Credit Cards UnleashedFind the Right Credit Card For You

There are many of us who don’t pay attention to all the documents we receive from our credit card issuer. After all, there are only 24 hours in a day, and if you are spending most of your day working, the last thing you want to do is read documents from your credit card company. If you have opted in for online statements and updates, that’s even worse. You could get updates from your credit card company without even noticing. But did you know your credit card company can raise your fees, introduce new fees, and even add an annual subscription fee to your card at any time? You can always reject the new terms, but how could you know if you don’t read the documents you get from your credit company?

Credit card companies will have to find more ways to extract money from their customers. One way to do that is by adding an inactivity fee. So if you don’t use your card enough, you may have to pay a fee to keep your account open. Annual fee and higher APRs may also be in the horizon. Read the rest of this entry »

You heard that right. Credit card companies are not too happy about the latest regulations that will go into effect in the next year, and they are using every lawful tool available to them to make enough money to cover their losses. So it’s not surprising to see them raise their interest rates. But an APR of 79.9%? Is that even possible? Apparently it is. First Premier Bank has now become the record holder in the APR department by charging an obscene amount of interest. The bank is apparently testing the fees and may not keep it on forever.

In reality, you can’t blame credit card companies for trying to be profitable businesses. But there needs to be regulations to protect consumers against obscene interest rates. Most people wouldn’t even fall for such offers, but people are so desparate these days that you just don’t know what they are willing to do. The CEO of Cardhub put it best:

Even when the cost of credit is astronomical, for people in true emergencies, it’s much better than not having access to credit

At the end of the day, we need to change the culture of spending in this country. You should not spend the money you don’t have and looking at the possibility of paying 79.9% interest on the balance due on an annual basis should only turn people off. Unfortunately people continue to go beyond their means and no regulation seems to change that.

The times are tough, and you can’t expect to get any favors from credit companies these days. If you are not keeping on top of your credit score, you are leaving yourself open on only to identity theft but also to errors. You can always try to get your free credit reports on a regular basis but I rather keep a closer eye on my credit report rather than settling for the free credit report that us consumers are entitled to annually. Thankfully, there are credit reporting services out there that allow you to keep track of your credit  score at all times and catch the errors and anomalies before they turn into something serious.

Here are the top credit reporting services that you can use to stay on the top of your credit score at all times:

1. Equifax: Equifax gives you immediate access to your 3 nationwide credit reports and daily monitoring of all 3 credit reports with customizable alerts. You are also guaranteed by up to $1,000,000 dollars in insurance.

2. MyFico: MyFico is the top dog in the credit reporting category. It monitors your credit report at Equifax on a daily basis and your FICO^® score on a weekly basis and lets you know when you reach your target score or when you qualify for a better interest rate. You’ll also get alerts if there are any major changes in your credit report. A great way to keep up with your credit history without having to spend too much on it on a consistent basis.

3. TrueCredit: TrueCredit is another top credit reporting service that lets you keep up with your score and protect yourself against errors and ID theft. TrueCredit gives you 3-Bureau Credit Reports & Scores that can be  updated every 30 days plus alerts once major changes have happened in your credit report. You also get $25,000 ID theft insurance as a part of this package.

4. Free Credit Reports 360: one of the best ways to protect your identity is by keeping on top your credit record. And what a better way to do that by getting your credit information from credit bureaus. Free Credit Report 360 gets you all 3 credit reports from TransUnion, Equifax & Experian, and it monitors them for you as well. This service allows you to stay on the top of your credit history at all times and avoid major errors or issues on your report.

5. CreditReport.com: another credit monitoring service that monitors your 3 credit reports and makes sure you are in the know when a change happens in our credit report. CreditReport.com alerts help you keep an open eye and defeat ID thefts before they can do any major damage.

Whether you decide to go with one of these premium services or just stick with your free credit reports, you want to make sure you read your reports carefully to identify any errors or suspicious entries. The last thing you want is not getting the deal or the job you deserve because of an error in your credit report.

Visa Black Card is not for the faint of heart. It’s certainly not for everyone. It’s one thing to get a good credit card. Getting an excellent credit credit card can be tough, but luxury credit cards such as  Visa Black card push it to a whole other level. Visa Black Card is a luxury credit card offer by Barclay’s Bank designed for about 1% of folks in the U.S.

The Visa Black card will get you noticed. It’s made of carbon graphite, which sets it apart from other plastic cards on the market. But if that’s not enough, only a certain few can even qualify for this card. And if you are lucky to qualify for Visa Black card, you’ll enjoy 24-hour Concierge Service and luxury gifts from some of the world’s top brands. There is also a cash back feature (1%), which could come in handy as this card packs great spending power, and the more you spend, the more change you will have for other things. And don’t forget the Travel Lounge Priority Pass!

Read the rest of this entry »

The times are tough, and the last thing you want to do is lose your identity to someone who’s out to take advantage of your background to steal money and open fake credit card accounts. Nobody likes to have her identity stolen, but ID theft is a reality in this life. I never thought it could happen to me. I am tech savvy and used proper encryption and the best Internet security systems on the Internet to protect my financial information. Nevertheless, I had my Identity stolen regardless. Thankfully, there are many services that help you protect your Identity and foil ID thieves before they can do too much damage. I don’t know about you, but I rather know about my ID being compromised sooner rather than later.

There are many ways to find out whether your identity is stolen and protect yourself against further attempts. That’s why keeping track of your credit information is important. By knowing what’s in your credit and how it’s changed, you can foil the ID thieves easier. Thankfully, there are various tools that let you track your credit and get alerts in case of a suspicious activity. Here are the top credit protection tools that you can use to protect your ID like a pro:

1. LifeLock: LifeLock really needs no introduction. You have probably seen those commercials about the CEO of LifeLock giving his social security to everyone in a street. Now, you don’t want to do that, but it’s good to know that you are protected by a company that constantly monitors your information to make sure everything is in order. With LifeLock, you get $1,000,000 service guarantee backed by XL Capital, and your fraud report stays in the system for 90 days. With LifeLock, you also get free credit reports. These guys remove your name from the list of pre-approved credit offers. eReco (another LifeLock service) goes through known criminal websites for the illegal selling or trading of your personal information (including your Social Security number, credit card number, driver’s license and email address, if provided) and informs you when something is found. TrueAddress notifies you when we detect any new address information associated with your name in address databases nationwide. Overall, LifeLock is one of the best ways to protect your identity at all times. No system is foolproof, but it’d be awfully tough to fool LifeLock.

2. TrustedID: TrustedID is another great ID theft protection solution for individuals and families. IDFreeze helps you protect yourself against ID theft before they happen. CreditLock makes sure your credit report is not available to anyone without your permission. Overall, TrustedID is a great choice for families. Here are some of the other services that you get with TrustedID ID Theft protection service:

• Fraud Flags
• Public Database Scanning
• Credit Card Scanning
• Social Security Number Scanning
• Name & Address Scanning
• Bank Account Number Scanning
• Lost Wallet Protection
• Medical Benefits Protection
• Free Annual Credit Reports
• $1,000,000 Warranty Protection
• Family Protection

3. ID Watchdog: ID Watchdog is another great tool to protect your identity against hackers and thieves. The company monitors your credit and private information on a monthly basis to protect you against hackers and thieves. You can also refer to ID Watchdog if your ID is already stolen. ID Rehab helps you get your ID back without you having to do too much work. The ID Watchdog agents contact the financial companies on your behalf and fix things that have been damaged by the thieves.

4. Equifax: Equifax provides you with more than just your credit report and credit score. It also protects your identity against theft as well. Equifax ID Patrol is a tool that protects you against theft attempts against your identity. The system alerts you if your personal information is found on Internet trading sites. You are also protected up to $1,000,000 identity theft insurance and 24/7 access to ID Theft Resolution Specialists that are there to help you address issues with your credit issues. You can also lock and unlock your Equifax credit file to protect yourself. And it does help that Equifax monitors all credit bureau institutions  to help you find and solve any issues with your credit reports.

5. IdentityTruth: IdentityTruth is an interesting VC-funded credit protection service that lets you monitor your credit information and prevent ID theft. IdentityTruth protects you by:

• providing you with Alerts notifying you of breaches, potential risks, offering “what’s next” advice.
• letting you know if someone is currently misusing your identity.
• alerting you about potential threats before you become an identity theft victim.
• providing fraud alerts on your credit accounts to foil criminals.
• monitoring of your consumer credit report including alerts to critical changes and updates to your credit history.
• managing your online reputation.
• managing your junk mail and protecting you against bogus offers.

6. ReputationDefender: another great tool that protects you against identity thieves. What I like about ReputationDefender is that it offers an ID protection service for your kids as well as yourself. If you want to protect your child’s ID, you’ve got MyChild. You can also protect your privacy online and even have ReputationDefender monitor the search engines and remove your personal information. In summary, here is what you get:

• MyChild
• MyReputation
• MyPrivacy
• MyEdge

7. Free Credit Reports 360: one of the best ways to protect your identity is by keeping on top your credit record. And what a better way to do that by getting your credit information from credit bureaus. Free Credit Report 360 gets you all 3 credit reports from TransUnion, Equifax & Experian, and it monitors them for you as well. So you are never left out in the cold.

8. CreditReport.com: another credit monitoring service that monitors your 3 credit reports and makes sure you are in the know when a change happens in our credit report. CreditReport.com alerts help you keep an open eye and defeat ID thefts before they can do any major damage.

I never thought my identity would be and could be stolen. But it happened. There is no fool proof way to protect your identity. Hackers and thieves are constantly getting better and are on the lookout to get their hands on your private information. By using the above service, you won’t have to go at it alone. Ignoring this risk is not going to keep you protected. The sooner you get started with the above service, the better chance you have of avoiding your sensitive information from becoming compromised.

November may be coming to an end, but there are still plenty of good deals to take advantage of before the shopping season ends. Since Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just a few days away,  there are going to be plenty of good deals to take advantage of. LifeLock also has a good deal going for the holiday season. As you probably know, LifeLock is one of the best identity theft protection services on the market. They protect your credit and help you reverse the damages that may have been done by ID thieves. The service is cheap as well. It costs as low as $99 annually. So in some sense, it’s a no brainer.

LifeLock is having a promotion for November, giving you 10% off annual or monthly plans plus 30 days of free service. That should give you enough time to test the service to find out whether it is right for you. Of course, you won’t know how helpful these services are until you have your ID stolen or messed with. But there are still some tangible benefits to using LifeLock:

• WalletLock™

  WalletLock™

  WalletLock™ assists you in the recovery of the contents of your lost or stolen wallet and sensitive documents; including your credit/debit cards, driver’s license, Social Security card, insurance card(s), checkbook, and traveler’s checks (excludes cash, pictures, and other monies).

• eRecon™

  eRecon™

  eRecon™ patrols over 10,000 criminal websites for the illegal trading or selling of your identity and other personal financial information.

• TrueAddress™

  TrueAddress™

  TrueAddress™ notifies you when a change of address is made to verify the request was made by you and not identity thieves rerouting your mail to another address.

• Pre-Approved Credit Card Opt-Out

  Pre-Approved Credit Card Opt-Out

  Pre-Approved Credit Card Opt-Out – we request the removal of your name from the lists that are responsible for sending you pre-approved credit card offers.

• LifeLock Identity Alert™ system

  LifeLock Identity Alert™ system

  Our advanced LifeLock Identity Alert™ system provides you broader identity coverage, greater control, and early notification by phone, email, and/or postal mail whenever we detect your personal information being used to apply for many forms of credit cards, wireless services, retail credit, utilities, check reorders, mortgage loans, auto loans, and non-credit related payday loans.

• Free Annual Credit Reports Ordered

  Free Annual Credit Reports Ordered

  Free Annual Credit Reports Ordered – we order your free annual credit reports from all three credit bureaus on your behalf.

• $1 Million Total Service Guarantee

LifeLock’s coupon (NOVEMBERCOUPON) is valid for November only (saves you 10%). So take advantage if you don’t have an ID Theft service protecting your credit.

It always amazes how people who are not familiar with the credit card game get into the game and get ripped off and then blame credit card companies. Now, I am not suggesting that credit companies are not to blame. They do make it difficult for consumers to know all the facts, and their bogus fees are borderline unethical. But if you do you research before signing up for a credit card, you can expect every trick that these companies can throw at you.

If you are new to the credit card game or just haven’t spend time to find out what you need to do to better manage your relationships with credit card companies, here are 5 books that you should read:

How You Can Profit from Credit Cards: shows you the right way to manage your credit cards and take advantage of low interests to save money and get everything you need for less.

BestCredit – How to Win the Credit Game: if you think credit card companies are the most honest folks around, think again. While they may not want to trick you, they do bank on you missing the smallest details. Read this book to find out how to deal with them properly.

How to Take Advantage of the People Who Are Trying to Take Advantage of You: find out how you can make money from credit cards and use their tactics against them.

Can I Pay My Credit Card Bill with a Credit Card?: a beginner’s book designed to help you get answers to those burning questions that you don’t feel like asking in public.

The Skinny on Credit Cards: another great book that shows you how to play with credit card companies on a level footing. You certainly don’t want to be taken advantage of by them.

There you have it. These books are not the only resources you should refer to but they are a good start. The key here is not to engage in a relationship with credit companies without knowing the game.

In these tough economic times, the last thing anyone would want to deal with is identity theft. It’s certainly not pleasant, and if you happen to be a victim, you’ll have to spend a lot of time fixing your credit and taking back what was stolen from you. That’s why identity theft protection services have become so popular in recent years. They take care of everything for you and provide you with innovative service to prevent you from becoming an ID theft victim. TrustedID is one of those top ID theft services that can keep your identity protected against future attacks.

TrustedID has just launched Identity Threat Score to provide you with even more information on your identity and its vulnerabilities. The Identity Threat Score will provide a gauge of an individual’s risk of identity theft by assessing millions of records on hundreds of public and private databases. The information is then analyzed to find out whether your information has been exposed.

Here is what TrustedID had to say about this new service:

The Identity Threat Score is a measure of your personal risk of identity theft. Your score can range from 0 – 500 and it provides an easy-to-understand way to gauge your risk and take the necessary steps to protect your identity. A lower score means that you are at a lower risk of identity theft, and conversely a higher score indicates that you are at a higher level of risk for identity theft.

TrustedID searches through millions of records on hundreds of public and private databases to locate information related to your identity. Our system uses advanced technology to analyze this information for patterns that could indicate you have been or are about to be a victim of identity theft.

Since your financial and personal information is constantly updated within these databases we will automatically re-calculate your score, so it is important to log into your account regularly to check for these updates. If you receive an alert that you have a medium or high score we recommend that you contact our Protection Specialists for steps to help improve your score. Once you have taken these actions you will be able to update your Identity Threat Score.

The Identity Threat Score is not a credit score, and neither score directly affects the other. While lenders do not look at a Threat Score during their credit evaluation, it is still important to check it periodically in order to keep yourself safe, since a stolen identity can lead to misuse of your personal information that can affect your credit score.

The service is provided to TrustedID customers free of charge. It’s designed to give you better protection against modern day threats against your identity. In these tough economic times, you can’t afford to leave yourself open to ID threats these days. All in all, if you are looking for an affordable service to keep your ID protected at all times, TrustedID is a decent service to try, and it just got that much better with the free ID Theft Score.

In a period where credit card companies are cutting back and increasing the approval criteria, if you are looking for a credit card, you may be dismayed by the lack of options available to you. Not everyone can get approved for Visa Black Card, and some of those average credit cards are not exactly worth applying for as they come with high rates and fees. But Chase has two credit cards that you can take advantage if you are looking for a decent introductory offer. Slatecard and Freedomcard are both offers that give you a chance to get your hands on a decent offer.

Both cards come with attractive introductory offers. 0% APR for however many months off is more than attractive these days, and as long as you pay your balance off on time, you won’t have to deal with those high interests. Of course, you do want to make sure that you don’t spend beyond your means. But you already know that. As similar as these cards may sound like, there are major differences between them. The Freedomcard does give you cash back on your purchases, and you do get a bonus for applying (at the time of this writing). The post-introductory period APR is quite high so you don’t want to put too much balance on your card. Read the rest of this entry »

The iPhone has truly changed the way we use our cell phones. Not only you can play games, manage your tasks, get GPS directions, and make phone calls on your phone, but you can also accept credit cards right from your phone. That’s extremely useful for businesses which are more on the mobile side. Thankfully, there are plenty of credit card iPhone applications that let you manage your business on the go.

If you are looking for a a credit card iPhone application, here are 5 you should try:

ProcessAway Credit Card Terminal: one of the best credit card apps for iPhone. Let’s you authorize and capture charges, verify and hold funds, void holds, issue refunds, and do all kinds of things for your business on the go.

Billing- Credit Card Terminal: a premium credit card terminal application for iPhone that lets you enter transactions, manage your customers, and your business tax issues right on your phone. Read the rest of this entry »