Information Center – News and Articles about Credit Cards
Ezpreapproval.com presents the Information Center — a new and improved credit card news service. We will inform you with up-to-date articles on credit cards for good credit, bad or no-credit history. Get information on best credit card deals for student credit cards, cash back credit cards and business credit cards. Learn about the top deals on credit cards with the lowest APR deals and other hot issues.
News about Credit Cards
News Archive
We are used to see credit cards the way they look today, and it is hard to imagine that they looked different and served for another purpose than paying for goods and services. We call them plastics. In fact, a century ago credit cards had a different shape, size and were not made of plastic.
The appearance of credit cards dates back to the beginning of the XX century. Who were they created for? The target audience was wealthy people. The cards could be used as business certificates and licenses for the so-called "loyalty programs" at some restaurants, gas stations and merchants. Those cards, you can be surprised, were made of cardboard.
Rapidly growing credit card crime rate causes more and more concern of credit consumers and credit providers as well. Credit card fraud is a number one card holders complaint to Federal Trade Commission. According to the statistics, over 85% of credit card owners that fell victims to credit scam discover the fraud only after they get turned down by credit issuers, having applied for a new credit card or loan.
Credit bureaus cannot stay indifferent to the problem of credit fraud and identity theft, in particular. Equifax, one of the three US major credit bureaus has introduced a new ID theft protection service. "ID Patrol" is a multifunctional tool that allows protecting customers from identity theft.
You can find hundreds of e-articles and tips on reasonable credit card spending and staying away from debts. After you read them, it seems that it is pretty easy to stick to several rules of rational credit card use. But when you try to put theory into practice, it turns out to be much harder than it seemed.
Even if you do your best and manage to live within your financial means and spend the amount of money on your credit card that you can afford to pay off, you cannot be protected from unexpected situations in life and some external factors. Now that the US economy is experiencing a slowdown, it is high time to do the impossible and take control over you spending habits.
People got so much used to comfort, to living in apartments and houses with all conveniences. Can you imagine living without water, gas or electricity? Like cavemen. Me neither. However, utility bills are among the most avid money eaters on your expenditure list. But most people just make a helpless gesture looking at their monthly credit card statement. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
Actually you can make the cookie rumble the way you need it. You just need to make some efforts and get used to saving on utilities. Keep on reading and you will find several tips on how to reduce your utility bills and cut down your monthly credit card payments.
Due to the economy slowdown and credit crisis that undermined the US credit card industry, many credit consumers face problems with qualifying for loans and credit cards. The credit losses that the US credit providers have incurred as a result of numerous credit card delinquency cases made lenders more cautious and extremely deliberate in the choice of customers.
The credit crunch had nearly no negative effects on card holders with good and excellent credit. But people with fair, bad and no credit have felt the change of the situation on the credit card market. They just fell into disgrace. And no wonder that repairing their credit scores became the number one financial goal. And many cardholders resort to credit repair companies.
The Federal Reserve is all hopes and dreams of the U.S. credit card companies and banks. It is the Fed that can breathe life into the U.S. credit card market that is in the doldrums at the moment. And the Fed does not remain indifferent to the U.S. credit card industry problems. The Fed is trying to ease the situation.
On May, 2 the Federal Reserve announced about their resolution to increase the size of credit they can issue to banks, in addition to that, the Fed made a decision to allow banks use not only mortgages, but also credit card debt, car and student loans as collateral loans.
Credit card holders with good credit histories are welcome clients at any credit card company. And companies fight for every client. That is why credit card owners often become victims of mail flood. You, probably, get dozens of pre-approved credit card offers by mail. If you are sick of feeding your paper-shredder with those letters, you can stop the flood.
Acting under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) sell your credit report information to creditors. Basing on this information, credit card companies choose customers they would like to see in the rows of their clients, and send letters to them. But you can put an end to this.
Everybody has their own strategy of choosing credit cards. Most people take into consideration options and terms that a credit card comes with. A credit card issuer does not make any difference to them. But the rest minority of credit card holders stays loyal to some certain credit card company. Of course, if they are satisfied with terms, conditions, and services the card issuer offers.
And it is worth mentioning that lenders appreciate regular and loyal clients a lot. And for some creditors (unfortunately not for all of them) keeping such customers is even more important than attracting new ones. They prefer quality to quantity. Discover is definitely one of such card issuers.
Helping others for free and without waiting something in return is a really good cause. Americans have a reputation for altruistic wish to help those who are in need. Take, for instance, Hollywood celebrities, even the most spoiled and freaky ones, that earn incredible amounts of money, they loosen the purse strings to donate to research and rehab centers, to Greenpeace, help kids from the third world countries, etc.
But not just the rich and famous try to make this world better. Ordinary people, just like me and you, also strive to make their contribution to changing the world for the better. And credit card companies support such initiatives. They issue affinity cards for those who care.
The nature keeps going wild. It's been just a couple of months since horrible CA wildfires. Catastrophes do not seem to stop. Another horrifying disaster broke out in the US on February, 5. 81 violent tornadoes demolished hundreds of buildings, took the lives of 58 people, left hundreds injured. Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee will never forget those terrifying 15 hours and 20 minutes.
The 2008 Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak will make history. It was reported as the deadliest tornado outbreak over the past 23 years. Those who survived lost their homes and property. The Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, the United Way are among charitable organizations that are trying to help the devastated regions. But these groups are not the only ones who are willing to support the victims of this federal disaster. Major US credit card companies and banks offered emergency assistance.
Active credit card use is a sign of a society with well-developed market relationships. More and more people get involved in buying goods and services with plastics. Using virtual funds to make real purchases is very convenient. But this extended buying power has led Americans to a dangerous trend. Over 40% of American households, according to the USA Federal Reserve statistics, spend more money than they make.
In the average, every American of these 40% spends $1.2 per every $1 he or she earns. Plastics have changed people's spending habits. These plastic devices allow and encourage people to spend more and more money. Around 18% of all purchases made by Americans involve credit card use. About 24% of the purchases are made with other types of plastics.
Read more
If you are determined to eliminate your credit card debts and you have good credit, getting a balance transfer card is a good idea. You can shift your credit card balances with high interest rate to a card with much lower rate or 0% APR at all. But there is one thing that can reduce your profit from this kind of a deal. It is balance transfer fee.
Most balance transfer cards come with a fee for a transfer. Not long ago you could easily find a plastic for balance transfers with no fee. However, due to the credit card market crisis and economy slowdown, lenders have pulled these deals from the market. And now it is rather hard for a customer to find a balance transfer card that comes with no fee. But there are some ways to negotiate a better balance transfer deal.
Read more
These days you can buy nearly everything using a credit card or a loan. When it comes to some everyday needs or comparatively large purchases, like a TV set, a microwave own, or a dishwasher, a credit card suits perfectly. But when you make up your mind to buy a car or a house, you will need to take a specific loan.
Most people believe that a car loan is easy to get. However, it is available not for everybody. Especially for bad credit owners. But if you are determined to buy a car and you got denied at one of the loan companies, do not rush to give the idea. Check other lenders' requirements, you might qualify.
Read more
Having a credit card in your wallet is considered to be a great convenience and even a privilege. Numerous credit card ads are screaming with numerous advantages of being a credit card holder. But, actually, managing credit cards is easy and convenient mostly in theory. When it comes to practice, credit consumers face a lot of problems and difficult situations.
Let's take penalties, for instance. Late payment fees, default rates, over-the-limit fee and other penalty charges lie in wait for borrowers on every corner. And in some unpredictable situations it is really hard to do everything right and on time with your plastics. Your every misstep in managing your credit cards can cost you money.
Read more