Posts Tagged ‘card’

Four Steps To Improve Your Bad Credit Rating And Get a Credit Card

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Many people are unaware at how simple it is to improve your bad credit rating and get a credit card.  The key is to go about using different methods to get approved credit and use those methods to enhance your poor score.

Here are the four simple steps to improve your bad credit rating and get a credit card.

  1. If you have a job, go to your credit union and get a loan – Because credit unions use your paycheck to deduct your monthly payments for the loan, they use your job history and probability to remain on the job as their approval criteria instead of your credit.
  2. Apply for a loan through your bank – They probably won’t approve you for a credit card.  However, if you have had an account with them for a long time period and never went negative on your account, they sometimes will allow you a small loan regardless of your bad credit rating.  You should start with something as small as $300 - $1000.
  3. Apply for a neighborhood store credit card – Maybe there’s a small retail store like some type of clothing or hardware store.  Try to open up an account with them and purchase a couple of small items that don’t add up to much.  Then ask if they mind reporting your payments to the credit bureau.
  4. Apply for a secured credit card – Although you have to come out of your pocket with your own money, it is still considered a loan.  They, therefore, report your transactions to the credit agencies as if it were a “regular” credit card.

The key to improving your bad credit rating is to make sure you make your payments to your new loans on time.  You should also make sure you do not pay the payment in full.  You can pay half the first month and then small amounts every month there on until the loan is paid in full.  This looks better to the credit card companies.

Just make sure the lenders are reporting your regular payments to the three credit bureaus.  Also keep your own payment history just in case you need to report it to the agencies yourself.

Reasons Why You Should Get a Virtual Prepaid Credit Card

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

When you have certain types of credit cards, you can buy things online without providing access to accounts that have a larger line of credit.  This is especially important if you are concerned about identity theft.

Aside from protecting you from these kinds of problems, a virtual prepaid credit card can also help you re-establish your finances after a bankruptcy, or other financial problems.

Consider a situation where you were driven into bankruptcy after a divorce.  In most cases, it will be very hard for you to get an unsecured credit card.  As may be expected, you will still need to find some way to prove that you can manage your financial affairs now that you have resolved certain issues.

If you apply for a virtual prepaid credit card online, you will most likely find out if you qualify within a matter of moments.  Therefore, if you want a virtual card, you won’t have to worry about sending in a application by mail, let alone wondering if it will be approved.  You may even be surprised to find that a few of these lenders do not even look at your credit report before issuing a card.

When you get a virtual prepaid credit card, you will have peace of mind knowing that you can buy almost anything you want with it.  If you need to stay on a budget, you can easily purchase the card and deposit what you can afford on the cards.

Regardless of whether you went through a divorce or a health crisis, there is no reason to live with a bad credit score.  Today, you can begin to rebuild your credit, as well as create a viable budget when you apply for certain kinds of credit cards.  Why wait another day to rebuild your life when so many other options are open to you?

Why You Should Buy Prepaid Credit Card

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

When you buy prepaid credit card, you never need to worry about giving out personally identifying information. In fact, you may be able to buy these cards at your local supermarket without even showing photo ID.

Even though there is a transaction fee each time you use this type of card, you may find it worthwhile to use them in certain circumstances.

For example, once you activate these cards, you can use them to purchase all kinds of things without having to give out information that may be stolen by identity thieves, or others that want to know what you are buying.

If you are in debt, you will always wind up worrying about some creditor trying to freeze your bank account. Without a question, as lenders get more greedy for the last drop of blood from a dying economy, they will ramp up the rate of getting court subpoenas for this purpose.

As may be expected, if your bank account is your life line, having a creditor seize it will bring you no end of trouble. On the other hand, when you buy prepaid credit card, your lenders cannot touch the money.

No matter how you look at it, credit lenders do not really care if you or your children starve to death. As long as they can charge you high interest rates, and then hijack your bank account, you truly mean nothing to them.

With that said, you should always keep primal survival in mind when you have to deal with creditors. In particular, if you don’t want to keep a lot of cash around, you can always decide it is time to buy prepaid credit card. From there, you will always be able to gain access to the money, as well as enjoy knowing that no one else can.

Finding Best Reward Credit Cards

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Finding the best reward credit cards is going to take you lots of due diligence. This is because there are so many different types of rewards offered.

Credit card companies know that they need to compete for business, so after the Discover Card came up with cash back rewards, other credit cards joined in and began offering other types of rewards.  They figured coming up with something different would allow them to attract other types of consumers like travelers, people who like to dine and so on and so forth.

Here are some of the different types of rewards offered by credit card companies:

  • Cash Back
  • Free airline tickets
  • Hotel Stays
  • Gas
  • Supermarkets
  • Percentage towards vehicle purchases
  • Retirement Contributions
  • Concerts
  • College Tuition

Knowing what the best reward credit cards are would also depend on the amount of mileage points given per dollar spent.  The best would be anything over 1 point per dollar and anything under would probably be a waste of time.
There are also other factors to consider such as:

  • If you travel a lot, you can earn rewards very quickly with a travel rewards card such as American Express or  Diners Club which allow you to use different airlines.  If you are not a traveler, you might consider a different type of card.
  • If you dine out frequently, you should use cards that give good rewards for this type of activity such as Visa and Mastercard.
  • If you use your credit card often, then finding the best rewards would be easier because credit cards have a limit that you must meet before the rewards kick in.  Needing to spend $5000 before receiving points would be alright for this type of person.
  • If you only use your card for emergencies, then you might want to look into a credit card that offers rewards at a lower spending limit such as $1000 per year.

Basically it boils down to the type of lifestyle you maintain.  You must look deeply into each credit card and research their rewards.  Always remember to read each fine print as you do not want to be surprised at the last minute when you are ready to “cash in”.  Do your homework.

Finding the best secured credit card

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Why get a secured credit card?


A secured credit card is used solely for the purpose of trying to re-establish your credit when you have poor credit.

Once your credit score goes below 600, you are considered high risk and will find it very difficult to get approved for any type of credit.  However, the only criteria a secured credit card requires is that you have the minimum deposit, a job, and sometimes a checking or savings account, depending on the card.


Finding the best secured credit card doesn’t take that much effort.


You can easily go online and do a search to find the credit cards that have the following:

  • Lowest APR – the annual percentage rates differ with each card
  • Lowest annual fees – the downfall to having no credit is having to pay an annual fee (even though many major credit cards charge an annual fee as well)
  • Easy approval – look for the card that approves upon having a job and checking account
  • Low Deposit – many cards take a percentage of your deposit. Look for the one that takes the least.
  • Interest on your deposit- many of these cards will put your deposit in an interest bearing account which can earn you a small percentage on your deposit.
  • Credit Reporting – It makes no sense to even bother with a secured credit card if they don’t report your good standings with the three credit bureaus.

Eventually graduating to unsecured

The best secured credit card will also offer to switch you over to un-secured with no additional effort on your end.  The conversion to unsecured should also offer a lower annual percent, no annual fee, and no deposit.

You should be able to convert after showing and proving a good credit history after the twelfth month.

Finding The Best Small Business Credit Card

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Finding and getting the best small business credit card is very essential to your small business. Whether you run a business from your own home or in a small office, this can be a very great asset to your success.

Having a small business credit card allows you to do many things that you would not ordinarily be able to do.

Some of these things are:

  • Purchase and track inventory
  • Track expenses
  • Get great business rewards
  • Have great buying power

Once you get the credit card and establish great business credit, you will also be able to get approved for larger business loans.

This would be very good for your business if you started at home, but found that your business succeeded in ways you had not anticipated. Now you find yourself in need of more employees and a real office. If this is the case, now you need to buy equipment and office furniture.

Or you may even be lucky enough that you have to open up more than one office. In any case, finding the best small business credit card can give you this leverage.

One place to find and compare small business credit cards is at www.creditcard.com.  They offer so many different types of credit cards with the information of the interest rate and rewards, which are very important qualities to look for and compare in a credit card.
Some of their feature small business credit cards are:
At&t Universal Business Rewards Card which offers:

  • 0% APR* on purchases for 6 months
  • Earn 5 ThankYou Points® for every dollar you spent on eligible AT&T products and services
  • Earn 3 ThankYou Points for every dollar spent on purchases at certain office supply merchants, gas stations, and on professional services and 1 ThankYou point for every dollar spent on other purchases
  • Additional cards for employees with credit limits you set
  • No Annual Fee

Escape by Discover Card, which offers:

  • Unlimited Double Miles on all purchases
  • An additional 2 Miles for every $1 you spend through our exclusive online shopping site, ShopDiscover
  • Flexible redemption options for travel, gift cards, or cash
  • Enhanced travel benefits

And more.

Can I buy a prepaid credit card and use it the same day?

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

You will be surprised at how many people ask this question. I don’t know if it is because they don’t realize that they put the money on the card in the first place, or if they are unsure as to how much of the money they deposited will actually be theirs to use.

Well I will answer this question for you.

Yes! Yes you can buy a prepaid credit card and use it the same day!
As a matter of fact, not only will you get to use it the same day, but the instant you deposit your money into the account is the instant you can use the card.

orange credit card

The purpose of getting a prepaid credit card is because you are unable to get approved for a regular credit card ever since something has been destroyed by either carelessness or lack of funds to pay bills on time, or maybe even both. That something is your credit!

You may also be having difficulties getting a credit card because of having a lack of credit. This means you never proved that you can take out a loan, via store credit, bank credit, or any other credit, and pay it back on time.

For this reason, you are forced to buy a prepaid credit card.

The good news is you can use it the same day for any type of purchase just as if it were a credit card. You can also build your credit by using a prepaid credit card if their policy states that this is part of their criteria.

The bad news is not all prepaid credit cards report your transactions to the credit bureaus. As a matter of fact, most of them do not. This is why most people will go get a secured card as opposed to a prepaid card.

To me, this is a waist because the sole purpose of even getting a prepaid card is to try to get some assistance in establishing good credit.

So my advice is to stay away from prepaid cards that do not report to the credit bureaus. Stay away from the ones that charge fees and definitely stay away from the prepaid cards that do not allow you to use them the exact same day that you buy it.