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... 
by Charles Essmeier
Most people are aware that anytime they seek a loan, the lender will check their credit report to see if their credit history warrants such a loan. Along with the credit report, the lender will almost certainly check the borrower's credit score. Also known as a FICO score, this score is a three-digit number, ranging from 300 to 850, that represents the borrower's overall credit worthiness.
Major Problems Using Credit Cards
Four major problems may occur in the process of using a credit card: lost / stolen credit cards and identity theft, credit card billing problems, errors in credit statement, defective, damaged or undelivered goods purchased by credit card. Read more...
There are several factors that come into play in compiling a credit score. The score takes into account available credit, any past due payments, and the length of the borrower's history, among other things. Also coming into play is the amount of available credit that the borrower has, along with the percentage of the available credit that is currently outstanding.
Borrowers often check their credit reports themselves prior to applying for a loan in order to look for possible errors. Often, they will see old accounts listed that they didn't even know were active anymore, such as a department store credit card from a city in which they no longer live. The first response in this situation is usually to cancel the account, since it isn't being used anymore. This could be a mistake, and could actually lower your credit score!
Credit History
It happens quite often that you don`t know you have a credit problem until you are denied credit - such as a credit card - because of some records in your credit history. Credit history contains all information about your credits and how you managed it. Mainly it is information reported by your creditors sent to credit bureaus. Credit bureaus legally report poor payment information for 7 years and for bankruptcies - 10 years. A recent study shows that one third of all credit reports contains sufficient mistakes and 70% of all credit reports contain different kinds of errors. Read more... It is true that it may be a potential problem to have too much available credit. Lenders could have concerns that the borrower with ten credit cards might run out and max them all out. On the other hand, a very important component of the credit score is the length of the borrower's credit history. The longer the better and those people with top credit scores usually have histories of thirty years or more. By canceling an old account, you could be reducing the length of your credit history, which will then consist only of newer accounts.
There are times when canceling unused accounts is a good idea. This is particularly true if the accounts are relatively new ones. But closing an old account, even if it isn't being used, could do more harm than good for someone seeking a loan.
Types of Credit Cards
There are 4 major credit card types: bank debit and credit cards, travel and entertainment cards (T&E cards), retail store cards, oil company cards (gasoline cards). Interest rates, fees and applications are different for each type of card. Applying for a credit card, the consumer agrees to the terms and conditions of a credit card company that issues his card. Read these terms and conditions very carefully to understand it before using the card for purchases, cash advances or balance transfers. Read more... |
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