Let us create a 3d Digital eBook for you! DigyCat.com
|
||
|
||
|
Credit Information | Let us create a 3d Digital eBook for you! DigyCat.com |
|
|
|
Rate Tarts Losing Ability to Cherry Pick
A "rate tart" is someone who switches from one zero per cent introductory credit card deal to another to avoid paying interest; however they may be set to become something of the past. Recently a number of the major credit card companies, including Egg, Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland and MBNA have introduced transfer charges for people who want to shift their outstanding credit card balances to a new card to take advantage of a zero per cent introductory rate. Rate tarts will wait until the interest free period is about to expire on their current credit card, and then check through lists of providers to find another card they can switch to that has another 0% interest rate introductory period. The growth of financial comparison sites like uSwitch, Moneynet and Moneyfacts has made this money saving behaviour easy to achieve. The providers have effectively become victims of their own success. As more and more card companies began offering interest-free balance transfers, the card providers found that they had to offer longer and longer interest-free periods to win customers, which in turn meant less profit. Analysts have recently estimated that rate tarts are currently costing lenders £1 billion a year. Financial director Stuart Glendenning said, "Charging a fee on balance transfers is one way of recouping some losses, given it is impossible to make money lending at 0 per cent if the customer conducts no further transactions on the card." Professor Merlin Stone of Bristol Business School, comments: "Economically, some providers cannot sustain their current offers of zero per cent interest which means they may have to remove them or start introducing new charges to help reduce their losses." This is exactly what appears to be happening, Professor Stone stated, "Research shows that in 2003, none of the cards offering zero per cent APR interest on balance transfers applied charges for transferring balances compared to around 11 per cent that do today." Perhaps in an effort to justify the reduction in 0% introductory period on credit cards, Patrick Muir, marketing director at Morgan Stanley Consumer Banking, said: "Our research suggests that cardholders are wising up to short-term deals, as the majority of those currently switching or planning to switch are not moving from one short-term offer to another." Only eight per cent of people are looking to change their credit card in the coming months, said investment bank Morgan Stanley, however Stuart Glendenning advises, "Whilst not all have gone down the fee route yet, my advice is simple: transfer your balance for free while you still can." Richard works in Edinburgh for bigmouthmedia, as well as writing for the personal finance blog Cashzilla http://cashzilla.blogspot.com/, and drinking too much coffee. http://www.bigmouthmedia.com bigmouthmedia head office:
MORE RESOURCES: Credit - Google News Photo credit by Jonathan-Hayward of the Canadian Press - Martinez News-Gazette
Bernstein 'deserves credit' after Capello exit - BBC Sport (blog)
7 Things You Didn't Know Affect Your Credit Score - San Francisco Chronicle
TEXT-Fitch publishes second edition of US Retail Credit Insights - Reuters
Europe Bank Risk Premium Vanishing on ECB Cash: Credit Markets - San Francisco Chronicle
An Earned Income Tax Credit Q&A - Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog)
Credit Suisse Reports First Quarterly Loss in 3 Years - New York Times
CORRECT: Fitch Jan Credit-Card Charge-Off Index At 4-Year Low - Wall Street Journal
Credit-Default Swaps in U.S. Reverse Rise as Greece Strikes Austerity Deal - Bloomberg
Republicans Target Tax Credits for Undocumented Immigrants - Fox News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Building A Credit Report Lenders Will Love You For Will lenders really love you for having a good credit report score? Love is not the right word of course; lenders are after your money, and never forget that. But the lender's representative will love dealing with your credit application if your credit report is good. Credit Card Shocker Have you ever looked at your credit card statement? I'm not talking about just making sure that all the transactions are correct. I'm talking about looking at the finance charges. 7 Ways To Squash Identity Theft It is the scourge of our age: identity theft. Thieves learn an important part about your personal information, such as your credit card number, and they open accounts in your name and spend, spend, spend! Unfortunately, by the time you discover that you are a victim the damage is already done. How Businesss Mess Up Their Credit Policies In "Become the Squeaky Wheel" a book recently published, Michelle Dunn demonstrates the major areas a business should focus on to ensure a satisfactory customer experience.One mistake business owners make is not having a credit policy in place when they open their business. Watch Out For Credit Repairs It is very easy to find a site that is neat, professional-looking, and one that offers a free three-agency credit report and free credit report without a credit card.This scam is too good to be true. Free Credit Report - A Website Typo Could Be Costly In 2003, Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions act (FACT), which made it possible for consumers to obtain a copy of their credit report for free. In fact, the legislation makes it possible for consumers to obtain one free report from each of the three main credit bureaus - Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax, per year. A Cure for an Ailing Credit Credit has become a much-used word, thanks to the various connotations that it is being used in. Transactions in which the payment is deferred to the near future are termed as credit transactions. Will Inquiries Lower Your Credit Score? What are inquiries?When you apply for credit the creditor or lender checks your credit report to verify that you qualify for the credit or loan you are applying for. The "inquiry" is then reported to the credit bureaus and shows up on your credit report. How To Protect Yourself Against Credit Card Fraud In the high tech world of today, credit card fraud is an ever increasing problem.By 2005 it is estimated that the online payment industry will capture $12. Convenience Can Be Costly You've just opened your credit card bill and attached to your statement you find a "convenience check" included. It may already be filled out with a dollar amount such as $300, $500, or even $1,000. Save Money and Lower your Payments by Improving or Repairing Your Credit Having a better credit score not only represents easier access to money from lending institutions, but more importantly represents instant money in your pocket.This probably sounds like something obvious for most of people, but it isn't until you start thinking in terms of real examples and real dollars that most of us start to understand the magnitude of the benefits associated with a good credit score. Credit and Banking Money Saving Services The first rule when applying for banking and credit services is to always read the fine print and to understand all of it. Read up, take it home, and analyze it, ask the banking manager questions. Free Credit Reports Now Available From the FTC The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has set up a new website (www.AnnualCreditReport. Choosing a Credit Counseling Company If you have considered credit counseling as an option to your financial problems, then you are probably wondering how to choose from one of the many credit counseling companies that are popping up left and right these days. There really is not an easy answer to this dilemma but there are some things that you can look for in a credit counseling company that might make the decision a little easier. Ten Steps To Building A Good Credit History Are you thinking of buying a house? Do you want to buy a new car to replace that old wreck? Trying to get insurance on you home, auto, or life? In each of these situations, what's on your credit report will determine if you can get a loan or insurance and what rates you'll have to pay.If you're trying to build or repair your credit history, you have a daunting but not impossible task in front of you. How to Evaluate and Raise Your Credit Score Why do some people get offers for pre-approved credit cards and others don't? What do car dealers know about your financial health that you don't know? The answer is your credit score.Your credit score is a number generated by a mathematical formula to estimate how likely you are to pay your bills. Credit Card Dirty Tricks There are many of us that have been badly stung by credit card companies that have charged exorbitant fees to use their credit cards. Several years ago an APR of 25% to 29% was common place which in simple terms means that if you borrow £1,000 your interest on that money would be £250 to £290 a year. Fair Isaac Corporation Credit or FICO Score As I am not from the US, I had no idea what FICO meant before researching it. FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation, a company based in California. Sound Advice For First Time Credit Card Users If you are just entering the world of credit cards, there is important information you will need to know in order to manage your credit and your finances effectively. Establishing good habits and a good credit history now is the foundation for a solid financial future. Simple Identity Theft Protection How many of you bank, shop, or transact other business online? There are at least 4 million Department pf Defense employees that access their pay records online only. Even offline, stored financial data can be placed at risk in computers that are used on the Internet as well.
|
|
Looking For Royalty Free Photos for your Website, Business or Advertising?
YourFree.biz Domain Is For Sale - $5,000 For Enquiries eMail Us © www.YourFree.biz 2011 |
|
