used car commercial, let me say that a variety of credit cards exist designed to help people build (or re-build) their credit.

If you are a student, cards like the Discover Student Open Road Card can help you build your credit while giving cash back bonuses and many benefits. If you are a student, we highly recommend any number of student cards to begin building your credit and start getting a firm financial footing in life. Some even reward you for good grades and good credit habits.

But, for adults who are beyond their college years, the credit cards available to build your credit, unfortunately, don’t carry as many perks and benefits. But there are some very good secured credit cards available. <

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Tags: Credit Credit Card

Third Phase of Credit CARD Act Finally Arrives

Posted by: Lola Thornton  Posted date: August 16, 2010 in Credit Cards Articles
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Has it not felt like an eternity since President Obama first signed the Credit CARD Act into law? Here we are almost 15 months after the stroke of his pen, and we’re still waiting for the final round of new credit card rules to take effect.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait much longer. Beginning August 22nd, here are five of the final key changes you should expect to see from your credit card companies:

1. No More Inactivity Fees

That’s right—your credit issuer can no longer charge you a fee for not using your card enough!

2. $25 Max on Fees

Unless one of your payments was late during the previous six months, your credit card company cannot charge you a fee in excess of $25. If you have been late, they can still charge a fee as high as $35.

3. Late Fees Capped at Minimum Payment

In addition to the $25 cap on fees, late fees cannot exceed your minimum payment amount. So, if

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Tags: Act Card Act Credit Card Credit Card Act

Yes, You Do Need a Credit Card – and You Need to Use It

Posted by: John Freycinet  Posted date: August 16, 2010 in Credit Cards Articles
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The current state of the economy has put Americans in a new frame of mind – one that says it isn’t fun anymore to be in debt. Some folks are even trying to go “all cash” to get away from the danger of checking overdrafts and/or identity theft.

But, you never know when you might actually need to use credit, whether you want to or not. There are times when the car engine blows up, or the furnace goes out in 10 degree weather – and you don’t have enough savings to cover repairs or replacement.

Owning and using a credit card will help keep you in a position to access credit quickly in that kind of emergency.

First, it will give you instant access to funds up to your credit limit. That might be all you need to cover the cost of a furnace repair man or a rental car to use while yours is in the shop.

But just as importantly, wise use of your credit card will help you keep your credit scores high – so if that car is beyond repair and you need a new one, you’ll not only be able to get a car loan, you’ll pay a lower interest rate.

The way you pay bills accounts for 35% of your credit score. So using your cre

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Credit cards and gambling: The Web as both the problem and the solution

Posted by: John Freycinet  Posted date: August 16, 2010 in Credit Cards Articles
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Should you be allowed to sit in your skivvies and gamble away your time via online poker? And go into credit card debt if you lose?

We have written extensively about the issue of online gambling, since the most popular way to pay for that habit has been credit cards.

A 2006 federal law, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, placed the onus on credit card issuers to make sure their cards weren’t being used for online gambling.

Now, in a twist, California Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Jerry Brown has announced that his office will start using the Web to prevent problem gamblers from going into cardrooms. Instead of being part of the problem, his office is trying to make the Web part of the solution to problem gambling.

Since 2007, the state has had a paper-based system in which people who know they have a gambling problem can banish themselves from the state’s cardrooms.

A little more than 1,000 people have joined the “Self-Exclusion Program,” filling out a paper and providing a photo to the state.

It goes into a database that is distributed to the cardrooms.

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Tags: Gambling Gambling Web

Possible company sale shouldn’t worry Barnes & Noble gift cardholders

Posted by: John Freycinet  Posted date: August 14, 2010 in Credit Cards Articles
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News that book retailer Barnes & Noble may be up for sale shouldn’t send consumers speeding to the nearest store, gift card in hand.

Barnes & Noble announced on Aug. 3 that it was considering a possible sale of the company. But a potential change in ownership won’t leave its gift cards valueless, Barnes & Noble and an independent expert say.

“The fact that the board is exploring strategic alternatives has nothing to do with the day-to-day business,” says Mary Ellen Keating, the company’s senior vice president of corporate communications. Barnes & Noble is continuing to accept its gift cards as usual, Keating says.

And it will likely continue to redeem store-issued plastic. Even if a sale were to happen, “that means the gift cards should still be viable under the new ownership,” says Tim Henderson, senior director with consumer research and advisory firm Iconoculture in Minneapolis. Henderson adds that he has no insider knowledge about the details of Barnes & Noble’s business plans. Read more…

Tags: Gift Gift Cardholders