Are you impatient? One study suggests that being impatient has more than just a small connection to your credit.
According to the article, the credit scores of patient consumers were an average of 30 points higher than those of impatient consumers. The credit scores of impatient participants were consistently lower than 620, which is generally known as the cutoff for subprime lending.
In other words, the bad habit of impatience can lead to bad credit. But that’s not the only bad habit that lends itself to poor financial moves. H
British embassies in the eurozone have been told to draw up plans to help British expats through the collapse of the single currency, amid new fears for Italy and Spain.
A senior minister has now revealed the extent of the Government’s concern, saying that Britain is now planning on the basis that a euro collapse is now just a matter of time.
“It’s in our interests that they keep playing for time because that gives us more time to prepare,” the minister told the Daily Telegraph.
Recent Foreign and Commonwealth Office instructions to embassies and consulates request contingency planning for extreme scenarios including rioting and social unrest.
A senior minister has now revealed the extent of the Government’s concern, saying that Britain is now planning on the basis that a euro collapse is now just a matter of time.
All 12 months of a fresh new year means 12 opportunities to get your credit shaped up and your budgeting under control. Here, experts offer one seasonally relevant idea for each month of 2012 to do exactly that.
Average credit card spend has fallen four per cent over the past 12 months, according to new analysis of customer spend data by Santander Credit Cards. The data reveals that while the total number of transactions made per regular card user has increased by one per cent over that time period, the value of transactions per card user has decreased.
The majority of the retail sector has seen decreases in the value of spend, resulting in an average reduction of 5 per cent per card user over the year. Sports and toy spending has been worst hit, with a massive 24 per cent reduction in the value of card spend per user over this period and clothes stores with a 6 per cent decrease.
Customer card spend on holidays also has decreased, with the amount spent on travel agencies down 13 per cent year on year, airlines down 9 per cent and hotels down 4 per cent.
By contrast, people are still spending on little luxuries like eating out – restaurants and bars have seen a 4 per cent increase in value of spend per user. Mail order is also defying the downturn with the biggest increase in card expenditure of all, showing a 22 per cent uplift in the number of transactions per card user and an 8 per cent increase in the value of spend in this sector.
Callum Gibson, Managing Director at Santander Cards, commented: “During times of austerity, youd expect cut-backs to hit non-essential items like holidays and clothes, and our customer data supports this. How
Credit card debts have almost become a part of everyday life of most Americans. This is due to the uncontrolled spending habits that most people exert. What adds to the trouble is that there are a number of credit card companies that are giving credit cards without too many conditions. Thus most people have at least 4 to 5 credit cards which they use to their heart’s content while making purchases most of which they wouldn’t even need. The bill, therefore keeps mounting up and very obviously you don’t have the financial competence to return it all back within the billing cycle. Thus interest rates start getting charged and you debt amount keeps on increasing. As a Read more…
When most people look for a credit card that earns travel rewards, they first think of an airline affiliated product. While it can make sense to have a card that returns frequent flier miles, hotel points can be equally valuable and even easier to redeem. American Express offers its Hilton HHonors Surpass card for customers who wish to earn points towards free hotel nights with no blackout dates or capacity restrictions.
After their initial purchase, new card members earn 40,000 points in Hilton’s HHonors rewards program. Another 20,000 points can be received when card holders charge $3,000 or more within the first three months of opening their account. A
One of the most important reasons to read your credit card billing statement is so you can quickly spot any unauthorized charges. The longer it takes to recognize and report unauthorized credit card charges, the less likely it is that your credit card issuer will remove the charges from your statement. If you report these charges quickly, i.e. in less than 60 days, your liability is legally reduced to $50 or less. However, if you wait longer than that, you may end up liable for the charges.Make sure you know the right way to handle unauthorized credit card charges.
The only foolproof way to avoid unauthorized charges is to not have a credit card.
Late fees on credit card bills are insidious for a couple of reasons: first, they add to the total amount you have to fork over to the credit card company, which means you get to keep less of the money you earn. And second, late payments look bad on a credit report and can sap your credit score.
When you apply for new lines of credit (including a home mortgage or a car loan), a weaker credit score will translate to higher interest rates, meaning that the cost of borrowing money will be higher.
So what can you do to make sure you don’t have to deal with the negative effects that late fees have on your finances in the present and the future? F
A class action suit which was brought against a number of financial institutions in 2001 has finally been resolved after ten years of deliberation.
The lawsuit was filed against MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club and a selection of banks and alleged that the defendants had hidden fees which were applied to debit and credit card transactions.
It was claimed that the fees were applied to transactions carried out by foreign merchants amounting to 3% of each transaction.
When most people look for a credit card that earns travel rewards, they first think of an airline affiliated product. While it can make sense to have a card that returns frequent flier miles, hotel points can be equally valuable and even easier to redeem. American Express offers its Hilton HHonors Surpass card for customers who wish to earn points towards free hotel nights with no blackout dates or capacity restrictions.