There are credit card tips, and then there are credit card secrets. These latter are little known tricks that credit card companies play on you, as well as tricks you can use to get rid of fees and pay off your debt sooner. Here are some of the best credit card tips, tricks and secrets.

1. You can get rid of annual fees. If you have good credit, just call and ask for fee to be removed. This worked on three out of four cards I called on, and I just dumped the other. Of course the threat to do the same with the others is what got the fees dropped.

2. Read the fine print, and pay on time. Be aware that under “universal default” rules, if you are late on one card, your interest rate can be increased on other cards as well. They love to get you with this one.

3. Watch for changing due dates. This is a trick used by some credit card companies to get you to pay late, so they can collect the late fees. They will also be able to raise your rate, and the rate on other cards you may have. Don’t assume that your payment due date will always be the same.

4. Use promotional checks with care. Transferring balances to 0 interest promotions can be a good idea, but watch out for those that charge “balance transfer fees.” Transferring a balance that you were going to pay off soon anyhow will just cost you more if there is a 3% transfer fee.

5. Try credit unions for cards. Their cards usually have lower rates. My credit union Visa rate hasn’t been over 10% in years, and I have zero liability for unauthorized charges.

6. Ask to have the late fee waived. If you’ve never been late before, some credit card companies will waive a late fee - but only if you ask. Why not try it? All it takes is a phone call.

7. Pay in full every month. Credit cards are for convenience, not for hiding the true cost of things. Don’t pay interest - just pay the balance every month.

8. Don’t buy the credit card insurance. This typically stops your payments when you are injured or unemployed. It is one of the most over-priced insurances out there, and doesn’t eliminate the debt, but just delays it.

9. Avoid credit card security insurance. It pays for unauthorized charges when your card is stolen, but you are only liable for the first $50 if you report the theft in any case, and many cards already have 0 liability.

10. Pay high-interest cards first to reduce credit card debt. If you have $200 monthly to apply to your credit card debt, pay only the minimums only on all cards but the card with the highest interest rate. Put all the rest of the money towards that one. Once that one is paid off, work on the next highest. This is the fastest way to get rid of your credit card debt, and the most important of these credit card tips.

Steve Gillman has been hunting down obscure knowledge and useful secrets for years. Learn more and get a free gift at: The Secret Information Site (http://www.TheSecretInformationSite.com)

Share This

Being able to offer your customers as many payment options as possible can make your business grow in a huge way. By giving them the ability to pay for merchandise with their credit cards, especially if you are an online business owner, you give them an ease and flexibility of shopping that will have them returning time and again to make purchases from you. And with the popularity of online shopping higher than it has ever been, the demands to make your business better are just as great. The vast majority of shoppers prefer to pay for their orders with credit cards, so it makes good business sense that you would offer that option to them. By opening a merchant account with one of the many merchant services available to business owners, your customers will enjoy the simplicity and speed of paying by credit card, and you will see your profits soar.

Merchant service firms provide merchant accounts to business owners. A merchant account allows a business to accept credit cards as a form of payment from customers. A merchant account is not the same as a bank account. Rather, a merchant service works to make sure the credit card is verified and that the funds are transferred from the customer you’re your business bank account. It used to be that merchant services were only available through banks and providers to retail establishments that were located in a physical location, like a mall. But the demands of online shopping have caused many merchant account providers to begin to provide merchant services to online business owners. There are many online merchant account providers that offer reliable and secure services particularly to merchants that sell their products on the Internet. Because there are so many merchant service providers available, it is important to be familiar with all characteristics of merchant services, especially the potentially high costs, so that you don’t lose your profits. It is also important to find a merchant account provider that is dependable, trustworthy, and offers secure services for you and your customers.

If you open a merchant account for your online business, the type of payment processing usually offered by a merchant account service is real-time processing. Real-time processing is the best solution for online business owners since the charge from the customer’s credit card is promptly processed when an order is placed. The customer receives an email notification that the order has been processed and the fund transfer is approved by the credit card company, upon verification and approval of the credit card. You will see the profits from the sale in your bank account within a few days.

The potential fees put upon you for merchant services can be numerous. Since not all of the fees are necessary, and not all merchant service providers change them, check around with different providers until you find one with reasonable fees and monthly charges. Some of these fees include an application fee, a monthly statement fee, a discount rate and transaction fee (these are deducted with each and every sale you make), an annual fee, and a refund fee. There are also other miscellaneous fees that individual merchant service providers might charge you. There are many potential costs associated with opening an account with a merchant service provider. Try to compare services before you make a decision. It’s also a good idea to try to estimate the monthly costs by using your current sales figures to project expenses.

Your relationship with your merchant service provider should last the duration of your business, if possible. You should trust your provider implicitly. Your merchant service provider should offer quick and secure processing of your credit card sales, and they should offer additional services to offer your customers even more payment options. Not only should they accept several types of credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, among others), but they should also provide your customers with added payment alternatives, like PayPal. Your merchant service provider should have a good reputation for having excellent service and reliability, as well as having a name for excellent customer relations. They should be equipped to deal with any issues or problems discreetly and quickly. The merchant services provider you choose to make a relationship with can make or break your business between its fees and service. Make sure you know the facts about merchant services and the providers so that you don’t lose your dream of being a successful business owner.

Learn the essential information for picking the right merchant account services. Merchant Services

Share This

Between the Internet, well-meaning family and friends, and know-it-all articles
in the print media, it’s hard to know where the facts end and the nonsense begins.
Facts are everywhere, but so are urban legends, hidden agendas, and opinions
posing as truth. Fact or fallacy - it can be devilishly hard to tell the difference.

It’s all about risk.

Lenders are anxious to lend. It’s what they do and it’s how they make a profit.
But they are every bit as anxious to insure that they will get their money back.
Therefore, all mortgage lending is predicated on assessing the possibility that
a loan will be repaid.

Since there is no crystal ball, lenders use three main factors in assessing risk.

1) Past Performance

Lenders love history - a borrower’s history. They believe that nothing says more
about what will happen that what has happened before. Therefore, lenders look
closely at how a potential borrower has managed his past obligations. Someone
who has a history of making payments late or not at all is assumed to be someone
who is likely to continue that pattern.

This is where your credit report comes in. A credit report is a detailed history
of how you’ve treated your credit and responsibilities in the past. Lenders look
at your credit report almost exclusively, with the one exception being rental
history when buying a house (rental history doesn’t show up on your credit report).

Now, information you won’t get from your mortgage broker! Credit scores typically
range between 350 and 850. From a practical standpoint, scores range between
500 and 700. Anything less than 500 is horrible and anything more than 700 is
fantastic. 620 or less is generally considered “sub-prime”, meaning you won’t
get the rate that are the lowest out there and you’ll probably have to take a
prepayment penalty.

Sometimes if your score is higher than 620 you may still be sub-prime, if you
have very little equity in the property or issues with your income. This will
be covered in more detail further below, but don’t let your loan officer tell
you your scores are horrible when they’re not!

2) Financial Commitment

The larger the investment, the more likely someone is to protect it. Therefore
lenders like to see borrowers make a financial commitment to their home. Lenders
consider a 20 percent downpayment to be a much more comforting level of commitment
than 5 percent down, and weigh it accordingly.

This is where the term loan-to-value (or LTV) comes in. Loan-to-value is a ratio
that compares the size of the loan in relation to the value of the property.
For example, if you own $80,000 on a home valued at $100,000, this would be an
80% LTV.

Generally speaking, the lower the LTV, the less risky the loan and the more likely
the lender will approve the loan and give you a great rate.

3) Ability to Repay

Motivation to repay is quite different than the ability to repay. Even the most
responsible borrower borrower can find himself in difficulty if his income is
simply not sufficient to make promised payments. Lenders typically use a ratio
called the debt-to-income ratio, or DTI. This is a ratio of the total debts in
relation to the gross income. In other words, if your mortgage, credit card,
and car payemnts all add up to $3,000 per month and your gross monthly income
(before taxes) is $6,000 per month, your DTI would be 50%.

Generally speaking, the lower the DTI the less risky the loan and the more likely
the lender will approve the loan and give you a great rate. 50% is generally
the max, though 45% or less is ideal.

By putting all three of these criteria together, a lender can get a very good
idea of whether they’d like to extend credit to you and if so, what rate and
scenario you would qualify for. Generally speaking, by putting more money down
(a lower LTV), spending less than you make (a lower DTI), and having a great
credit score, you will qualify for better loans and lower interest rates.

Copyright 2005 by Carey Pott

Carey is the Publisher of http://www.homeexpertsonline.com. Home Experts Online offers people the opportunity to learn from experts around the world on topics related to purchasing, owning and maintaining a home. Share your expertise today by submitting your articles. Sign up at http://www.homeexpertsonline.com/authors/register

Share This