Credit Information

Credit Card Companies Are Out for Your Money


You're probably thinking "Tell me something I don't know" but in this time of low interest rates you might be thinking that you've got a great deal since credit card interest rates are low. Wrong. Credit card companies have a cutoff as to how low their interest rates will go.

So when interest rates are low for lending, that doesn't mean your credit card rate will be low as well. If you don't know, or aren't sure, if your credit card company has a minimum interest rate just look at the fine print on your next credit card bill. If you can't read that small of print, and most of us can't, give the customer service a call. If your credit card company does have a minimum interest rate then I'd plan to look around and go with the credit card companies that don't. Because when the interst rates drop, you should get a break on your credit card rate.

The fixed rate on credit cards actually rose in the last twelve months. Why? Because the credit card companies have been actually losing money due to record numbers of delinquencies and bankruptcies. Those who can't pay now for their purchases in the past are sticking their bill to the rest of the credit card holders.

So you may think that you want to get that credit card insurance being pushed by credit card companies that will pay your bill if you become disabled or unemployed. Not so fast. The average payout on a credit insurance policy is 30-50%. The National Association of Insurance Commissions actually recommends a payout of at least 60%. Payouts for debt cancellation and debt suspension is in the 1-3% range. That's definitely not worth the premiums. Get enough regular life insurance and disability insurance to cover your debt as their premiums are much cheaper and have greater payouts.

Beware of a credit card company trick that I recently ran into. I mailed a payment a week early but yet was still charged a late fee. Impossible I say. I found out the payment had to be in the credit card company's processing center by a certain time on the due date.

Think of my credit card payment making it's way through the mail, to a P.O. box, then getting picked up, sorted, sent to the processing center, opened and recorded. And this has to be done by a certain date on the due date. Ouch. I suggest mailing in your payment at least two weeks early.

About The Author

Christine Breen is the owner of the website www.1stop-creditcards.com which helps consumers learn about credit cards and find a card to work for them.


MORE RESOURCES:

Boston Globe

Next Stage Of Credit Freeze May Hit Home Prices, Credit Cards
CNNMoney.com - 1 hour ago
Second, over the next 18 months, well over $2 trillion in lines of credit from credit cards would be canceled as banks try to minimize their losses from ...
Credit card companies to pare lending Boston Globe
Credit-card industry may cut $2 trillion lines: analyst Reuters
US Consumers Seen Facing ‘Liquidity Squeeze’: Chart of Day Bloomberg
National Ledger - Consumer Affairs
all 65 news articles


Blackboard Inc. to Present at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology ...
MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
... SVP of Treasury & Investor Relations, will present at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona on Wednesday, December 3, ...
AMD to Present at Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference WELT ONLINE
Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO to Deliver Keynote Presentation at ... MarketWatch
Kenexa to Present at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference MarketWatch
MarketWatch - MarketWatch
all 90 news articles


Sify

Credit Suisse Drops After Report on Expansion of US Tax Probe
Bloomberg - 10 hours ago
2 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG fell as much as 7.5 percent in Zurich trading after a report that the US Justice Department widened a tax evasion ...
Credit Suisse Switches Tack Forbes
Credit Suisse to cut 650 investment banking jobs Reuters
US Is Said to Expand Tax Inquiry New York Times
Reuters UK - AFP
all 403 news articles


CEP News

Credit fears creep even into cash-rich oil sector
The Associated Press - 1 hour ago
HOUSTON (AP) — Access to credit and the capital needed for exploration and production is the biggest obstacle facing oil companies in 2009, even more than ...
Oil Cos Avoid Budget Cuts Despite Credit, Price Fears - Survey CNNMoney.com
Credit Capacity is Top Financial Concern of Energy CFOs, According ... MarketWatch
Oil Cos Avoid Budget Cuts Despite Credit, Price Fears - Survey EasyBourse.com
all 78 news articles


UPDATE: Investors Buy FDIC-Backed Bonds As Issuance Continues
CNNMoney.com - 29 minutes ago
(Adds information on Citigroup and General Electric Credit Corp. and analyst comments beginning in the second paragraph.) By Romy Varghese and Anusha ...
Goldman Sachs to Sell EU1.5 Billion Guaranteed Bonds (Update3) Bloomberg
all 152 news articles


TradeCard Members Find Protection During Credit Crisis
MarketWatch - 2 hours ago
Brands and retailers are able to maintain or extend existing terms with suppliers and eliminate the need for credit lines for purchases. ...


New York Times

Is Ford the Best and the Brightest? Blue Oval Asks for $9-Billion ...
MotorTrend Magazine - 4 hours ago
In it, Ford asks for a "stand-by" line of credit of up to $9 billion at government borrowing rates -- in other words, better than what it can get on the ...
Loan to automakers would aid economy Kentucky.com
UPDATE 2-Ford seeks $9 bln line, aims to break even in 2011 Reuters
Ford ups federal loan request to $9 billion Detroit Free Press
Bloomberg - Money Morning
all 208 news articles


Epicor to Present at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology ...
MarketWatch - 1 hour ago
... today announced that Epicor President and CEO Thomas Kelly will be presenting at the Credit Suisse 2008 Annual Technology Conference in Scottsdale, ...


UK Government Credit-Default Swaps Rise to Record (Update1)
Bloomberg - 3 hours ago
2 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of hedging against losses on UK government bonds rose to a record in the market for credit- default swaps, suggesting investors ...
‘Telephone Number’ Bailouts Mean Record US Risk: Chart of Day Bloomberg
M&S, Casino Guichard Bond Risk Increases to Record, Swaps Show Bloomberg
all 3 news articles


Philip R. Johnson, Bank Credit Expert, Joins Pacific Coast ...
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
announces the appointment of Philip R. Johnson as Senior Vice President/Credit Administrator, effective November 17, 2008. "We are very pleased to have Phil ...

Credit - Google News

home | site map
© 2006