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Posts Tagged ‘Credit Cards’

Marc Marseille asked:




Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. The effects of identity theft can be a very hurtful experience that mostly occurs during the important moments of your life. Many victims of identity theft do not even realize that someone or in some cases several people have been violating them by getting access to their personal credit bureau report. Protecting your credit bureau report can easily be achieved by getting a copy of your free triple score from all three credit bureaus.

Your free triple score report will provide you with all the information you have reporting with all three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. Once you have received your credit bureau report, it is crucial that you do a thorough investigation to make sure that all your information is reporting correctly. If you find that you have been a victim of identity fraud, the best thing to do in that situation is to seek professional legal help through a reputable credit attorney.

It is unfortunate if you find yourself dealing with the situation of having your identity stolen, but there several steps you can take to prevent identity theft before it happens. The first step is to arm yourself with identity protection. Many credit card companies offer identity protection through a small monthly fee on your credit card, but if you have several credit cards, you may want to consider getting a more universal identity protection policy. Getting a universal identity protection policy includes using a company that works hand in hand with the 3 credit bureaus to create a lock on your credit bureau report.

Once you’ve create a lock on your credit report, no one can make any purchases using your information without having to verify some very vital information. To secure yourself even further, it is important to shred all important personal information before disposing of them. Information that should be shredded is bank statements, credit card statements, and anything that shows your Social Security Number.

Another precaution you can take is to never give your Social Security Number over the internet through an unsecured server. One way to find out if the website you are viewing is insecure is by looking at your browser window. All secure internet websites start with https: and not just http:. To make it even safer to surf the internet, you should get virus protection, spyware and a reliable internet explorer like Firefox.

My last recommendation to protection your free triple score report sounds simple enough, but a lot of people fall victim to it everyday; you should never give your Social Security Number over the telephone to a company you do not trust. Unless you have a long lasting relationship with a certain company, it is better to deal in person. If you must give sensitive information over the phone such as banking, try to establish a relationship with one particular individual in that department before you do so.

Jeremy
Conleth Onu asked:




Disputing negative entries on your credit report is the most effective method to delete unfavorable information and improve your credit rating.

Many people in America have negative information on their credit report. These derogatory items can be detrimental to your ability to obtain loans, credit cards and other financial services.

You have the right to dispute any inaccurate or incomplete information that is contained in your credit report. There is no charge for this.

If an account is not being reported 100% accurately, by law the credit bureau must remove it from your report.

Here’s How The Process Works.

1. You get a copy of your credit report from the credit bureaus.

2. When you get your reports you carefully review them and note any negative accounts and inaccuracies.

3. You then dispute the negative accounts. Submit the dispute in writing, along with any supporting documentation. If the credit bureau cannot verify the accuracy of any item you dispute, they must remove the item within the alloted time.

4. When the investigation is complete, the credit bureau must send you a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change.

You can continue this process until you are satisfied with the outcome. Remember, if the negative item is not 100% accurate the credit bureau must remove it from your file.

Before you begin the process, it is essential that you have good information on how to go about restoring your credit.

Do you want to learn more about how to do it? I have written the ultimate guide to credit repair, “How To Clean Up Bad Credit And Establish AAA-1 credit Rating.” For free details, click the link below to visit my website.

Leroy
Casey Watkins asked:




Bad credit is a big problem here in the United States. Almost every American has more than ten thousand dollars in credit card debt. We are going to talk about three easy ways to help you credit score. Each of the three tips can help you on all three of the credit bureaus.

1. Dispute Negative Credit on your Report

This is one of most important steps you can do to better your credit. Each negative or incorrect item that is on your account can be disputed. When you dispute an item with the credit Bureau and win they have to remove it from your record thus improving your score.

2. Pay Down your Debit Cards

Go thru all your credit cards and get each ones bill. Once you have there bills pay a little extra on each one until they are at 25% of the available credit line that you have for that card. Doing this will drastically raise your score. You can also use what some people call the snowball effect to pay them off. It works really well.

3. Get a Secure Credit Card with a Bank

Most banks will open a secured credit card with you. This type of card is in the banks favor, but helps your numbers out too. Basically you add a deposit of $500 to a secure bank account and the bank gives you a credit card with that amount as your credit line. Once you buy something then you pay the bank until the account is back up to the initial $500.

Martin
Gressly Stevens asked:




When it comes right down to it you already know that there are many reasons that you are judged by your credit every single time you try to make a financial decision and even for employment anymore. This is why you have to check your credit rating at least twice a year. There are many things that you have to understand about credit and why you have to keep yours under control and check it from time to time. Here are some helpful credit tips for you.

1. Understanding your Report

It would do you very little good to pull your credit report twice a year if you have no idea what it means and how to read it. There are two basic categories that will consume the majority of your report, the paid on time side, and the not paid on time side. The paid on time side will be listed first and it will have all the different debts, credit cards, and loans that you are currently paying on and you are on time with. The not paid on time side will be all the different debts that you have ever paid on late, even if it was just one payment.

2. What to look for when you check your credit rating

Your actual rating is also known as your FICO score. This is what you are judged on and when you check your credit rating you need to be looking to see what is on your report. You need to make sure that your report is correct and all the debts listed are yours. If there are debts on your report that do not belong to you, then you need to contact the credit bureau and get these debts off your report.

3. Changing your Rating

The best way to change your rating when it comes to credit is to pay off debts on the not paid on time or delinquent side of your report. You do not have to pay off the largest debts to get your rating to go up. If you have any smaller debts on this side of your report you can pay them off one by one and this will help you to raise your FICO score and get to the point where getting financing is easier.

Tim
Helen Hecker asked:




Of course you don’t want to make any late payments on your credit cards or loans and affect your credit report and score unless you absolutely have to, but what happens if you’re unable to avoid it? It all depends on whether you’re 30, 60 or 90 days past due. If it’s only one late payment you may be able to dispute it and get it removed from your credit report but if it’s more than one that may be difficult to do. And it depends on whether it’s currently past due or long term past due, and other factors.

Understanding how FICO credit scoring works for late payments will help you avoid late payments and understand which late payments will show up for the long term and which payments won’t.

Put simply, FICO credit scores are used by credit card companies, loan and mortgage companies, utility and insurance companies etc., to predict how reliable you’ll be as a customer and how much they can trust you make the payments.

If you’re 30 days late on a payment it will affect your credit score only when it’s reported to the credit bureau. The same applies to 60-day late payments. However these are considered short term and may not cause any lasting damage to your scores. If this happens over and over then this will not be the case. Also a one time late payment of 30-60 days may never be reported to the credit reporting agency. You can avoid a lot of worry by finding out if the creditor reports a currently 30 or 60-day late payment or not. Many do not.

If you’re 90 days late it’s another matter. This can damage your credit report and score for seven years, unless you can get it removed. If it was in error or you had some special circumstances and your credit history has been good then it is worth a try by writing a letter to the credit report company. The three main credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax and Trans Union.

Credit card companies and other creditors look at 90-day or 120-day late payments as a red flag. They can no longer trust you to make your payments on time so your credit score will go down. Their purpose is to determine whether you’ll be able to make your payments on time or at least before 90 days have passed. It doesn’t matter if the payment was for $25 or $1000, they will look at it the same way.

Also sometimes late payments may cause a rise in the interest rates on your credit cards.

If you can avoid making any late payments you’ll dramatically improve the scores on your credit report. And if you haven’t gotten your copy of your personal, annual, free credit report online yet then get one now. Study it and then find out how your current creditors look at late payments. Call them up and find out if they report a 30 or 60-day late payment to the credit reporting agency.

Best of all find some emergency ways to completely avoid making any late payments. Try making your payments online a few days early to avoid payments getting lost in the mail. If at all possible find things you can sell or do some small part-time work from home and try to make a small emergency fund.

Do anything you can to avoid making a late payment. But if it happens, make it as soon a possible so it doesn’t go into a 90-day problem. Ninety days is the point where it’ll be difficult to turn things around and seriously affect your credit report and score and future borrowing opportunities. It’s best to spend a little time learning about credit reports, how you can fix or repair your credit report and scores now and how you can raise your credit scores fast. You may be doing some things you had no idea would cause your scores to drop.

Marcus
asked:




Sandra
Michael J Brazier asked:




Sadly, Visa is now accepted in more places than cash. Millions of credit cards are being used daily for purchases. Visa, MasterCard, & AMEX, are in just about every household worldwide and the trend is not going to die anytime soon.

There are people though who do not have the means to obtain a regular credit card, be it a lack of credit in general or too much bad credit combating the application process. Here, a secured credit card can come into play as an asset to building your credit rating and history.

A secured card works just like a regular credit card with the exception of having to deposit your own funds initially to open the account and utilize as available credit. Some banks require a minimum amount be deposited to obtain a secured credit card while other banks simply do not offer the option. The average deposit requirement ranges between $200 – $500. Whatever amount you decide to deposit will be the available spending amount for the secured credit card.

Just like a regular credit card, a payment is due each billing cycle and interest fees are applied to purchases and cash advances as applicable. Yes, this means you will be paying interest to spend your own money. While this may seem asinine, for some consumers it is the best way to build a good credit score or help combat a bad credit rating.

It is a good idea to know who you are getting into bed with before making any commitment. You could say the same about establishing credit with big banks. There are some things you want to consider when shopping banks for a secured credit card. Terms and conditions are just as applicable and enforced as they are with regular credit so it is important to see what you will be facing after the honeymoon phase.

Fee Fi Fo F… What are the fees for the secured credit card?! Is there an activation fee? Is there an annual fee? Is there a fee for speaking to a customer service rep? Will you be charged for inactivity if you do not use the card one month? Payment processing fee? Make sure your initial deposit is not eaten alive by enrolment fees, etc. Secured card fees can add up quickly so watch OUT!

Get interested in interest: Check the interest rate before signing any tri-folds and make sure the rate is not going to detonate after a certain promotional time frame or period. Obviously, look for a low interest rate and compare rates. AND…make sure it is in writing.

Read between the lines and the lines between those. Those 3 font tri-folds were not developed on accident. Most banks make it difficult and irritating to read all the terms and conditions, usually in an attempt to sway you away from reading the terms definitively.

Apply accordingly. Try not to apply for too many secured credit cards. One or two will suffice. Going overboard could cause your credit rating to decrease instead of increase over time. To spell it out, applying for too many secured cards is contradictive to the mission of building better credit.

Checka checka check it out. Ok. So you have your fancy secured credit card. You are done cursing about the fees and using your own money to establish credit and have come to terms with your position in the credit game. Now we need to make sure someone is keeping score.

Be sure to check your credit report a couple months after establishing the secured account. The account should be reporting to the credit bureau and positing with all 3 credit reports. If not, contact the lender and find out WTF the problem is and how they can fix it – ASAP. If possible, it is a good idea to find this out before establishing the account. Honestly, if the activity is not reported to the credit bureau on a consistent basis the effort is then a waste.

There are many ways to build a better credit score. A secured credit card is just 1 of a few ways a consumer can begin to establish credit or rebuild a bad rating over time. Consolidating unsecured credit cards can also help combat bad scores and help improve credit over time. Unsecured accounts consolidated with a non-profit receive a lower fixed interest rate and usually a lower monthly payment. This enables a consumer to pay off their credit debts at an affordable cost and a decent rate, lowering the debt amounts faster and establishing a positive consistent payment history. Utilizing both can accelerate your efforts to build a better credit score and help you be debt free from unsecured debts. Contact a certified credit counselor at 800.905.1563 or visit our website for more information about debt consolidation and building a better credit score.

Willie
Jen asked:


Okay, so I am a new college student and have no credit history at all. I heard that credit inquiries (when creditors/lenders pull up your credit report and do a credit check) may affect whether I will get approved for future credit if I get denied. But the thing is, I can’t even access my credit report on ANY of the 3 credit bureaus because I have no credit history at all lol. So doesn’t that mean I can try applying for any amount of credit cards and even if I get denied..the companies won’t know about it since there is no record of anything and they won’t be able to see my report? I tried to pull up my own report on all 3 sites and they all came back saying there is no record. Like, there is no report at all, so I can’t even see the places I’ve applied to and been denied. Thanks :D
I just want to try applying for a department store card of which I will buy something LITTLE and pay it off in full every month, to build credit.
I just want to emphasize that I have NO CREDIT SCORE xD So my score can’t get any LOWER and I have NO CREDIT REPORT at all so they won’t be able to SEE my credit inquiries.
Hmmm I DID use my correct full name, correct current address, correct social security number, all the info is correct, but I still got no credit report from any of them. They said at the end of the online session that I can request one by mail or phone, but that doesn’t make sense since all my info is correct already.

Juan