Credit Score Myths Explained

May 11th, 2010

While taking a decision on your loan approval, your lender will determine your credit score. The most common scoring method used is FICO scores. These ratings are usually used for determining your eligibility for mortgages. This makes it imperative to find out the factors that can improve or damage your score. But there are a lot of myths surrounding these scores. Here we try to dispel the myths surrounding these ratings.

Getting your credit report checked can damage your credit score: If you ask for your credit report, it is just a casual inquiry. It will not affect your score. But if a lender or creditor asks for your report, it can lower your score by 5 points per inquiry. But there is a solace for you. Multiple inquiries in a span of 14 days are treated as single inquiry.

The inquiries made within a month before the day of calculation of scores are ignored. Apply for the loan within the small timeframe to prevent the any serious damage to your credit score.

If you close old credit accounts, your credit score goes higher: Do not be taken in by the lenders claim that closing old, inactive accounts can make your credit score go higher. In fact, the opposite is true as per the current system of rating. When you cancel your old debts, your credit score goes down due to shorter credit history. The better option will be to limit or close the new accounts to decrease your levels of credit. Do not apply for the new credit because it can bring down your score.

You have to check many more things than FICO score rating: FICO credit score ratings are calculated by using the formula designed by Fair, Isaac. The major credit bureaus call this rating by different names. It is the only thing considered by the creditors while deciding on your eligibility. But you have to remember that the ratings each bureau gives you will vary a lot as they do not use the same data for computation. Checkyour credit report from the major bureaus before deciding to go for a major loan like mortgage. Get any error rectified immediately.

Credit counseling can harm your score: This is not true. As of today, the FICO credit score rating system does not take into account the reports of credit counseling noted in your file. This is basically due to the fact that those undergoing credit counseling have the same chances of defaulting on their payments as anybody else. But avoid making late payments as they can damage your credit score. However, if you are applying for a loan,credit counseling can severely hamper your chances of getting one. Some lenders will not trust you and can refuse the loans. Others can charge you higher rate of interest than the one prevailing for the customers with good record.

Paying your bills before the due date and reducing the credit card debt are the best ways to improve your score. Ask for your credit report regularly and scrutinize it carefully for any discrepancies. Do not believe any of the credit score myths.

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Why Choose A Gas Credit Card

February 16th, 2009

The counters of each gas station throughout the country are stocked with the applications for a gas credit card. Though most people with credit card may think that they can do without a gas card, effectively they are foregoing membership benefits that these cards offer. Just like a normal credit card, these cards come with features such as airline miles, cash rebate systems, discount offers at participating outlets and economical roadside assistance programs. Normally gas card plans will be given to those people who are ineligible for a good deal on a normal credit card account, and are a great choice for those wanting to improve their credit rating.

If you want to build credit, you may have slightly restricted choices. But regularly using your gas card and paying it off by the end of each month, will help in bargaining with the lenders for a lower interest rate on your current card, or even getting another card with better reward package. But keep in mind, gas cards charge a far higher interest rate than a normal credit card, so ensure you always pay off your balance in full by the due date. Otherwise, you’ll be charged very exorbitant interest rates.

If you or anybody in your home drive, a gas card will definitely ensure you are not left stranded with an empty tank. A roadside assistance benefit will provide you with an additional peace of mind, as you know you won’t have to ask strangers for help, if the car breaks down or a tire punctures.

If there is a specific gas station you visit frequently, taking a gas card from them would be advisable. This is more important if it rewards you for using it frequently. The rewards could be airline miles for each dollar spent, or a coupon or discount program. If you are a regular traveler, select a gas card for a leading nationwide chain of gas stations, as it is more beneficial than the one for your neighborhood station.

A gas card offering a roadside assistance choice can be a viable alternative to an expensive roadside assistance plan like AAA. Moreover there are plenty of options in gas cards today. So always compare the cards while shopping to get the maximum benefits package for your need.

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Cheap Unsecured Loans

February 16th, 2009

Unsecured loans comprise the largest part of loan products in the UK loan market. The borrowers feel safe since their loans do not need any security. Applicant for a loan always considers 3 factors: meeting his financial requirements, obtaining a loan at a low APR, and the loan having a significantly lesser risk. Risk is decided whether any asset is needed as collateral. Unsecured loans are highly preferred since the borrowers do not have to pledge any asset to obtain the loan.

But lack of security makes it riskier for the lenders. They can take legal action against the borrower, in case of default on the loan repayment. But the court cases normally take a long time to be settled. So to mitigate the risk, the lender charges high APR on unsecured loans. Also the loan amount you can borrow as unsecured loan is quite less. Hence for a major expense like home purchase, always go for secured loans.

People normally want to go for cheap unsecured loans. However this can be a challenging task. In case, your repayment history, credit score and DTI (debt to consolidation) ratio is flawless, you can get a cheap unsecured loan. However the APR charged will be still more than that for secured loans. Market research and trends show that most unsecured loans are obtained for debt consolidation. Those with multiple debts do not really have sterling credit score. Hence obtaining cheap unsecured loans can be challenging. There are bad credit unsecured loans available too. Sub-prime lenders give these loans to the borrowers having poor credit score due to frequent arrears and defaults.

Borrowers interested in cheap unsecured loans must have flawless credit history. High street lenders shun offering unsecured loans, especially after the rise in the instances of personal insolvencies in UK for the past year. However with online media being widely used, you can search for these loans on the Internet.

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Bank Of America Student Credit Card

February 16th, 2009

Most college or university students frequently stay away from their parents for the first time. Many of them are quite proud to get help from their parents. Now what does a student do if they have place an order online? Maybe they want to buy books or get the latest clothes. Here a credit card helps them to be independent from their parents.

The Bank of America Student Visa Platinum Plus Credit Card is one of the most commonly used student credit cards. Unlike most other student credit cards, a student can apply for this student credit card without a cosigner. There is no need to ask their parents to put their credit in jeopardy. In certain cases, their parent’s bad credit can hamper their prospects of getting other student credit cards.

Your time in college or university lays down the groundwork for your future. An aspect of that future can include a house or car. To pay for these items, the banks consider your credit history. Longer your credit history, higher the trust reposed by the bank in you. Consequently the banks would be glad to loan you more money at lower interest rates. Even if you don’t use your credit card, it can help you in future.

The Bank of America Student Credit Card provides other benefits like

:

Online Banking Service – provides easy access to account activity, credit card balance and payment due date. You can also pay your credit card bill online for free.

Complete Security Protection – a free package of security features like: zero liability for illegal use, fraud monitoring, online protection and photo security. This gives you the chance to get your own photo on your credit card.

Purchase Replacement – offers repair or replacement for card purchases, which are stolen or damaged within 90 days. Moreover it doubles the warranty on card purchases that have a US warranty of 1 year or lower.

Travel and Emergency Assistance – provides different services like: medical/ legal referral assistance, pre-trip assistance, lost luggage assistance, emergency ticket replacement, prescription delivery, and emergency translation assistance.

Auto Rental Insurance – gives you car rental insurance automatically with your credit card. Absence of this feature can cost over hundreds of dollars while renting a vehicle.

It has no annual fee, additional cards and cash advance checks are free. Hardly any other student credit cards give so much benefit without any annual fee. Though the Bank of America student credit card doesn’t have reward points system, it is one of the best student credit cards in the market.

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Business Green Rewards From American Express

February 16th, 2009

The Business Traveler magazine has awarded the Business Green Rewards from American Express as the best credit cards rewards program. The membership rewards program from this credit card allows you to earn points for each dollar spent. At the same time, you can redeem points for goods, travel and other business requirements.

The Business Green Rewards from American Express is actually a charge card. It expects you to make the full payment of purchases made with the card as soon as you get monthly bill. A late payment attracts the fees that equal the higher of $30 or 2.99% of the unpaid balance. It has an annual fee of $95. It is great for you if you don’t want the piling of credit card debt.

It comes with a 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR) on purchases and balance transfers. If you can manage to pay your monthly bills on time, then the point-based rewards program is appropriate for you.

Privileges Of Holding The Card

The points you get by using the Business Green Rewards from American Express do not have any limit and are valid as long as you hold the card. The card is a great way to let you handle your expenses comfortably. You get 5000 bonus points after you make the first purchase. Due to the extensive redemption program, you can redeem your points in quantities as low as 400.

You can also register and get extra Business Green Rewards cards, for your employees. The cards will automatically connected to your Membership Rewards Account and give you points for every dollar your employee spends on the card.

You can go for the OPEN Savings scheme. It does not need any codes or coupons and the savings will be added to the other discounts that you may have already got. The OPEN Network gives discounts to businesses on services such as shipping, telephone, printing and car rentals. The program gives extra cards without any fees and has no predetermined spending limit on the card.

The network news updates you about the benefits and promotions, useful business articles, expert advice and business tools and resources. The Expense Management Reports make you aware of the business card expenses in terms of type of spending, time-period for each card holder in terms of the information available for the present year and previous 2 fiscal years. This facility is free.

Extra Perks

The purchase protection plan safeguards from/against theft and accidental damage for up to 90 days from the date purchased. The return protection allows you to return an item within 90 days from the date purchased. In that case, you will be given the whole refund of the price, up to $300 per item.

The rewards program of Business Green Rewards from American Express consists of emergency card replacement, insurance protection, access to 24-hour customer service, travel accident insurance up to $100,000, car rental insurance, check cashing assistance and an increased choice of payment that allows you to pay for expensive purchases over time.

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Affinity Credit Cards

February 16th, 2009

Affinity credit cards are one of the most widely used type of plastic we hold nowadays. This is more important because the craze for balance transfer deals and associated things goes on decreasing. Initially, the focus was on saving money by transferring credit card debt, but today it has shifted to making profit from using the card, or at least to derive certain benefit from our regular spending habits. This shift in focus has caused a massive growth in the number of rewards and cashback cards available in the market. The question is: what is the status of affinity cards?

In simple terms, an affinity card is a card that links the cardholder with a certain company, organization, or area of interest. The card will normally have a picture to denote this association. It will also provide some benefit connected with the affinity subject. A good example is an affinity card for a certain clothing store. If you shop a lot at this particular store, and use your credit card associated with this store, then you can get benefits like discounts, gift vouchers etc.

This is an example of where affinity cards and rewards cards fuse and overlap. However the affinity card will offer more focused reward scheme than the regular card.

Another variety of affinity card that has become popular nowadays is a charity credit card. These cards can be regarded as variations of cashback credit cards, in which a small portion of all your expenses on the card is refunded. However with this card, instead of the cashback being credited to your account or given to you as a check, it is normally donated to the charity or charities associated with the card. The most popular are animal charities and health research charities, but the range is vast and you are certain to get a charity card supporting a non-profit of your choice.

Closely associated with charity cards are sports affinity cards. They work a lot in the same way, but instead of giving donations to charitable organizations, they give it to your favorite sports team. Holding this type of card allows you to provide financial support to your team, and at the same time asserting your support by inscribing your team’s logo or badge on the card.

The last type of affinity card can be called a lifestyle card, and instead of offering you direct rewards or supporting your favorite organization, they are just commonplace credit cards that pictorially show your interest or hobby like an artwork or your favorite sport. For obvious reasons, these cards are not highly popular nowadays, since there are other cards offering more useful benefits.

So is it worth using affinity cards? In general, they don’t provide such a wide range of features as major credit card, but if you can manage to get one that closely matches your lifestyle, then they can be quite beneficial and worth applying for.

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Airline Rewards Credit Cards From Chase

February 16th, 2009

The British Airways Visa Signature Card is one of the excellent credit cards for people who love to fly British Airways. It is issued by Chase.

Cardholders get 1 mile per dollar spent on general purchases like gas and groceries and 2 miles per dollar spent on British Airways. As a thank you for signing up, cardholders get 15,000 bonus miles for their first purchase of any amount. Subsequent purchases fetch 2 British Airway miles per dollar spent on British Airway purchases and 1 mile per dollar spent on other purchases. Unlike rewards programs for other credit cards, there is no annual limit to the number of miles earned and these miles are valid as long as the frequent flyer account is active for a 3 year period.

Apart from the reward program, it offers various benefits like travel accident insurance, auto rental insurance, and lost luggage insurance. You also can avail of personal concierge service without a predetermined spending limit. Moreover, by buying a FIRST, Club World, or World Traveler Plus round-trip transatlantic ticket at normal price, British Airways offers you another ticket completely free.

There is a low introductory offer applicable to purchases and balance transfers for the initial 5 months. The interest rate for purchases and balance transfers is far better than the normal for a reward card (after the expiry of the introductory offer) and is not suitable for people who want to carry a revolving balance because of the finance charges that can be applied.

The annual percentage rate for this Visa Signature Card goes up to 17.24% once the introductory period expires. The annual fee is a nominal $75 per annum.

Features:

1 BA Mile per $1 Spent on All Other Purchases

15,000 Bonus BA Miles subsequent to First Purchase

2 BA Miles per $1 Spent on British Airways Purchases

$20 off Any British Airways Ticket bought at www.britishairways.com/get20 on the card
Unlimited BA Miles.

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Advanta Business Credit Card

February 16th, 2009

The world of business credit card is fiercely competitive. But certain financial institutions have chosen to be niche players. The main reason driving their decision to specialize is the need to capture market share.

One such niche player is the Advanta Bank Corporation. Advanta is regarded to one of the biggest business credit card issuers, catering to the small business market. This statement is quite apt because Advanta is known to have concentrated solely on the small business market, and its business credit cards are designed to meet the needs of small businesses.

This is clearly obvious when you go to the Advanta web site to get a view of their business credit card products: they have only one product, the Advanta MasterCard Platinum Business credit card. It is a cash back rewards business credit card that gives you 5% discounts on specific items and a 1% overall discount, on others.

They are consistently trying on their behalf to partner with more companies that offer products and services that are essential to the regular operating expenses of small businesses. This is to make their credit card more popular among small businesses.

The Advanta business credit card packages have quite competitive pricing. The 0% introductory annual percentage rate on balance transfers is valid for15 months. This is far longer than that offered by many other business credit cards. Equally vital to the small business owner is the APR on balance transfers after the introductory period. This card has 7.99% fixed interest APR that is one of the lowest. Most other business credit cards carry higher APRs at variable interest rates.

To make their product more attractive to the small business, Advanta business credit cards offer cash back bonuses faster than most other business credit cards. It has an automatic cash back payout feature, meaning you begin getting your cash back checks per $50 you have accumulated straight away. This can provide a small amount of cash flow.

If you so desire, you can opt for travel rewards instead. While most other business credit cards offer free travel only on accumulation of 15,000 or even 25,000 rewards points, Advanta business credit cards offers free travel on accumulating 10,000 rewards points.

In keeping with its niche strategy to fulfill the requirements of the small business credit card market, Advanta provides a comprehensive library of small business resources to their business credit card holders. This allows them to refer to small business guides and small business tools.

Small business guides usually provide business credit card holders guidance in preparing business and marketing plans, and offer details about certain financial products. There are general tips on how to win attractive government contracts and how to protect your personal assets.

Small business tools usually offer business credit card holders with easy-to-use templates of different official government forms (either for tax purposes or for government contracts), sample business documents like business letters, contracts, forms, general policy statements and financial spreadsheets to assist them in dealing with their finances.

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Do You Know Your VantageScore

February 16th, 2009

The Fair Isaac and Co’s system has been used for more than 50 years to compute your credit score, and hence the name FICO score. But today there is a new method called VantageScore. It is slightly more than a year old, and was first introduced in March 2006. The questions arise: what is the need for a new system and how is it different from FICO? What are the benefits and drawbacks of VantageScore? How do you know your VantageScore?

It is an open secret that the 3 credit bureaus, Experian, Trans Union and Equifax will show a different credit score for a person depending on the underlying information available with them. The aim of creating VantageScore was to offer higher consistency amongst the 3 bureaus to eliminate these discrepancies.

The two systems differ both in the method of computing the credit score and the method of presenting the result. Both systems take into account the same 5 factors in their computation, but while FICO stresses more on payment history and amount outstanding that comprise 65% of the score, these factors only form nearly 47% of the VantageScore. The FICO results lie between 500 and 850. A figure exceeding 720 is regarded as prime. VantageScore lies between 501 and 999 and has extra classification of letters A-F for each class of one hundred. Hence A 901-990 is considered as super prime, C 701-800 is prime and F 501-600 is very risky.

One drawback of FICO is that a score of 720+ signifies a go ahead to a prospective lender, but there is no universally accepted grading of the lower figures. This problem can be overcome with the VantageScore by using letters A-F that lets you immediately get an idea of the risk profile of the borrower. But the critics of this system maintain that within each category, there can be a big difference. E.g. a score of 698 is just out of prime by virtue of 3 points, while 603 has just managed to escape the category of high risk, but both lie in category D.

The prime reason for the variation in FICO credit scores between the 3 bureaus is the difference in the data that each gets. Though the promoters of VantageScore maintain that their system will yield highly consistent results, they accept this is based on the quality of the data.

Your present FICO credit score can be obtained from any of the 3 credit bureaus, but as of now only Experian will give you VantageScore for a price of $5.95.

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Discover Rewards Credit Cards

February 16th, 2009

The Discover® Motiva Card from Discover, is meant for people with very good credit and who want to earn cash rewards by making timely payments and purchases. It is certainly one of the excellent choices from amongst the various cards due to its great credit card rewards program.

The reward program offers cardholders who spend up to $1,500 on general purchases a .25% rebate, $1,500- $3,000 attracts a .5% rebate, and over $3,000 earns a 1% rebate. You can also earn .25% for purchases made at certain warehouse clubs and discount stores.

For those who love online shopping, it is great. Shop for anything on Discover’s exclusive online shopping site, and you can get anywhere from 5-20% cash back. If you don’t want to utilize this benefit immediately, don’t worry because any points or cash back rebates on your card are valid as long as the card is active. Besides there is no limit on the amount you can earn in total rebate value.

If you pay by due date, you will get a pay-on-time bonus. If you manage to make 6 on-time payments consecutively, you get a credit for the payment of your next month’s interest. You can get pay-on-time bonus, 2 times a year.

Apart from the reward program, the card also comes with many cardholder benefits like travel accident insurance of up to $500,000, auto rental insurance, and different fraud and security protection services.

The introductory APR is a nominal .9% for the initial 10 months and is applicable even for balance transfers. After that, the APR is comparatively low for those eligible for the card, so ensure your credit score is completely perfect.

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