|
|
|
A Cure for an Ailing Credit
Credit has become a much-used word, thanks to the various connotations that it is being used in. Transactions in which the payment is deferred to the near future are termed as credit transactions. Ever thought why the grocer sells goods on...
Consolidate Your Credit Cards - Lower Your Monthly Payments
If you're like most North American people today, you go through
life carrying a fair amount of credit card debt. And if you're
like most North American people, you're okay with that. $100 per
month in repayments is fine, even if you're paying...
Merchant Credit Card Account Applications
Since a personal credit card provides us with the means to make
life easier and more enjoyable, can you imagine what a merchant
credit card account can do for your business? This type of
account is more than just a line of credit. It is an...
Want To Clean Up Your Bad Credit? Here's The Correct Way To Do It...
Most people think that if they have bad credit that there is
nothing they can do about it, and that they have to live with
it. But this is not true. You can change and correct your credit
report for the better.
Every time you apply for...
Ways to Repair Bad Credit
Bad credit can have a serious negative influence on a variety of things in your life...not only can it prevent you from getting the loan that you need or the credit card that you want, but it can also keep you from getting certain jobs or into...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Credit Card Offer
One day I got a call from my credit card company asking me
if I would like to increase my credit limit by borrowing up
to $9000 at their special rate of 15.9%.
The operator stated, "Your credit card rate will then be a
low 15.9%. How much would you like to transfer today to
take advantage of this offer? Do you have any high interest
loans you would like to pay off and reduce your payments?"
The previous day I had called them to get two bogus late
payment charges taken off my statement. I also had to get
my interest rate lowered back to my usual rate rather than
the "penalty rate" (22.9%) they charge to anyone who is
late, misses a payment or goes over their credit limit.
Wondering if my rate got changed back to my usual rate, I
asked the operator what my current rate was. She said that
it was at 12.9%, which was my usual rate for this card.
I do carry some debt on other cards (it helps with my credit
rating to be making regular payments) but all the other debt
I have is at lower rates than this card. I mentioned that I
had no other debt that was at a higher rate than what she
was offering.
She then replied that I could just take the money as a cash
advance and do whatever I wanted with it.
So I asked her if I understood correctly what she was
offering. "So you are offering to raise my interest rate if
I get further into debt by getting a cash advance?"
"Yes, you can have up to $9000 and do whatever you like with
the extra cash," she replied. I was amused that she said
that I could "have" not "borrow" the money and it would be
"extra cash" rather than "additional debt". But after all,
she is in sales and the words "have" and "extra cash" are
much more enticing than the more realistic alternatives -
"borrow" and "additional debt".
I politely told her that I was not interested in raising my
interest rate or borrowing more money, "but thanks anyway."
I then wondered how many other
people would jump at the
opportunity to pocket a quick $10,000 at the "low" rate of
15.9%.
I was also amused that she encouraged me to pay off my high
interest debt with this money. Well, to my standards 15.9%
is high interest debt. Granted it's not the 24-25% charged
by department stores but still it was more than I was
currently being charged on any of my other cards.
Shouldn't an offer that would appeal to me be one that
offered me money at a lower rate? Her offer seemed
backwards. She was trying to entice me with the vision of
"extra cash" in my hand to do whatever I would like.
I took a moment to do some financial math (the most
important kind) on this offer and found that if I had a
current balance on that credit card of $4000 at my current
interest rate of 12.9%, I would be paying about $43 a month
in interest charges.
If I had accepted her offer for an additional $9000 at 15.9%
(and I suspect that my regular rate of 12.9% would have
risen to the 15.9% rate also), I would be paying about $172
a month, exactly 4 times what I am currently paying. If I
made a payment of $200 a month to pay off this debt, I would
be paying for over 12 and a half years.
What I learned from this experience is that I should get
into the credit card business. Maybe I'll check on some
bank and financial institution stocks today. With offers
like this they must be making money.
Once again, those who understand interest earn it, those who
don't, pay it.
About the Author
© Simple Joe, Inc.
David Berky is president of Simple Joe,
Inc. which sells the Simple Joe's Debt Eraser PC software.
Debt Eraser can help anyone get out of debt quickly and
inexpensively by creating a href="http://www.simplejoe.com/debteraser/index2.htm">Rapid
Debt Reduction Plan. This article may be freely
distributed as long as the copyright, author's information
and an active link (where possible) are included.
|
|
|
|
|
| Credit Reports - Credit Cards - Car Loans - Home Loans - Credit.com |
| Credit.com offers a variety of credit related products and services including credit reports and credit scores, credit cards, car loans, home loan and ... |
| www.credit.com |
|
| Equifax Personal Solutions: Credit Reports, Credit Scores ... |
| National consumer credit reporting company that offers credit reports, FICO(R) credit scores and identity theft protection products to consumers and small ... |
| www.equifax.com |
|
| The FTC's web site on Credit |
| Credit is much more than a piece of plastic, and the resources on this site can help you become a more savvy consumer. You’ll also find compliance ... |
| www.ftc.gov |
|
| Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Credit Center |
| Features an assortment of helpful articles related to credit issues. |
| www.ftc.gov |
|
| AnnualCreditReport |
| Site set up by the big three credit reporting agencies in the United States, to furnish free annual credit reports, as required by federal law. |
| www.annualcreditreport.com |
|
| Springboard - Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management |
| Our mission is simple: To offer education on the wise use of credit. ... SPRINGBOARD has been approved to provide credit counseling services and issue ... |
| www.credit.org |
|
| myFICO - FICO Credit Scores, Online Credit Reports and Identity ... |
| myFICO.com: Get your Free credit report and Free credit score with a 30-day trial of Score Watch. All three FICO Scores and Credit Reports Available now ... |
| www.myfico.com |
|
| Credit Suisse Global |
| Credit Suisse Group is an international financial services group. - Shares part of SMI. |
| www.credit-suisse.com |
|
| Experian: Free Credit Report and Credit Score, Credit Check ... |
| Credit referencing and consumer targeting for the USA and other countries. |
| www.experian.com |
|
| National Credit Union Administration - Home Page |
| An independent federal agency that supervises and insures 7152 federal credit unions and insures 4240 state-chartered credit unions. |
| www.ncua.gov |
|
| Credit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debits and Credits, a type of bookkeeping entry; Credit (creative arts), acknowledging the ideas or ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit" ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Credit (finance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Any movement of financial capital is normally quite dependent on credit, ... Sometimes if a person has financial instability or difficulty, credit is not ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| The National Foundation for Credit Counseling |
| DebtAdvice.org is a service provided by the Members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), most of them known as Consumer Credit ... |
| www.nfcc.org |
|
| FreeCreditReport.com | Free Credit Report and Credit Score Online ... |
| FreeCreditReport.com: Free credit reports and credit scores from Experian. Get your free credit report and credit score now. It's free, fast, and easy! |
| www.freecreditreport.com |
|
| Compare credit cards | apply for a credit card | 0% balance ... |
| Compare over 300 credit cards, including 0% offers and balance transfers, and make a credit card application online... |
| www.moneysupermarket.com |
|
| Ford Credit - Auto financing for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars ... |
| Ford Credit provides auto financing to finance a lease or purchase a car or truck through Ford, Lincoln or Mercury dealerships. |
| www.fordcredit.com |
|
| The Credit Card Prank |
| In my lifetime, I have made nearly 15000 credit card transactions. ... Credit card signatures are a useless mechanism designed to make you feel safe, ... |
| www.zug.com |
|
| Credit magazine, corporate bonds, derivatives, structured credit ... |
| Credit magazine provides information on the international credit markets for credit investors, issuers and market professionals. |
| www.creditmag.com |
|
| CUNA: The Credit Union National Association |
| News and resource directory about credit unions. |
| www.cuna.org |
|
| Credit/Debt Management - Tools and Advice for Managing Credit and Debt |
| Drowning in debt? Trying to improve your credit score? This is the place for you. Get real world information and tips, as well as the legal low down, ... |
| credit.about.com |
|
|