Best Credit Card Information for New Users

Best Credit Card Information for New Users

A credit card assures a seller that the person using it has a satisfactory credit rating and that the issuer will see to it that the seller receives payment for the merchandise delivered.

A credit card is usually a card made of plastic issued to a user by a credit card system.

A credit card is different from a debit card in which the issuer lends the consumer money rather than having the money removed from an account.

A credit card system is a system of retail transaction settlement and credit system, established by a credit card provider.

There are numerous credit card providers all over the globe.

In credit card system a user is issued a credit card after an account has been approved by the credit provider, with which they will be able to make purchases from merchants accepting that credit card up to a pre-established credit limit.

The credit card user agrees to pay the card issuer for every single purchase by using a credit card. To accept credit card, a credit card user has to give his/her consent to pay specific amount of money.

Originally the consent used to be by signing a receipt with a record of the card details and indicating the amount to be paid, but now many providers demand verbal authorizations via telephone and electronic authorization using the internet.

A cheap credit card is the most frequently searched keyword on internet today. The credit card users all over the globe are always tracking the cheap credit card companies.

A cheap credit card company provides card credit service in considerably cheap quotes.

What You Need To Know to Apply for a Credit Card

One of the disadvantages of modern times is that people tend to acquire so many things they don’t really need. Numerous gadgets and services occurred targeting a vast market of consumers and this emergence of various inventions somehow blinded people.

Since finances—especially money—is one of the major concerns of many people, a wide array of financial management services and financial options emerged. One of the most visible among the unending line of financial management services there are is the credit card.

Although many people testify for the financial convenience you get when you apply for a credit card, it doesn’t mean that every financing convenience applies for you or for everybody in that matter.

When people apply for a credit card, there is always a reason. It can be for managing their finances, needing extra money or in preparation to a big expenditure. But, no matter what the reason is, people apply for a credit card because of the ultimate convenience it brings.

By now, you may have had your share of ‘pre-approved’ credit card offers in your virtual and physical mail. Since people are quite vulnerable when they apply for a credit card,

some credit card issuers lure these people by giving low introductory APR, no annual fee offers among numerous perks. The tendency of this so many alternatives and “value” deals is to sway the person who wants to apply for a credit card.

There are undeniably endless lists of pros and cons when you apply for a credit card, but if you really have decided to apply for a credit card, these are some of the helpful tips that can guide you on your credit card shopping journey.

Actually, there are three easy steps you should follow if you have decided to apply for a credit card. First, surf the net and do some research on credit cards.

By doing this, you can familiarize yourself with different credit card terms and types. Second, you can compare numerous credit cards that would best serve your needs and lastly,

you may now apply for the credit card of your choice by filling out a credit card application by visiting a bank representative or through online.

In order to find the right credit card fast and easy, first, before you apply for a credit card, make sure you mastered the credit card terms.

When you apply for a credit card you must know what a “credit card” really is. Being a form of borrowing that involves charges, credit cards usually have underlying credit terms and conditions affect your overall cost.

So, it’s best to compare terms and fees before you apply for a credit card and agree to open an account. Some of the important terms to be understood well include the annual percentage rate or the APR.

When you apply for a credit card, you must know how the APR affects your credit account. Being a measure of the cost of credit expressed as a yearly rate,

the APR should be disclosed before you apply for a credit card so that you would not be obligated on the account and on your account statements later on.

Aside from APR, the periodic rate must be disclosed to the card holder before they completely apply for a credit card so they would have an idea of their outstanding balance and finance charge for each billing period.

Other important terms to know before you apply for a credit card are free period or “grace period,” annual fees, transaction fees and other charges,

other costs and feature, and balance computation method for the finance charge like average daily balance, adjusted balance, previous balance, and two-cycle balances.

If you’re not that type of person who is patient enough to research on all these terms, make sure that before you apply for a credit card, the issuer will give an explanation how the balance is computed and it must appear on your monthly billing statements.

What You Should Know About Using Your Credit Cards

Today, almost everyone is in possession of one or more credit cards. But does everyone understand how the credit cards should be used? ; doesn’t seem so.

Some credit card holders only know how to spend on their credit cards till the credit limit is reached. Others know only about using credit cards for shopping and bill payments.

Still others are too afraid to use their credit card. A lot many are unaware about the ways to protect their credit cards.

So what is it that you should know about using credit cards?

The first thing is the fact that whenever you use your credit card to make a payment, you are borrowing that amount from someone (credit card supplier in this case).

Thus you will need to return this borrowed money to the credit card supplier within a specified period of time failing which you will incur a late fees and interest on the borrowed amount.

So, you should be careful about your credit card payments. Besides the late fee and interest, they also affect your credit rating and we know how important the credit rating is.

A bad credit rating can lead to rejection of mortgage applications, loans, subsequent credit cards and even a job application.

You should also make it a point never to exceed 70-75% of the credit limit on your credit card. Not only does this shield you from getting into a credit card debt trap but also protects your credit rating.

Credit cards need protection against fraud and every credit card user should be aware of the ways to protect their credit card(s).

There are generally a set of very simple precautions that the credit card holder need to follow. All the credit card companies supply instructions to this effect at the time of credit card delivery. These include things like signing at the back of credit card, reporting theft, PIN/Password protection etc.

Besides the security related instructions, it’s also important to read through the instructions related to the benefits on your credit card in order to realize the full potential of your credit card.

These include discounts on shopping, travel, car rentals etc. Then there are cash back options as well which have become very popular lately.

There are some really good benefits for travelers too. These include things like free travel insurance and baggage protection.

Besides the regular benefits, the credit card suppliers generally include some joining benefits too for the new customers. The joining benefits are generally in the form of discount vouchers.

Another important thing to note is the various kinds of fees and commissions charged by your credit card supplier.

Besides the annual fees and APR there are other services too which attract a fee or commission e.g. there is a fee associated with cash withdrawals; similarly there is a commission associated with foreign exchange transactions.

All these charges are clearly mentioned in the instructions booklet that you receive with your credit card and any changes to these are separately communicated by the credit card company.

Credit card suppliers keep coming up with a lot of different offers throughout the year. Be on the lookout for these offers.

Some of them might be of interest to you. Generally, you will receive intimation about these offers at your billing address or your email address too.

Almost all credit card companies have a membership rewards program too wherein you earn points for any payments made using your credit card.

Once you have accumulated enough points, you can exchange them for free gifts. Very often the catalogue of these gifts is also supplied at the time of you joining the membership reward programs.

It’s important to note that there might sometimes be an annual fee associated with the membership rewards program.

So just learn more about your credit card and make full use of its capability.

Mistakes Searching For Credit Card Help

Credit card debt can really disturb the peace of your mind. You keep hearing stories about people who run a debt on their credit card debt. Some of these stories are serious and some others are amusing. Here’s an amusing one:

The other day I heard a guy tell his story about how he went on his mission to eliminate his credit card debt. He started with reading the advice on various websites and trying various search engines and he was astonished at the number of results he got.

One night he was so tired that he typed in ‘card com credit debt en language site’. After he typed ‘card com credit debt en language site’, he realized that he had made a slight typing mistake in typing ‘card com credit debt en language site’.

His actual intention behind typing ‘card com credit debt en language site’ was to search for only English sites (.com sites only)

that offered credit card debt related advice. His search amused him even more when he found that ‘card com credit debt en language site’ did actually get him some results.

Though the search engine did recommend changing the ‘en’ to ‘in’, there were still some results for ‘card com credit debt en language site’.

He just went on to search for ‘card com credit debt en language site’ as just one term. For ‘card com credit debt en language site’ as a single term, he got lesser results than he had got for ‘card com credit debt en language site’ typed in without quotes.

He wondered, if a lot of people were making similar searches as he was doing on ‘card com credit debt en language site’ i.e. using random terms with a bit of mistyping.

He went on to typing ‘card com credit debt en language site’ on some other search engines, just to check that. Soon, it kind of became a research

(and fun) of different kind i.e. searching for ‘card com credit debt en language site’ and checking if ‘card com credit debt en language site’ actually meant something.

He thought that it was a bit unusual to have some other people too that were searching for or using the same term ‘card com credit debt en language site’

(especially such a long term as ‘card com credit debt en language site’). When ‘card com credit debt en language site’ was used without quotes, the search for ‘card com credit debt en language site’ did yield some useful yields.

So he went on to examine these results that were returned for ‘card com credit debt en language site’. However, that was just the fun part of it and he soon went off to sleep.

Yes, he did have a laugh with his friends the next day.

Disposable Credit Card Numbers

Disposable diapers, disposable cameras- and now… disposable credit card numbers? They’re actually referred to within the industry as virtual credit card numbers, and are currently being offered through most major credit card issuers.

Virtual credit card numbers are single-use numbers that expire within a month or two of issue, and are used for shopping online in place of the number that’s actually on your credit card.

What’s the point? The number is only good at the one web site where you make your purchase, and only for a limit period of time

– so if hackers have obtained your credit card number during an online transaction, the next time they go to use it, it will not work.

When a customer receives their credit card statement after shopping with virtual credit card numbers, the purchases show up on the statement exactly like any other purchase.

Some card issuers will provide the virtual number used to make the purchase along side the charge, for reference purposes.

Why Virtual Credit Card Numbers?

One of the main reasons why some people choose not to shop online is because of their fear of credit card theft and identity fraud.

The potential for personal information to be found online is a real concern- and is proven by a survey in September 2002, where over 7 percent of online shoppers surveyed claimed to be victims of credit card fraud.

Even though almost all credit card issuers promise a zero liability policy for unauthorized charges and online purchases, consumers are still concerned because of the potential for further damage.

Sometimes it is difficult to get errors removed from a credit report, for example, even after being the victim of identity theft.

Using virtual credit card numbers can eliminate the potential for hackers to use the card data to make purchases and discover more information about a consumer.

Disadvantages of Virtual Credit Card Numbers

While virtual credit card numbers offer many advantages over shopping online with your regular credit card number, there are also some instances when using a virtual card number has disadvantages.

When you purchase theater tickets or airline, hotel or rental car reservations with a credit card number online, you are supposed to provide that credit card when you go to pick up your tickets or when you check into the hotel or get your rental car.

If you’ve used a virtual number, you won’t have the ability to hand the clerk the credit card with a matching card number.

Recurring expenses are also a hassle using a virtual credit card number. By the time the next purchase period comes around, your number is likely to have expired.

Take Precautions Against Identity Theft & Fraud
You can take some precautions to help minimize your potential to be a victim of online fraud due to shopping online- with or without having a virtual credit card number.

Before making a purchase, make sure the website uses a secure or encrypted site to handle the transaction of your payment information.

Most sites use the SSL (secure socket layer), and is recognized easily by a url beginning with ‘https’ instead of ‘http’, and often by a little locket symbol on the screen.

Always monitor your credit card statement and make sure all transactions were authorized. If you suspect there is a problem, contact your credit card company immediately.

Use a paper shredder to destroy credit statements, pre-approved credit card others, bills and anything else containing personal information before you throw them away.

While many identity thieves are high-tech and use the internet to find their victims- some still dive into dumpsters to get their information!

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