What You Should Know About Credit Card Terms
Credit card companies keeps pushing hard to get more customers daily by giving pre-approved card offers to would be clients through mail. Chances are youve gotten one of this offers in your mail in recent days. Such promotion has being in existences long before now. Though getting such card is good to some extent and getting one will be helpful however, you dont have to rush getting one without considering the plan terms associated very well.
There are lots of plan terms that you really need to study very well while shopping for credit card if you are not ready to put yourself in financial prison. These terms affect your overall cost. In this article we will take a look at some of this credit card plan terms you need to consider before choosing a company to deal with. Get a cup of coffee while we discuss each of terms you need to consider.
Consider a company that gives free period or grace period over others. Because without free period, the card issuer may impose finance charge from the date you use your card or from the date each transaction is posted to your account. Free period allow you to pay back your balance in full before due date in other to avoid finance charges and its usually mail at least 14 days before the due date, giving you enough time to pay.
Another very important term to take note of is APR (Annual Percentage Rate) which is the measure of the cost of credit, expressed as a yearly rate. APR often changes when there is a change in interest rates or other economic indicators. Still companies must disclose this before you open the account and on your account statements.
Apart from the annual percentage rate, you need to consider how much the issuers charges for membership fee. The annual membership or participation fees varies, its often between 25 and 100.
You also need to know about method issuers will use in calculating your finance charge if you dont have a free period, or if you are expected to pay for purchases over time. Knowing this will help you keep your finance charge low by measuring your buying patterns and paying back on time.
Some card issuing companies charges transaction fees and other minor charges when you make late payment, get advance cash with the card or exceed your credit limit. As a matter of fact some even charge monthly fee whether or not you use the card.
What to do when you loose your credit card?
There had been a huge rise in the use of credit cards because of the fact that instead of paying cash people find it easier to use a plastic card to charge. At the same time credit card provide you the convenience and security to carry lot of cash and also you dont need to leave home while you go out to shop.
Sometimes it happens that you loose your credit card that contains cash that is likely for you to get in most of the cases whereas if you had a credit card that you find missing you can easily launch report for it. You need to act wisely to get out of this trouble before anyone finds your credit card information and misuse it. The following tips shall help you as such:
1. You should cancel your credit card as soon as possible because the sooner you cancel, the less are the chances of anyone misusing it. You should also keep your credit card company numbers at number of locations so that you can ring the company even if your wallet is stolen.
2. Its not necessary that you review your statements in case your credit card is stolen but you should review it on regular basis because if someone gets hold of your credit card number he can purchase things on your behalf and you will be the ultimate payer. If you find anything suspicious you should contact your card issuer immediately.
3. You have to be careful with any paperwork that is related to your credit card and should keep it at safe and secure place. If you throw out old statements make sure that you dispose them properly and the best way is to shred the bank information so that people dont get your account information.
4. You have to be much careful with your PIN number because if you have a secure pin number the person who gets your card wont be able to use it. Never writer down your pin number at any unsafe piece of paper or dont make the mistake of giving it to your relatives and friends.
5. Get your credit card insured that is going to be the best way you can insure the recovery of any loss if your card is stolen. If you are using an independent company then you can register all your cards with them so that you can report multiple losses at once.
6. Make a habit to carry only what is necessary for you as such dont carry all your credit cards when you go out for shopping. This way you wont have to worry for all cards that could be stolen.
Lastly dont panic if your card is stolen instead remain calm and follow these steps then you can get a new card in around a week.
For further details, visit our recommended website www.credit-card-debt-consolidation-guide.infocredit-card-debt-consolidation-guide.info
Get the Best Credit Card Deal
Payments are made via credit card for bills for purchases made or services availed of. The issuer of the credit card lends money to the consumer or the cardholder by meeting the commitment for these bills on their behalf. In turn, the cardholder pays the money bank to the lender according to the terms and conditions of the lender with or without interest as agreed by both. Credit card facility allows the cardholder to repay the amount in easy installments with an interest towards the loan.
A membership fee is charged either annually or monthly depending on the type of the credit card. It is a certain percentage calculated sometimes on the allowed credit limit.
The issuer of the credit card is benefited if the cardholder opts the monthly membership fees as more money is collected than the annual fees.
A fee is charged when the customer makes the payment; late that is after the agreed period for payment without fees.
Most of the credit cards have a limit on the amount of purchase which means the amount allowed for credit. When the person while making purchases exceeds the limit knowingly or unknowingly, is charged with the over limit fees.
When purchase is done in foreign currency, normally three percent of the amount is charged. Only a few credit card issuers do not charge any fee for this kind of a transaction.
While signing up for a credit card, it is very much necessary to go through the fees structure and policies of the card issuer. Due to a stiff competition in the industry, a lot of credit card issuing companies offer rewards and offers to make the consumer buy their card. Credit card issuers encourage the card holder by various incentives such as gift certificates, cash back offer which is based on the purchase made, (normally one percent is given back) frequent flier points for those who pay by credit cards for their air tickets, by encouraging the usage of credit cards.
The most common offer is being low interest credit cards or zero percent credit cards. But, unfortunately it is only for a given period of six months to one year after which the card issuing company charge exorbitant amount as interest. Also there are companies, which intimate the customer on expiry of the low interest period and charge a monthly or yearly fee for doing so.
A credit card with a trailing interest is said to be an unfair cost as to many it is of hidden nature. Cardholders are left to their dismay to find out that even after paying their credit in full, they need to pay the interest.
A lot of credit card issuers charge their customers a hidden tax on all transactions made through credit cards, as they need to compensate for the cost of transaction fees. The credit card issuers know that if the consumer knows the cost on transactions and other card services, it will decrease the sales. Thus surcharging and hidden costs are not made known to the consumer.
To get the best credit card deal, one needs to go through the reward schemes, offers made and fees charged very carefully to enjoy the benefit of holding a credit card to the maximum.
Fraud Prevention : Credit Card Do’s and Don’ts
What is better than cash? Stolen credit card is the answer. The situation worsen since the introduction of online shopping.
As such, it’s wise to be proactive in preventing such thing from happening to you. Furthermore, the responsibility always lies with credit card holders to safeguard their credit cards.
Here is a list of important Do’s and Don’ts to safeguard your credit card.
DO…
-Always treat your cards like cash.
-Keep your card number confidential.
-Sign up your new cards as soon as they arrive and cut up the old cards when they expire.
-Sign your credit card in permanent ink as soon as you receive it.
-When making a purchase, ensure that the salesperson processes your transaction in your presence.
-Check your card when it is returned to you by the cashier to ensure that it is yours and that it has not been tampered with any way.
-Total your charge slip before signing in, as blank spaces serve as an invitation for unscrupulous individuals to ass additional amounts.
-Always retain your receipts so that you can check them against your statement.
-If unfamiliar transactions are posted on your statement, inform your card issuer straight away.
-Keep your statements in a safe place – they contain sensitive information.
-Before discarding old statements, even of closed accounts, shred them into small pieces.
-Inform the card issuer when you are travelling overseas.
-Notify card issuer of any change of address, so new cardsstatements are not sent to the old mailing address.
-Should your card be stolen or is lost, inform card issuer immediately. Always keep card issuer contact number at hand.
-Only provide your SSN(Social Security Number) and credit card information to parties with whom you have initiated the call.
DON’T…
-Never allow anyone else to use your card. It is yours and yours alone.
-Never write your personal identification number(PIN) on your credit card.
-That way you can avoid any unauthorized cash withdrawals from the automated teller machine(ATM)
-Do not give any credit card information to individuals soliciting sales over the phone.
-If you receive calls from a party claiming to be your card issuer and the caller requests for your account number, do not give it. If the call is from your card issuer, the caller would know your account number.
-Do not sign a blank charge slip, draw a line through the lines above the total amount and destroy any carbon and cancelled receipts immediately.
-Do not leave expired card lying around.
