The Credit CARD Act brings certain protections to credit card users. However, once you start weeding through the new contract language, loopholes will be discovered. Now is the time to point out what the most important credit card regulation laws can and cannot do for credit card users. Law #1: Credit card companies must send [...]
Revolving debtors are out. Prime borrowers are in. Credit card companies are after the FICO elite showcasing scores at 750 or higher. Even creditors with a subprime status of at least 700 will catch the eyes of lenders. As banks become disinterested in lower class chargers, what are the trademarks of the credit card elite? [...]
Get ready for what you know about credit cards to change: The bulk of the Credit CARD (Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure) Act of 2009 went into effect on February 22, 2010. These disclosure laws are aimed to protect consumers, so it’s in your best interest to brush up what will affect your credit [...]
Consumers were expected to carry more cash and less plastic this past holiday shopping season. The recession had shoppers worried about post-holiday credit card debt, which was predicted to decrease 5% from the following year. Yet are you feeling the backlash of holiday spending in the form of credit card bills? Despite the predicted cash-only [...]
While cash is always king, that doesn’t mean credit cards are the court jesters. Credit cards can offer convenience, protection and in some cases, rewards. If you’ve figured out the wrong way to use plastic, here are suggestions on how to use credit cards the right way. Rack up points for rewards. A card like [...]
Much credit card wisdom and usage of the past is set to turn on its head when the bulk of the CARD Act laws go into effect at the end of the month. Since strategies and advice held dear is now considered outdated, it’s time to start paying attention to credit card usage in ways [...]
Little white financial lies can lead to big revolving balances and bad credit. Credit cards have advantages but end in debt if we aren’t straight about our reasons to use them. Here are five popular ways we talk ourselves into credit card debt. Lie #1: Living outside of our means.This About.com article also calls it [...]
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act) comes off as a regulation win for the Obama Administration and the American public. The reform language will certainly put a huge dent in the industry’s ability to demand huge penalty fees, which in accounts for as high as a third of total [...]
Is it a social taboo to talk about debt? Or will openly discussing this topic du jour pull many consumers’ heads out of the sand? Marriages end because of money problems. People take their own life over debt. Financial depression is real. The weight of hiding hefty debt eventually becomes too much, so we’ve offered [...]
With a history of offering better practices than credit card companies, many consumers will turn to local credit unions if corporate banks don’t play fair under CARD Act. Newsweek covered a story based on a report by the Pew Health Group’s Safe Credit Cards Project that found despite the passage of the Credit CARD Act, [...]