When you do your buying of things using that credit card, pay those purchases early; you do not have to wait for the credit card collection system to catch up with you. In this way, you can reduce, or even avoid entirely, the hidden fees that you are bound to pay if you just unknowingly go by the rules of the credit card business, like paying up when you get the bill, etc. Read more…

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The use of credit has often been exploited and abused not by the lender but by the borrower. If she fills up her gas tank she uses the credit card. If she shops around for small things and eats a burger, the credit card is used again. If she buys a small affordable appliance, she is more than willing to have it charged to her credit card. Sometimes when she buys just a box of bath soap, she still avails of her credit line. Read more…

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Your FICO score is a number that tells lender what kind of a lending risk you might be. Some lenders use it and others don’t. Pay day loans do not use a FICO score to approve a borrower. Most everyone else does. It’s a way of quantifying all of your credit history into a single number that determines the types of interest rates you get and whether you are approved for a loan or not. FICO actually stands for Fair Isaac & Co., the group that developed the FICO score, and not the name to the measurement analysis tool. FICO is only the number used in the United States and doesn’t necessarily have any relationship to other credit measures used in other countries. The number is between 300 and 850, with good scores varying from lender to lender. Some lenders think a good score is anything above 720 while others may be more lenient and make a cut-off at 680. Types of credit lenders that check your FICO are credit card companies, mortgage companies, car dealerships, rental companies, and more. The reason that pay day loans do not use a FICO score is because they rely on your work history instead of your credit history to determine your ability to repay the loan. Read more…

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Your credit is a very important thing. Many companies use the information on your credit report to justify extending you credit. It also allows companies to know what risks they are taking when they offer you goods and services. Insurance companies even use your credit rating to adjust your rates. If you have great credit, they assume you are more responsible and will offer you lower rates than those with less-than-stellar credit. Read more…

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Credit cards can be a reliable way to get unsecured credit based solely on your assessed risk by the company issuing the card. The higher the risk you are to them, the more likely your credit card will come with a higher interest rate. However, not all credit card companies are alike. Some are hoping now to bury some questionable practices in the fine print and reap millions in additional fees and penalties from their customers. If you aren’t sure whether you are being scammed, check out some of the ways that you might incur penalties and fees, sometimes even before you’ve had a chance to use the credit card for purchases. Read more…

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The credit card industry is a big business that relies on interest rates, fees, and high balances for their profits. Some companies offer low fees and low interest to their more credit-worthy customers, while other companies offer high rate cards to those with poor credit. These companies are virtually unregulated on the national level and are only bound to individual state laws. Fortunately, most states have very strict limits on the interest that can be charged to consumers. Read more…

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There is so much information available about what one should do if they are in credit card debt and how to raise their credit score. It is pretty much common sense that if you don’t pay your credit cards on time or bide by the credit cards’ terms and conditions that your credit score will suffer. But what if you do pay your credit cards on time and you do follow the terms and conditions of your credit card? Read more…

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Did you know that your credit score is based on multiple criteria, not just your payment history? The misconceptions as to how you are assigned a particular score abound. It’s really not that difficult to know what is affecting your credit score, as there are several categories that makeup the total profile. The better you are in each category, the more it adds to your credit score. The higher your credit score, the more lenders trust you as a good risk. The lower your credit score, the harder it is to obtain loans at a decent interest rate. Although some lenders will lend without checking a credit score, like companies that offer payday advances, most other lenders will want to check your credit score before they approve your request for money. Read more…

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Everyday, one way or another, the average person is marketed some sort of debt consolidation loan, debt reduction service, or credit repair plan. There are subtle techniques that are used to put these services out there, and some people take the bait. While not all services work best for all people and of course there are always those services that are trying to scam people, what about those services that work? Read more…

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The Federal Reserve has a lot of impact on how banks lend money but not many people are fully aware of just how much. To put it simply, the Federal Reserve lends the banks money, and the rate that the banks receive from the Federal Reserve in turn determines the rates at which the banks lend money to the rest of us. Some people may agree that the reason why the sub prime lending has hit such a bust is because when the banks were flush with cash while the housing market was facing low interest rates, the Fed’s did not jump. This could explain why so many people are currently facing foreclosure along with other credit damaging situations. Read more…

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