Credit Rewards Introduction
Increasing competition for customers caused different credit organization to issue cards with various offers for rewards programs, offering cash back and points that can be exchanged for goods and services such as air miles, hotel stays or car rental. With all obvious advantages reward credit cards may not always be the best option among the variety of credit cards. Read more... 
Can the information in my credit file be used for any other purposes ?
Yes. The practice of generating and selling lists for use in "pre-approved"
credit and insurance offers is allowed by law. TransUnion, Experian and Equifax all engage in
selling lists of consumers who meet certain criteria in order to receive a "firm"
offer of credit or insurance. This is the source of the many pre-approved credit offers most
consumers receive in the mail. "Pre-approved" and so-called "firm" offers
of credit, however, can be somewhat misleading. A creditor may legally look at your report
before making the offer. If you respond, the creditor may again access your report before you
are actually granted credit. They can deny your credit application at that time. This is
explained in the fine print on the pre-approved offer.
Credit Score - The FICO Score
Your credit score is a value that shows an estimation of creditworthiness calculated according to special statistical models. A credit score quantifies the possibility that a borrower will fail to pay a loan or credit card debt. Credit score is based on the information in your credit report. Read more... The law does not allow CRAs to compile and sell information from credit
reports for the purpose of direct marketing. Although CRAs have engaged in this
practice in the past, the Federal Trade Commission in March 2000 ruled that TransUnion
violated the FCRA by the sale of personal credit information for target marketing purposes.
To read the FTC's full opinion, see www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/03/transunion.htm .
TransUnion has appealed the FTC's decision and the matter is now under
review in federal court. Equifax states it does not sell lists used for direct or target
marketing. Experian, on the other hand, sells lists of consumers to marketers derived
from consumer surveys, demographics sources, and public records. Experian states that
it does not sell information obtained directly from credit reports for marketing purposes. See
www.experian.com/direct_marketing/manage_data/customer_information.html .
You can remove your name from any list compiled by a CRA, whether the
list is for pre-approved credit offers or direct marketing. To "opt-out,"
that is, to remove your name from mailing lists compiled by credit bureaus, call the
toll-free number all CRAs are required by law to maintain for this purpose:
Call (888) 5-OPTOUT or (888) 567-8688 to opt out of pre-approved offers
of credit or go online to www.optoutprescreen.com .
This phone number can be used to remove your name from the list of all three CRAs.
You may also write to the CRA.
Choosing CRA for Credit Report
Many people understand the importance of ordering their credit report for verifying its accuracy knowing their financial status and credit history is ok. Until they offer a copy of their credit report, some of them do not realize that they actually have 3-in-1 credit report instead of just 1. Read more...
Equifax
Options
P.O. Box 740123
Atlanta , GA 30374 |
Experian
Consumer Opt Out
P.O. Box 919
Allen , TX 75013 |
Trans Union
Name Removal Option
P.O. Box 97328
Jackson , MS 39288-7328 |
The 1997 amendments to the FCRA allow a subsidiary of a bank holding
company to share its customers' credit reports and information from credit,
employment, or insurance applications with other affiliates of that company.
The 1997 amendments to the FCRA give you a right to opt-out of the sharing of
affiliate information. Look for opt-out instructions in the fine print of your
credit card bills and bank statements. You will be provided with an address to
contact to alert financial services companies of your opt-out preferences.
The FCRA amendments require that if an adverse action is taken
based on affiliate-shared information, you are to be notified. The consumer organization U.S. PIRG ( www.pirg.org ) has warned that the sharing of
customer information among affiliates in effect establishes subsidiaries that
act like credit bureaus but are exempt from the act.
Bankruptcy credit card
If you have ever been in bankruptcy, it will be difficult to build up your credit score again. The main reason for it is that noone of the major credit cards issuing companies is eager to offer you a credit card due to your past. Now there are only few things you can do to restore your credit status. Read more... At one time, a loophole in the FCRA enabled the credit bureaus to
sell the "directory information" from credit reports, called "credit
headers." This information included name, address, previous addresses, telephone
number, date of birth, and Social Security number. The FCRA's opt-out provision that
applies to pre-approved offers of credit did not apply to credit headers.
You were not able to opt-out of the sale of your credit header information by the CRAs.
This information was sold to many information brokers who in turn sold it for a variety
of investigative purposes.
The sale of credit headers has been highly controversial. Several bills
have been introduced in Congress to prohibit the sale of headers, or at the very least
to restrict the sale of Social Security numbers, which are contained in credit headers.
The practice of selling credit headers was stopped in 2002, when a federal appeals
court ruled that such sales violated another federal law, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act,
which provides privacy protections for consumers' personal financial information. www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/07/tuglbappeal.htm
Cash Back vs. Rewards Credit Cards
Some credit cards will offer you cash back, others reward points. There are also cards that allow to donate your ‘cash back’ points to a charity and those that put your cash back into a special savings account for college. Read more... |
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