How to Use Credit Card Smartly?

 

How to Use Credit Card Smartly?

Credit Card is the worst financial products of all, worst than the ULIPs. This is because, it is the ultra-high interest rate charging borrowing. The credit card interest rates can be as high as 25-50% per annum depending on the type of the bank.

In fact, more than 75% of bankruptcies registered in USA are because of the excessive credit card debt.

Credit card is the double edged sword. Means if used smartly it can make your life easy and even make you richer but if not use smartly than it can make you poor or even bankrupt.

So here are the few things that you should understand to use it smartly.

01) Always use Credit card debt to finance assets -

I personally use credit card to finance assets means to do online necessary purchases for this Blog and my Forum – Investta.com

This is because online transactions with credit cards are very smooth and ultimately they finance my assets (My Blog & a Forum) so its a good debt.

The people who suffer because of the credit card debt are those who use credit card debt to finance liabilities such as shopping, clothes or anything else which is depreciating.

02) Understand the Interest Free Period -

Most of the credit card companies give you an interest free period of 50-55 days. But many people don’t understand it fully. There is a trap in this period.

I mean this interest free period does not apply to your next purchase if you haven’t fully paid your previous payments. Yes, this is true. Means suppose if you make your first purchase worth Rs.10,000 than your credit card company will give you 55 days of interest free period and suppose if after 50 days you make second purchase and you haven’t paid Rs.10,000 of the previous purchase than your interest free period for this second purchase is only 5 days and if you have purchased second thing after 55 days without paying the previous amount fully than there is no interest free period.

03) Never Use Credit card as an Emergency Fund -

Remember that your credit card is not your emergency fund. For the emergency purpose, you should have a separate emergency fund and not the credit card.

So have a contingency fund for the rainy days. Your credit card is not your emergency fund.

04) Never Exhaust more than 40% of Credit Limit -

Always make your payments regularly to avoid late payment charges and never use more than 40% of your credit limit for better credit score.

05) Never withdraw money from your credit cards, Always Swipe it -

Credit card withdrawals are chargeable at the rate of 4-5% per withdrawal. Means for every cash withdrawal, the charge is 4-5%. So always use credit card for swipe purpose only. Never use it for any cash withdrawals.

So remember the above 5 things and use your credit cards wisely.

How to Apply for SBI Credit Card Online?

 

How to Apply for SBI Credit Card Online?

SBI is India’s largest bank. And you can now apply for SBI credit card online by downloading its application form from its website and sending it to the SBI.

Here is the step by step Process

Step: 1: Visit SBI Credit Cards Website.

Go to SBICards.com website.

Step: 2 Click on Forms central Option on the Top Bar. You will be redirected to the Download forms page.

Now, click and download the SBI Card application form.

Step: 3 Now, print the form and fill it and attach the required documents.

Step: 4 Send it to via mail or Fax to the SBI.

Mail to :
SBI Card and Payment Services Pvt Ltd
PO Bag 28, GPO
New Delhi - 110001

Fax to :
0124-2567131

Prepaid Credit Cards India Review

 

Prepaid Credit Cards India Review

Prepaid credit cards are now recent trends in India. The prepaid credit card means the credit card just like a debit card (but having all the facilities of credit cards) in which you will have to first deposit some amount of money with your credit card issuer.

And after that, the bank will issue you a credit card having the same credit limit that you have deposited with your bank.

There are several advantages of prepaid credit cards. One great advantage of prepaid credit card is that, all kind of charges (including interest rates) are totally NIL. This is because after all it is your money and you are not borrowing it from your bank.

Another advantage of prepaid credit cards is that, they come with 100% guaranteed approval. So even if you are a college going student, you can have your own prepaid credit card.

Not only this but the main great advantage of these credit cards is that, you won’t scratch it like the traditional credit cards and go into a deep debt. And even though you will scratch it like the hell, ultimately it is your money so there is no need to repay it back.

So in my opinion, in comparison to the traditional credit cards the prepaid credit cards are the best. Almost every major bank of India is providing such kind of card facility.

Many people ask me that, How they can do online transactions without using the Credit cards? Well, the Prepaid credit card is the answer. This is because a prepaid credit card is not the real credit card and by scratching your prepaid credit card, you are not going into a deep debt.

Now, the question is that, What if your balance in your card is exhausted? Well, just like your mobile prepaid SIM card, you will have to recharge it again and that’s it. Its ready to use.

Prepaid credit card is the best solution for the people who need the credit card for the travel or online transaction purposes but don’t get qualified for the traditional real credit cards.

Not only this but the prepaid credit cards are the best gifts for birthdays and wedding purposes for your loved ones. This is because you can give a prepaid credit card as a gift to your loved ones.

You can instantly get approved for this card without showing any income proof. So What are you waiting for? Cut down your real credit cards and start using prepaid credit cards.

How to Apply for LIC Credit Card?

How to Apply for LIC Credit Card?

LIC Card is the subsidiary company of Life Insurance Corporation of India. It is the credit card facility for the LIC customers all over India.

Who Can apply for LIC Card?

- Indian Citizen

- You should be an LIC policyholder and at least one of the policies should have commenced at least one year prior to the state of card application/

- Should now be a minor or illiterate person.

- should have a PAN

- You should meet following Income & Age criteria

Download LIC Card Application Form Now.

LIC Card is loaded with lots of features. LIC has its own customer base of around 20 Crore customers whish is really a huge customer base by all means. And that’s why LIC has planned to enter into the Credit Card Business.

Recently LIC has also launched Pre-paid card in India. LIC is one of the most reputed insurance company of India. So if you want a LIC Card than download the form from the above link and apply for it.

LIC Pre-paid Credit Cards now in the markets

LIC Pre-paid Cards are now in the markets

The RBI on Thursday said that banks may issue pre-paid instruments to LIC for credit of either one-time or periodic payments by the Corporation to its customers. Speaking to ET, SC Singh, chief executive, LIC Cards said that the Corporation has been eyeing pre-paid cards as a business opportunity. Besides saving the Corporation remittance cost, it would also enable it to acquire card customers. “There may be people who are more comfortable with using a pre-paid instrument. This will also aid financial inclusion as it will allow payment cards to be issued to those without bank accounts and who are not ‘cardable’ at present,” said Mr Singh.

LIC Card is the subsidiary company of LIC India, the largest life insurance company of India. The main benefit of LIC Credit cards is that they are life time free if you apply it before March 2011.

Credit Score India: CIBIL

Credit Score India: CIBIL

Credit Score is a new concept in India. In the debt ridden western countries (USA & Europe), Credit score is a routine practice and there are several credit score rating agencies over there.

However, in India there is only one Credit Score rating agency and that is – CIBIL – Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited.

Who Owns CIBIL?

The company is owned by a syndicate of banks now, but was originally promoted by the State Bank of India (SBI), Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC), Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India Private Limited (D&B) and TransUnion International Inc (TransUnion). A number of banks, including Bank of India, HSBC, ICICI, Central Bank, etc, now hold stakes within this firm.

How do CIBIL Works?

CIBIL is a privately owned company, which collects credit information on over 140 million credit card holders and loan takers.

It gathers all of your credit information and store it on their servers. It helps banks, financial institutions and other financiers to share credit histories of retail and commercial customers. The bureau provides both positive and negative information about bank's borrowers, which empowers lenders in assessing the credit worthiness of potential customers.

So suppose if you go to ICICI Bank or HDFC Bank for the home loan than your bank may ask CIBIL for your credit score. And based on your credit score, your bank will approve or reject your loan application.

What is Credit Score?

A Credit Score is a 3 digit number between 300-900. Higher the credit score, the better.

It is decided based on your payment history, how many times you have default on your loan and many other factors.

So don’t think anymore that if you will default from the credit card from one bank, there is no problem. It is quiet possible that in the future you may not get approved for the home loan by any bank because of your bad credit score.

How to Use Your Credit Card Wisely?

How to Use Your Credit Card Wisely?

Credit card is the worst type of debt ever. And many people argue proudly that, “I keep credit card for the emergency purpose only.” But well, the reality is that, you should have emergency fund for the emergency purpose and not the credit card.

On the other hand, many finance gurus and personal finance advisors say that, credit card is a bad debt and its next to control your psychological behaviour of using credit cards. So cut down your credit cards and always stay away from the credit cards.

But well, the truth is that, A Credit card is like a double edged sword. If used properly, it won’t harm you but if not used properly than it can make you bankrupt.

There are basically two types of debts – Good Debt & a Bad Debt.

A Good debt is one which is used to finance the assets while a bad debt is one which is used to finance the liabilities.

So if you use the credit card debt to finance the assets than its the good debt but if you use your credit card to finance the liabilities than it’s the bas debt.

I personally use credit cards for online transactions for my Internet Business. I do various expenses with my credit card for the various purpose of this blog business as well as my forum – Investta.com.

For the Emergency purpose, I have the Emergency Fund. I never use credit card as an emergency purpose. Rather than that I have my own emergency fund in my bank savings account for the rainy days.

Many of my friends keep credit cards for the emergency purpose and on the top of this, their emergencies are not defined very well. Weekend parties are also the emergency for them. Don’t use credit card in such a manner.

I use credit card to finance my Internet Business. And I make bullet payments of the entire credit card amount at a single shot. So use credit cards wisely.

Credit Cards Transactions Shoot up by 29%

Credit Card Transactions Shoot up by 29% in 2010

This year in India, the Credit card transactions shoot up by 29% to Rs. 6259.42 Crore from Rs.5817.46 Crores in the past year. But during the same time the number of credit card holders in India has also been declined by 14% to just 1.89 Crores from 2.19 Crores past year.

Many people think that credit cards are for rich people and that’s why they buy a credit cards. But well, let me tell you that not the all kind of expenses that you make from your credit cards are the good expenses.

If you can’t control your psychology of spending more money than simply cut down your credit cards and replace them with the debit cards. This is because I have personally seen many people who are deep in the credit card debts up to their eyeballs.

I personally use Debt card rather than credit cards for regular use. For online transactions, I have my own credit card but that I use only for the transactions for my this blog business only.

There are basically two types of Credit card debts – A Good debt and a bad debt. If you are borrowing money from your credit cards to finance the assets than its a good debt but if you are borrowing money from your credit cards to finance the liabilities than well, its a bad debt which may make you bankrupt someday.

This is because the credit card interest rates are very high (35-50%). So use credit cards but only to finance assets and not the liabilities and always do the bullet payment of your credit card outstanding to avoid higher interest rates.

Credit Cards Festival Discounts

Credit Cards Festival Discounts

Credit Card Companies in India are offering Festival Discounts. This is because during the time of festivals, people will spend more money and find out discounts on all the things in the market.

And during the time of festivals, all the major and minor companies will give several types of discounts.

Here are the most popular discounts given by the various credit card companies for this Diwali Festival.

01) Apparel: You can avail discounts of up to 10% if you swipe your cards from HSBC and Axis bank to purchase clothes.

02) Dining: There is something for your palate too. As an American Express cardholder, if you book a flight to Hong Kong through Cathay Pacific Airline this month, and can participate in the “Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival”, which is being organised from October 28 to October 31, you would get a free wine pass.

03) Travel: f you are in a holiday mood this season, make sure you book tickets online. Several credit card issuers like HSBC and SBI have tied up with online travel portals like makemytrip.com, ezeego1.com for cash back offers of up to 30% on booking through them

04) Electronics: In electronics category, too, you can save up to 15% through cash back offers. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, which are active in this segment are offering this scheme on brands like Videocon, Canon and, Kenstar. So if you want an air conditioner from Videocon or Kenstar, you just have to swipe your HDFC credit card.

05) Jewellery: If you have been waiting for the festive season to purchase jewellery, you have made the right decision. There are cash back offers galore on branded jewellery. For instance, in the case of Orra Jewellery, you can avail cash back up to 3% for purchases made between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh on different cards.

06) Books: In case you are book lover, this is the best time to buy books in bulk. The Happy Swipes scheme by HSBC lets you save up to 10% on books this season through its cash back offer which is applicable on it. So if you pick up books worth Rs 1,500 from any Landmark store, you would be effectively paying around Rs 1,400 with cash back offer of 7.5%.

Citibank Credit Cards with Buttons & Lights

Very soon, Citibank will introduce a credit card having 2 buttons and lights on it.

The two buttons are for two different purposes. While shopping, the card holder can choose between the reward points and cashback/cash reward by pressing any of the 2 buttons.

This is really a revolutionary change in the history of credit cards.

Our current age old credit cards have magnetic strips behind it which is the technology somewhere around 1970s. Right now more than 100 billion credit cards are in the pocket of the Americans.

Citi's cards will be tested by a select group of cardholders beginning in November, though some Citi employees have been testing the cards since May. The pilot program will expand as Citi incorporates user feedback. The bank plans to make the cards available on a broader scale in mid to late 2011.

Buy Mutual Funds with Credit Card

Is it really Worth to Buy Mutual Funds with Credit Card?

Many of my friends and readers of this Blog ask me this question several times. People think that they have credit cards so what’s wrong in paying one or two SIP payments via credit card money? But well, This may be technically possible, it’s not at all the wise Investment Decision as an Investor’s Point of view.

Many Americans think that, they will pay their next SIP from their credit card. But it is not a good thing to do because the credit cards are associated with anywhere between 35-50% annual interest rate while average mutual funds in USA has given 10-12% return in the long run. So borrowing money at the rate of 35-50% per annum interest rate to investment in mutual funds which give you 10-12% annual return is not a wise financial decision at all.

According to me, if you think that you won’t be able to pay your mutual fund SIP this month, simply default that month. After all, you have not borrowed money from anyone so even if you default in your regular SIP Payments, there is not penalty for doing this.

What I advise to my friends is to change their financial behaviour and bad money spending habits. Because defaulting in your regular SIP is not a good thing in the long run. Remember, even a small but regular SIP Investment over a long time can end up in a large sum at the end of 10 years or so.

But Buying Mutual Funds with a Credit Card is a Bad Idea. So Forget about it…!!!

Credit Cards of Millionaires

Credit Cards of Millionaire Household Members

One interesting survey done in USA on literally several hundred millionaire households. And according to the survey, here are the top 5 Credit Cards that millionaires love to own.

But before reading further, just guess that which credit cards do millionaires in America prefer? Of course, you will say that after all they are millionaires so they will prefer American Express Platinum, Diners Club & Carte Blanche credit cards right?

But well, This is not true. Most of the millionaires are money savvy and they prefer simple and cheap credit cards just like regular households in United States. Here is a List.

Choice: 1 Visa

Choice: 2 Master Card

Choice: 3 Sears

Choice: 4 Penney’s

Choice: 5 American Express Gold

Only less than 5% Millionaires in USA prefer to use luxurious and high cost credit cards such as American Express Platinum and Diners Club.

Lack of Financial Education is the root of all the bad money habits. Most of the people think since childhood that, Rich people use luxurious credit cards. And the reason behind developing this kind of thinking is their parents. If the parents are high Income but low net worth group of people than it is very likely that their children will develop bad financial spending habits.

Children of High Income but low net worth group think that rich people use luxurious and expensive credit cards. And that’s why they grow in age, they buy those luxurious credit cards.

You will be surprised by knowing that less than 5% millionaires use those luxurious credit cards. Than who are using these luxurious credit cards? Well, these are the high income but low net worth group (Upper Middle Class) of people.

How to Use ICICI Virtual Credit Card?

How to Use ICICI Virtual Credit Card?

In the previous article, I have explained in detail that How to Make ICICI Virtual Credit Card in Detail. Today we will discuss that how to use it?

Well, the main advantage of ICICI Virtual Credit Card is that, you can use it only 1 time. Means suppose today if you generate ICICI Virtual Credit Card number, Expiry Date and CVV2 Number than you can use this data for one time only online. After that it will expire and next for the online shopping, again you have to generate new Virtual Credit Card Number.

Another main advantage is that, you can set a credit limit of your virtual credit card. So suppose if you want buy an item of Rs.350 on ebay than you can set a credit limit of Rs.500 for your virtual credit card.

The only difference between real and virtual credit card is that, In case of Virtual Credit Card, all the Card Information will be Digital and not in the physical form. Everything including Card Number, Expiry Date & CVV2 Number are virtual. They are generated on the data servers of the ICICI Bank.

Thus, using an ICICI Bank Virtual Credit Card is this much easy and safe to use…!!!

ICICI Virtual Credit Card

ICICI Bank has introduced the Virtual Credit Card.

The main advantage of Virtual Credit Card is that, its not available in the physical form. It is available only in the Virtual Form. And you can set your own Credit Limit for it.

Second thing is that, once Virtual Card you generate can be used for single time online only. If you want to do another online transaction, you have to create the another Virtual Credit Card.

HDFC Bank also offers the VCC Service known as NetSafe.

The main advantage of VCC is that, your main Credit Card number is fully protected from online frauds.

How to use ICICI Virtual Credit Card? -

Many people don’t know that, how to use Virtual Credit Card? Here is a quick guide of using ICICI Bank Virtual Credit Card.

Step:1 You Must have ICICI Bank Credit Card & Internet Banking facility to do this. If you don’t have any of these 2 things than get them first.

Step: 2 Log in to your ICICI Bank Account. Enter your User ID & password and go to your ICICI Bank account Online.

Step: 3 Go to “Credit Cards” Section from the Top Bar.

Step: 4 Go to the “Virtual Credit Card” Section from the “New Applications” on the Left Column Bar.

Step: 5 Enter your Existing Real ICICI Bank Credit Card Number, E-mail Id, Mobile Number and Internet Banking Transaction Password. Your Transaction Password is different than your Log in password.

Step: 6 And Click Submit Button.

Step: 7 You are Done….!!! You can now use ICICI Bank Virtual Credit Card Facility.

Use VCC Service for online transaction and enjoy safe and secure shopping…

Amazon Virtual Credit Card

For decades, stores have tried to create customer loyalty by offering proprietary credit cards. Now, further evidence that web retailing is becoming more like traditional retailing, but with a twist, Amazon.com has introduced a proprietary credit “card.”

Not actually a card, but a credit account administered by the Citi Commerce Solutions division of Citibank in conjunction with Amazon.com Financial Services Inc., Amazon will offer a line of credit to customers who don’t have credit cards or who want a proprietary credit account with Amazon.

To launch the card, Amazon is giving a three-month, interest-free grace period on orders of more than $200. The finance offer does not apply to purchases made from the Amazon Marketplace, auctions or Z shops, or at the Circuit City portion of Amazon. The offer also cannot be used for gift certificate purchases and cell phone deposits. The interest rate on the card is 22.9%.

Worst Financial Products Ever

Not the all Financial Products are Best and help you achieve your goals. There are some Financial Products which are Worst Financial Products ever.

Here is a List of Worst Financial Products -

01) Credit Cards – Credit Cards are the worst ever Financial Products of the man kind. In fact, 75% of all the Bankruptcies in USA are because of Credit Cards. Credit Card Companies charge you anyway between 35-50% per Annum interest rate from you. So taking a credit card debt means, entering into the world of negative compounding and going towards the black hole of Bankruptcy.

02) ULIPs (Unit Linked Insurance Plans) -

The second worst Financial Product is INSURANCE + INVESTMENT Products means ULIPs. ULIPs are nothing but the opaque Mutual Funds which charge anywhere between 8-20% of Entry load and other Financial charges from you. You should never Mix Insurance with Investment (ULIPs). The ideal Combination is Term Life Insurance + Mutual Funds and not the ULIPs.

There is a joke, “ULIPs are the most profitable Financial Products only when you are on the selling side.”

03) Whole Life Insurance -

A whole life insurance policy covers you for your entire life, not just for a specific period such as term insurance. Your death benefit and premium in most cases will remain the same. Whole life insurance also builds cash value, which is a return on a portion of your premiums that the insurance company invests. Your cash value is tax-deferred until you withdraw it and you can borrow against it.

It is advisable to Invest in Term Life Insurance + Mutual Funds. Remember, Life Insurance is not the Investment product. It is the Financial protection against loss of your life.

04) Variable Annuities -

It is also a bad Financial Product. These are nothing but the top ups. These will consume your money and nothing else. Instead of this, you should invest this money in some good mutual funds.

So If possible than stay away from all of the above Bad Financial Products. The above products are not the ideal products to reach your Financial Freedom.

Credit Card Debt: The Worst Financial Trap

Credit Card Debt is the worst type of Financial Trap. Banks & Credit Card Companies simply love this Financial Product. Because they can charge from anywhere between 35-50% per year interest rate from you once you scratch your credit card.

Once you scratch your credit card, you trap into this worst type of trap. Now you enter into the world of negative compounding. Means the Compound interest will work against you. Do you want to know that how dangerous this trap is? Well, more than 75% of Bankruptcies in USA are because of the Credit Card Debt. Want more proof? So every time you scratch your credit card or default in the monthly minimum payment, you increase your probability of going bankrupt and nothing else. Annual 35-50% of interest rate will sooner or later make you poor or even bankrupt.

You have to understand the fact that, if you want to be rich and financially free than Credit card is not a good choice. Credit Card is not the right financial product for you if you want to be Financially free or rich. Rich never use credit cards not because they are rich but that’s why they are rich. Unfortunately, Credit Card companies do so much aggressive marketing that not having credit card in your pocket will make you feel poor.

The reason why people fall in the Credit Card Debt trap is because of lack of Financial Literacy and aggressive marketing by the credit card companies. So are you caught in this trap? if yes than don’t worry, you are not alone on this world. There are literally millions of people around this world who are caught in this trap right now.

If you are caught by this trap than don’t worry, I have a solution of how to escape from this worst type of trap and how to stay away from this trap. I have a strategy for you to escape from this trap.

Step: 1 Cut Down all of your Credit Cards First & stop Borrowing more money -

If you want to escape from the Credit Card Debt trap than first of all you have to stop borrowing more money. You have to cut down all of your credit cards with the scissor.

Step: 2 Build an Emergency Fund & replace your Credit Cards with Debit Card -

Most of the people give an excuse that, I use credit card for an emergency purpose. But let me tell you that, for an emergency purpose you should have an emergency fund and not the credit cards. So replace your credit cards with debit cards and build a sufficient emergency fund.

Step: 3 Pay slightly more than the Minimum amount due -

The Best and most effective way of getting out of the credit card debt trap is, every month you pay slightly more than the minimum amount due. Say for Example, if your minimum outstanding every month is US $ 50 than pay $60, $ 70 or even more. This is the best way to get out of this trap.

So this is how you can escape from this trap.

Virtual Credit Card – The safest way of Online Shopping

Here is a Reader’s Query for Online safety of Credit Card -

“hi asav,this is ******* (Reader’s Name) ,i have some doubts,last day while browsing accidentally i saw one Stock related site,i surprised to see that type of Site ,site name is anyoption.com,it deals with almost all  world markets........in this they asked Debit card/Credit card details...is giving details will remain with them or it leads to any scam.......can we believe such type of sites or Trading.............................”

I am receiving these types of queries very often. e-Commerce is growing day by day and Online shopping is going through the roof. And so the Online Scams. Online scams has rise several folds after 2003 in India.

Well, in my opinion, The Solution of your query is - “Virtual Credit Card.”

Virtual Credit Card is a service that is now provided by many banks & financial institutions. They will provide you a Virtual Credit Card Number, Expiry Date & CVV2 Number for a single use only each time. So each time, once you finish your online shopping it will be inactivated forever and the next time, you will have to generate the new one.

This is probably the Best solution to protect your real Credit Card details. Here I am giving you some useful resources. Hope these will helpful to you.

Useful Resources for Virtual Credit Card -

01) Netsafe: HDFC Bank’s Virtual Credit Card – If you are an existing HDFC Bank or Credit Card holder than this is the Best solution. Simply make as many Virtual Cards as you wan to make. I personally use this to shop online on Amazon.com & e-Bay.com. However, there are many other services.

02) Digital Inspiration: ICICI Bank has launched Virtual Credit Card for Online Transactions

03) Pay Pal – Virtual Credit Card FAQs – The another best way is Paypal. Read the FAQs by PayPal for Virtual Credit Card & you will understand what is it and how it works?

04) Digital Inspiration: Virtual Debit Cards in India for shopping safely on the Internet

Free Credit Card Offers- How ‘Free’ Can They Be?

Free Credit Card Offers- How ‘Free’ Can They Be?

Major companies like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and other well-known credit card companies might offer you a free credit card, with no application fees and charges. This is fine for the most part. However, when you run into a no-name company that you’ve never heard of and you see that they have a guaranteed $2,000 credit line that is free to you, check to see what the catch is. If credit isn’t considered, then it could very well be a prepaid card or one that has more fees than it is worth.

I think that credit cards can be an asset if they are used properly. Part of that is knowing what the different cards offer and how you can really get a free credit card. Here’s an important thing to note, though: credit cards are only ‘free’ to have and apply for. Unless you have excellent credit and get a 0% APR card, you’ll end up paying for having the card in the way of interest charges. If the card has a $1,500 limit and you max it out, getting the payments under control can be challenging, because the interest will add up. At first, minimum payments might only be $20 or $30 a month, but when you’ve got it up to the limit, the payments will be closer to $100 a month and most of that will be covering finance charges and interest.

So you see, even when you go to a major credit card company and apply for a credit card, it won’t really be a free credit card. That’s why it is so important for you to understand credit and know how to use it responsibly. If you don’t have the tools and education to use credit properly, those so-called ‘free’ credit cards might cost you everything in the end.

Here are some final tips for applying for a free credit card:

-Unless you want premium cardholder benefits, never pay an annual fee for a card.

-Don’t get credit cards that you can’t afford. Even if you are approved, you might not have the extra money to make the payments.

-Never spend on credit what you can’t cover in cash. Save the cash until the end of the month, and pay off the bill when it comes. This is the best way to build great credit and use credit cards responsibly.

With these tips in mind, I wish you luck and financial security in your credit card matters.

Credit Cards Bad Credit Style- The Truth of ‘No Credit Check’ Cards

Credit Cards Bad Credit Style- The Truth of ‘No Credit Check’ Cards

There are many companies out there that work specifically with people who have bad credit. Getting credit cards from these companies can be a great way to get exactly what you need when you can’t get approved anywhere else. However, there are some things that I think everyone should know when it comes to getting credit cards bad credit. When you apply for bad credit cards, the company already knows you have bad credit. However, they might still run your credit anyway just to see how ‘bad’ it really is. For example, someone with three collection accounts that have been paid off will likely be approved while someone with five revolving accounts and two unpaid collections will usually be more likely to be denied.

It’s all a matter of the various terms and criteria that creditors use to determine approvals. For the companies that offer credit cards bad credit or not, credit checks might not be essential. Keep in mind that the ones without credit checks either have more fees than they’re worth, are prepaid, or are company-specific, meaning that you can only use them at the creditor’s website or store and will be forced to pay much higher prices for the things that you buy there.

If this is the only means that you have to rebuild your credit, then it might be worth the investment. No matter how bad your credit is, though, you should never get credit cards bad credit approved that have fees that take up more than 1/3 of the available credit. For example, if you’re offered a card with a $300 limit, and the annual fee, application fee, and one-time acceptance fee (basically their way of taking your money) are $250, don’t bother. Wait a few more months until your debts clear up to apply for credit cards. If you have debts that aren’t paid off, don’t even THINK about getting another credit card.

Take the money that you make and pay off your bad debts FIRST. Then, while you are waiting for your paid debts to come off of your credit history, you can try to get a bad credit card to help with credit repair. Credit cards, bad credit approved or not, are very tricky business if you aren’t able to use them responsibly and understand the terms you’re agreeing to. Next time you’re going to apply for credit cards, bad credit or not, you’ll be more informed to make a good decision.