Today, more and more people are struggling to make ends meet. People who once were able to live a luxuriously or at least a comfortably are finding that they cannot live up to their previous lifestyle. People all over the country are struggling and many people have found themselves with mounting debt, missed payments and as a result a lower than desirable credit score. If this sounds like you, you are not alone. Low credit scores appear today to be the norm, not the exception. If your score is less than what you would like it to be, there are things you can do to raise it. First, get a copy of your credit report and your credit score. Take a close look at it and check for any errors. Some errors do not have very much impact on your score, but others certainly do. Errors that you will want to pay immediate attention to include any reports of late payments or accounts in collections that are not true. Check each of your credit card accounts and make sure that your credit limit is correctly reported. If your limit is higher than what is listed call you credit Card Company and get then to update it. Pay attention to any accounts that state they were unpaid, settled or paid as agreed. If these accounts were paid in full, you will want to get them corrected. Read more…
Now that the country is ready to recover from recession, credit card use is starting to increase again. People are braver to swipe the plastic and manage their accounts properly. No wonder that my cousin did not really have a hard time applying for one of those student credit cards. To say that she is excited to touch her own plastic is an understatement. She has been gushing about the day she finally receives her card. Just a few months ago, applying for student credit cards was really hard, and even those who are credit-worthy were denied. My cousin is lucky that she was given the chance to apply and build a good credit rating for herself.
Years ago, youngsters needed to co-sign with their parents for an account. The parents become jointly liable to whatever happens to the card or misuse of such. Students were given a chance to establish own rating especially if the parents had high scores themselves. There is a new FICO law ruling that will take effect in February of this year and the processing will be a bit different.
Credit card companies have become totally aware that students like my cousin need a chance to have their own student credit cards.
Tags: Card, Credit Card
Friends of The Transaction Group have set up a blog that links to 30 reputable organizations accepting donations for Haiti charities. Most of the sites have online credit card processing capabilities so you can make a donation to Haiti relief with the ease and safety of using your credit card. EVERY DOLLAR makes a BIG difference so please give in some way if you can. Click on Haiti charities to visit their blog.
Tags: Charities, Haiti Charities
The no frills budget airline Ryanair has found itself in hot water with the Office of Fair Trading for allegedly applying sneaky credit card charges to bump up costs for customers. The watchdog has slated the budget airline for getting more money from its passengers by applying sneaky credit card charges, and has been accused of ‘taunting customers’ and ‘playing silly games’ by the OFT.
The OFT is angry over the £5 per person per flight cost that the airline adds to credit and debit cards, which bumps up the cost of flights by £40 for a family of four people booking return flights. Whilst the airline advertises eye-catching prices for flights the cost can really be bumped up when charges such as these are added, and according to consumers laws all advertised prices should include any compulsory costs, which is what these credit and debit card charges amount to.
However, Ryanair has found a loophole, stating that the fees do not apply if customers pay by Mastercard Prepaid card. However, most of its customers do not pay by this card which means that they are stung by the fees.
J
Tags: Card Charges, Credit Card Charges, Hot Water, Water
In his State of the Union 2010 speech, President Barack Obama mentioned student loan relief for college graduates who are struggling to make payments:
“…[L]et’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years – and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service. Because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.”
What he’s talking about is a modification to the Income-Based Repayment program (IBR) that was created in 2007. The current program forgives certain unpaid federal student loans after 25 years, or 10 years for people who work in public service. Borrowers enrolled in the program pay a lower monthly payment based on income, family size, and loan amount as long as the monthly payment is lower than what would be paid on a standard 10-year repayment plan.
The Obama-Biden administration wants to modify the program to cap federal student loan payments at 10% of the borrower’s discretionary income (vs.
Tags: Loan, Student Loan
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