Credit Cards ABC Credit Card Reviews

With the abundant use of credit cards today, and especially the abundant use compounded by the secret avenues of the world wide web, can put the common consumer in a substantially dangerous position to becoming a victim of fraud. Much like computer viruses and the necessary adjustments made by internet providers, credit card companies and merchants are vigilantly trying to combat fraud as it occurs and thinking of new ways to pre-empt it before it can hit you. The cost of credit card fraud is very high, over 700 million pounds in the UK alone in 2006 so finding ways to anticipate and stop the damage caused by fraud, is much like the credit industry itself, very big business.

Everyone today wants a piece of the fraud protection market. Some credit card companies offer their own incentives and programs and advertise them through clever ads starring Donald Trump, Viking marauders, and unwitting customers channeling the voices of the thieves who made them victims. Internet sites like Scambusters dot com and Merchant911 dot org can protect consumers and merchants. Often these services can be free, or just providing a forum which consumers and merchants can share information regarding recent fraud scams. Even email, which can easily be harvested for numbers being sent back and forth in transactions, is a medium through which consumers can communicate with each other about impending threats or even fraud scams in progress. Though the elimination of fraud completely is impossible, its reduction is possible due to recent innovations in fraud protection such as security chips, picture id’s and the awareness of online merchants.

Company databases often un-wittingly supply a massive amount of credit card information to hackers, being conveniently kept it all in one place. Often the merchant itself might be responsible for payment of the fraud if it is found that improper steps were taken to ascertain the purchaser’s identity and adequately protect the identity of the consumer. The purchases most at risk for fraud are card not present purchases. Sites like Merchant911dotorg list fraud screening sites like: FraudSmack, preCharge, MaxMind, Cardinal Commerce, WhyLabs and Merchant Sense all of them offering fraud screening services to the merchant community, specifically e-merchants who deal with card not present purchases. Consumers have other options also, including identity theft software.

In the last few years, many credit card companies have begun charging foreign fees for purchases made with credit cards outside of the United States. Many customers have become frustrated, wondering why the banks and credit card companies would charge such fees. While it is easy to say that these companies just want more money, the situation is much more complex than this.

Many of the fees associated with credit cards are charged in order to pay for the costs involved with a variety of different transactions. It is important to remember that there are generally more risks involved with making credit card transactions in foreign countries. When you make purchases with your credit in a foreign country, there are likely to be problems with currency exchange, fraud, or charge backs. Because the costs involved with these things can be high, banks have decided to transfer the cost to the consumers.

Most foreign transaction fees are about 3% of the transaction, and this includes any foreign taxes or other fees you may have to pay. It is likely that these fees are permanent, and banks will continue to charge them as long as they are able to pay for the cost of making credit card purchases in foreign countries. Despite this, there are a number of things cardholders can do to avoid these fees. One thing travelers can do to avoid these fees is to use prepaid debit cards. Because they are not true credit cards, prepaid debit cards can help you avoid the foreign transaction fees.

However, you may find that many hotels, restaurants, and other establishments may not accept them. If you plan on using a prepaid debit card, it would be helpful to contact these places ahead of time to make sure your card is accepted. There are also a few credit cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees. Before you get a credit card, call the company to find out if they charge these fees. In the past, Discover and American Express didn’t charge these fees, but they are not as well known as Visa or MasterCard, and may not be accepted at some foreign establishments.

Another thing you should consider is travelers checks. They are widely accepted in most countries, and you can avoid the fees that are charged for credit cards. Though traveling will always be a bit more expensive, you can avoid certain fees if you do your homework.

We allow the credit card industry to make fools of us and we do nothing about it. If someone told you that you were being made a fool of, wouldnt you address the issue? I know I would.

Credit card companies have revenue of 76.03 billion pounds and the majority of this revenue comes from late penalties and over limit and cash advance fees. 29.2 billion came from late penalties, 15.2 billion from over credit limit fees and 3.04 billion from cash advance fees. This amount is 62% of the credit card companies revenue and this does not include finance charges. Nice profit!

The above is the reason why credit card companies can afford to mail over 5 billion credit card offers per year. This equals to 6 offers per household per month. Maybe the 2 billion in postage alone is a reason why our government does not look into the credit card industry seriously.

Every bank and retailer wants you to have their credit card. Having their credit card enables them to make huge profits. In 2001 both Sears and Circuit City reported that over half of their corporate profits were from finance related revenue. Do you think this could be the reason why retailers always have an employee at the front door of their store offering you to sign up for their credit card and in return you receive a special gift or extra so called discount? Most special gifts and extra discounts end up costing you more than the original purchase due to finance charges.

I may not be able to confront these institutions that are trying to make a fool of me, but I can fight back by believing that Cash is King and using cash instead of credit will save me money in the end.

Its a New Year and personal money management should be on the top of your list for 2006.

For many people, their credit card appears to be free. Apart from the interest they pay on their outstanding balance at the end of each month, they do not pay any other fees for the convenience of the credit card. While this may be true for some people, for many of them their credit card provider will in fact be charging them various fees. For others it may not be true at all as they have to pay a monthly or annual fee for their credit card.

Credit card fees can come from a variety of sources. The most basic is that the credit card company simply charges a monthly fee for the card. This can be a result of your having a particularly bad credit rating, but in fact, there are some very financially healthy people who pay these credit card fees. This is because some credit card providers charge these fees on their most exclusive and attractive cards, it is a payment that qualifying customers must make if they are to be granted access to the best rates and terms and conditions.

There are also fees for certain specific types of transactions. Some companies charge fees for using credit card checks. There is usually a fee for using your card abroad, especially if you use it to withdraw cash, and there are certain other types of transactions that will incur an extra fee depending on the policies of your specific card provider.

The most hated fees of all however, are the various fines and penalties that credit card companies impose on their customers for failing to fulfil certain conditions. If you are late on a payment, or do not meet the minimum payment level, you will be charged a fine from you credit card company. One thing you should be aware of with such fines is that once they have been levied on you, they cannot form the basis of future late payment fines. That means that if you do not pay the fine within one month, you cannot be fined again for this, so long as you have paid the minimum amount due on your bill.

With all these various charges, it may not be surprising to learn that credit card companies probably earn just as much money from the fees they charge for various services as they do from the interest they charge you on your monthly outstanding balance.

So, youve filled out the application and are waiting for your brand new, shiny credit card to arrive in the mail. But when the letter finally arrives, youre not greeted with a new credit card, but a denial letter instead. What to do? Read the fact below and determine your next steps.

1. What are some of the reasons that I can get turned down for a credit card?

There are many reasons that people are turned down when they apply for credit cards. Every credit card company has its own rules and guidelines – and in many cases, those guidelines vary from credit card to credit card issued by the same company. Some of the reasons that you might get turned down for a credit card include:

a) Insufficient income. If your income is 25,000 a year, be sure that you apply for a credit card that will accept someone with a 25,000 annual income.

b) You’ve been recently rejected by too many other companies

c) Your credit history is poor. It will show if you’ve missed payments or made them late, or if you’ve defaulted on a loan in the past. Some lenders will overlook bad credit and offer you a credit card with a higher interest rate, or a secured credit card.

d) You don’t have a credit history. If you have no credit history, many lenders won’t consider giving you a credit card because they have no way of judging whether or not you’ll pay them back.

e) Your credit report may have mistakes in it.

f) Your available credit may already be higher than the credit card issuer is comfortable with. Remember, the more credit card debt or availability that you’re carrying, the thinner your income must be spread to pay them all off.

2. What can I do if I get rejected by a credit card company?

Anytime you’re rejected for credit, the credit card company is required by law to tell you the reasons on which they based their decision. They must also tell you which credit reporting agency they got their information from. If you’ve been rejected, you can write to, call or email the credit reporting agency that they contacted and request a copy of your credit card report for free. Look it over carefully to make sure there are no errors.

3. After I checked my credit history because I was turned down by a credit card company, I found that there were mistakes on it. What can I do to fix them?

Immediately write to the credit reporting agency from which you got your report and ask them to correct the mistakes. The more proof you provide to back up your claim of error, the better your chances of having the error completely expunged, but the credit reporting agency is required to at least note that you have asked for the report to be corrected.

4. If one credit card company turned me down, can I apply to another?

You can not only apply to another credit card company, you can apply for a different credit card product with the same company. Every credit card has different guidelines for acceptance. Just be sure to shop around and only apply for the one or two cards that you feel you have the best chance of being accepted for. Too many rejections in your credit history can hurt you when you’re looking for a loan for something important.

What are credit cards?

Credit cards let you pay later for any purchase you make. In case of any sort of emergency or urgent situation, when you may not have cash to make payments, credit cards can be helpful. Credit cards are commonly used to get fuel for cars or buying products in a grocery store. You receive a statement at the end of each month. The statement tells you of the expenditures you have done using your credit card. It also mentions minimum balance, due date, fees, etc.

What is an additional cardholder?

An additional cardholder may be anyone from your family, aged above 18. He will also be issued a credit card. You can contact your credit card company if you wish to have an additional cardholder.

What is a balance transfer?

Balance transfer means the transferring of outstanding balances of credit cards from your current credit card company to another.

What should be done on losing a credit card?

If you happen to lose your credit card, you should inform the your bank as soon as possible, as there can be chances that some one may use your credit card and you end up paying for that too. Once you notify the bank, they at once cancel your credit card and issue you another credit card.

What is an APR?

APR, or Annual Percentage Rate, is just a way of calculating cost of credit, measured as a yearly rate. You must know the APR that would be levied on your credit card before you decide to have one. All credit card companies have varying APRs. You have to see the one that suits you the best.

What is the way to choose a credit card?

This purely depends on your needs and situation. If you would be paying full bills then you need to take a credit card with a low annual fee and other charges. On the other hand, if you want to have a cash advance feature, you need to choose a credit card company with low APR. If you have any doubts and questions, always feel free to call up the credit card company.

What is the credit card grace period?

Credit card grace period is the period in which you can pay your credit card bills before the due date and avoid finance charges. You should be aware of the grace period in order to avoid any sort of finance charges.

With the ever rising reports of credit card fraud, fraudulent use, internet phishing and identity theft, people are rightly concerned about credit card security. Fraudulent credit card use can be an annoyance at best, and seriously damage your credit at worst. It’s only reasonable that people have questions about credit card security and authentication methods. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about credit card security.

1. How does the ATM or store terminal know my PIN number?

PIN (personal identification numbers) are the most often used way to authenticate your identity when you use your credit or ATM card. When you first choose your PIN number, it is ‘encrypted’ – stored in a secret code of letters and symbols – and either stored in a database or on the magnetic stripe on the back of your card.

2. If my PIN number is stored in a database, doesn’t that mean that bank or credit card employees have access to it?

The encryption method that’s used by ATM and credit cards is called ‘one-way encryption’. It makes it easy for the bank’s computer to verify the PIN given the bank’s key and the PIN, but nearly impossible to extract the PIN in text form from the encrypted database.

3. How does the machine ‘read’ my card?

The stripe on the back of your credit or ATM card is called a magnetic stripe. It’s actually made up of thousands of tiny magnetic iron-based particles. The card can be ‘written to’ much the same way that the hard drive on your computer can be written – by means of magnetic interaction changing the charge. Written into the stripe are your account number and identifying data. When you swipe the card, that information is read and sent via modem to an ‘acquirer’ – a company that ‘acquires’ a payment guarantee from the credit card company based on the information stored on your card’s magnetic stripe.

4. Isn’t buying on the internet dangerous and insecure?

Honestly? Your credit card information is in less danger being transmitted over the internet than it is when you hand your card to a store clerk at the counter. The real danger to your credit card information isn’t from hackers hitting online merchants, or stealing your credit card information via modem or phone lines. The real internet security dangers come from two different directions:

a. Hackers using back doors to get into the records of banks, credit card companies and data repositories.

This is the biggest danger. It’s also a danger for stores and companies that have records ‘online’ for billing purposes. There’s a great deal being done to improve security of data repositories, which are far more vulnerable than any data transmission stream.

b. The second big credit card security danger is the practice that’s sometimes called ‘phishing’. In this case, the credit card thieves trick you into giving them your identification and credit card data. They may do this with an email purporting to be from an official of your internet service provider or email, your credit card issuer or anyone else. They also may build sites that are identical to sites like Paypal, American Express and others for the express purpose of capturing your information so that they can use it.

5. How do I protect myself from phishers?

First, never provide your social security number or other identifying data to anyone without first verifying that they are exactly who they say they are. Experts recommend that you never use the link provided in an email to go to the site of someone you do business with. Instead, open a new browser window and type in the known address by hand

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FEES TO BE PAID

Under any circumstances, the following are charged by most credit card companies:
Annual fee Paid for being a user of the card
Cash advance fee. Paid when the card is utilized for making a cash advance; usually a flat fee or a percentage of the amount advanced
Balance-transfer fee. Paid when a balance from another credit card is transferred to the other card. Checks are usually sent to pay-off the card. Balance transfer happens when the check is used to settle the amount due on the other card.
Late-payment fee. Paid if payment was done after the date due
Over-the-credit-limit fee. Paid for payments exceeding the credit limit
Credit-limit-increase fee. Paid for a credit limit increase request
Set-up fee. Paid for opening a new credit card account
Return-item fee. Paid for returned checks when bill payments by check was done for insufficiency of funds (meaning, the check bounced)
Other fees. Payments made for over the phone settlements, cost coverage for credit bureau reporting, account review, provision of other customer services. Other fees and charges are information which may be found on the credit card agreement.

CREDIT LIMIT

The credit limit is the maximum cost – for making purchases, cash advances, transferring balance, finance charges- which may be charged on the credit card. An over-the-credit-limit fee will be paid for exceeding the credit limit.

FEATURES AND INCENTIVES
Incentives and special features are offered by many credit card companies for using the card :
Rebates money discounted on purchases
Regular flier miles or minutes for telephone-conversations
Additional warranty coverage for purchased items
Insurance for car rental
Insurance for accidents incurred while in travel
Credit card registration, in case wallet is lost or stolen and a report of missing credit cards had been made
For a certain amount, credit cards may also offer,
Insurance coverage on credit card balance payments for card holders who become jobless or disabled or suddenly dies. Premiums are usually paid monthly, allowing payment cancellation if payments are more than what the desired payment amount is or if the insurance is no longer needed.
Insurance coverage for the first 50 of charges in case card is lost or stolen. Charges over 50 are protected under federal law.

Prior to availing of these special features, carefully decide whether these features are useful. Never pay for a feature which is not needed or is not useful.

Business today is as competitive as its ever been and, especially since the emergence of the Internet, customers are looking for merchants they can trust and that can offer them the best in service and convenience. Its simply indispensable to accept credit cards to gain the confidence of your customers, and studies show that sales often increase 10-50% for businesses that begin using credit card equipment to process secure transactions.

Exactly what kind of credit card equipment do you need? There is a large gamut of credit card equipment products on the market today. These include: terminals, terminal & printer combinations, pin pads, card processing printers, wireless credit card processing terminals, credit and debit card processing software.

Credit card equipment is not as expensive as you may think. Terminals have prices that range from 99 to 760. Terminals with printers can cost twice as much. Pin pads are also about 100 to 300, and will allow you to accept debit card purchases as well. Dont penny pinch when it comes to this relatively inexpensive business expense, since a one-time savings of 30 could negatively affect your business in the long run. You want credit card equipment that is quick, light, and above all reliable. Some dependable credit card equipment manufacturers include Verifone, Nurit, and Hypercom.

Its usually a good idea to purchase your credit card equipment directly instead of leasing. The most important consideration, however, will be choosing a merchant account provider. A reliable provider can pre-program your credit card equipment for you, and since they expect to work with you for several years, they are less likely to try and get a quick sale from you. Service and honesty goes a long way when choosing a merchant account provider and credit card equipment.

As you might guess, wireless terminals are especially useful for mobile merchants, taxi drivers for instance, as well as merchants who sell at trade shows or other traveling venues where credit card equipment is needed on the go. When purchasing wireless credit card equipment, make sure that it offers secure, reliable processing and includes payment software that you can use with your portable computer, PDA, or other mobile device.

Credit card equipment is used in conjunction with credit card processing software. Do a little bit of research before choosing which software you are comfortable with, and identify which software is supported by your transaction provider. Some of the most known brand names in credit card equipment software include industry standards like PC Charge Express and Pro, IC Verify, and Authorize.net.

Youve got your business off the ground. Now all you need to do is obtain quality credit card equipment in order to accept and process your customers credit card transactions.

Have you wondered how credit card eligibility is determined?

Curious whether youre eligible for a credit card?

It all has to do with your credit rating and credit score. Here we go with a quick tutorial on what constitutes credit-worthiness and how you can make sure that you are eligible for a credit card when you want one.

Credit Reports and Credit Scores

When you buy something on credit or have a credit card, the credit card company or store makes periodic reports to one or more credit reporting agencies. Those agencies keep records of your credit history how good you are at paying your bills on time.

Among the things that go into your credit history are:

1. How many credit cards you have
2. How much you owe on each one
3. How many loans youve taken out
4. How much you still owe on them
5. Any payments that youve made late
6. Any payments that youve missed
7. If youve ever defaulted on a loan
8. If youve ever filed for bankruptcy
9. If you own a house
10. If there has ever been a judgment against you for unpaid debts

Credit reporting agencies assign a weight to each of those facts, and assign points to you based on each of those points. The total of those points is called your credit score. The higher your credit score is, the better your credit is.

Some of the things that you lose points on your credit score for are:

1. Having too many credit cards
2. Carrying too much debt on your credit cards
3. Carrying too many loans
4. Making late payments or missing payments
5. Defaulting on a loan
6. Applying for a lot of credit cards in a short time

The credit card and credit score give a snapshot of your credit history.

Getting a Credit Card

When you apply for a credit card, the company that issues the card checks with a credit reporting agency to get your credit report and find out your credit score. Since theyre basically lending you money whenever you use your credit card, they want to make sure that youre the kind of person who pays your debts on time. They have an ideal snapshot that they compare your credit report and score with. The closer your credit score is to their ideal, the better your chances of getting a credit card with a great interest rate and good terms.

The lower your credit score is, the more a risk you are for the credit card company. Because they take a bigger risk when they lend you money, they charge you more by giving you a higher interest rate. If your credit score is too low, they wont give you a credit card at all. If you have no credit history at all, they also may decide not to give you a credit card, depending on other factors in your credit history.

If youre turned down for a credit card..

The credit card company has to tell you the reasons that you were turned down. They also have to tell you which credit reporting agency they got your credit history from. There are three major credit reporting agencies in the country Equifax, Experian and Transunion. The report that the credit card company used to make their decision will be one of those.

You have the right to request a copy of the credit report that they used to make your decision. The company that provided the report to the credit agency has to give you a copy free. The credit reporting agency also has to give you a copy of your credit report once every 12 months if you request it. Get your credit report to find out what it says about you and to see how you can improve your credit score so that you wont be turned down next time.

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