Low Interest Credit Cards

For people who are struggling to get their debts under control, one commonly offered piece of advice is to draw up a budget plan and stick with it. However, a recent survey suggests that many people find this much more difficult than it might sound.

According to the survey that was commissioned by Visa, the average consumer cannot account for $21 of spending in any given week, which comes out to more than $1,000 per year. The problem tends to be even more pronounced among consumers in the 18 to 24 year old age group, which loses track of about $2,500 in spending in any given year.

“Even for the most organized spender, it can be tough to keep track of every cup of coffee, greeting card, teacher’s gift or stocking stuffer picked up at the mall and paid for with cash. While cash purchases can be difficult to track, the survey revealed that consumers believe debit cards can help them monitor spending more closely and stay within budget,” said Visa Chief Economist Wayne Best. Read more…

MasterCard CTO Michael Manchisi gives a behind-the-scenes look into Mastercard’s data center.

Virtual credit card terminals are becoming increasingly popular as some small business owners are finding applications that allow real time processing of credit cards and debit transactions.  Anyone on the move, sales people or mobile executives who spend a lot of time traveling, will find this application a great addition to other credit card stations.  Processing credit card or debit transaction will only require Wi-Fi network access, and of course, the application itself.

iSwipe

Everyone’s heard about the sleek new iPhone and all of the wonderful applications or ‘apps’ that help to improve the overall usefulness and functionality of the device.  There is one app that is particularly useful to those who want to be able to accept credit cards on their phone … the iSwipe Credit Card Terminal allows you to accept credit card or debit payments on your iPhone or BlackBerry.  This is a great idea for the small business owner or for sales reps on the road or while at trade shows.  This application accepts any major credit card (American Express, VISA, MasterCard etc) as well as debit card transactions.  With the app and approved gateway you simply enter the customers credit card number and voilá, all done.  At appninjas.com they display a convincing short (30 sec) video of how easy it is to process a customer’s card.

The iSwipe app features an interface that you can customize with your company name and address on the terminal in order to instill customer confidence.  There is an electronic signature capture on the single screen entry for easy transactions. With options to fo

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Credit card offers often come with enticing offers to lure in new credit card customers, especially around the holiday season.  Much like gifts, credit card offers come in all shapes and sizes.  Nicely decorated and brightly colored credit card offers are send by postal mail, by email and advertised in local newspapers and on television in an effort to attract new credit card consumers.  Each credit card has a unique spin on the rewards they offer, but there is undoubtedly a double edged sword that pertains to credit card rewards that many people don’t account for.

Type of Rewards

The typical rewards consist of gifts, bonus programs, cash back on specific purchases, points redeemed for travel or other merchandise or low or no APR.  These rewards are often increased as spending limits increase, offering more incentive to spend once the card holder is considered a responsible spender.  Many rewards actually show earnings on the statement as a tactic to show the consumer what they are earning by spending, encouraging them to continue to spend.  This is thought to provide incentive for consumers to continue to spend with the hopes of earning rewards.  The problem is that consumers that spend just to gain rewards typically accumulate debt if they don’t pay off their balances regularly.  In this case the reward goes to the card issuer, not the credit card holder.

Go for the Incentive

Rewards have long been seen by society as incentives for good behavior. Good behavio

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Oh, credit cards — they inspire many a woe and even more questions. Here are some of my favorite bizarre credit queries that were posted on Yahoo! Answers along with my answers to their problems. Jeffy asks “New baby is on the way, any way to get credit card to improve his/her credit?”A: And just to think — it used to be that signing up an unborn for the best prep school was the trendy thing to do.  Arming junior with a credit card prenatally isn’t necessarily the best way to improve your child’s credit — I’d start with personal finance picture books or a piggy bank. While there is no minimum age requirement to add your child as an authorized user to your credit accounts, the ultimate decision to allow a child to piggyback is up to the lender. Even if lenders do allow a child to access a parent’s account, they may not actually be building a credit history. An authorized user has permission to use someone else’s credit card account, but is not responsible for paying the bill. Read more…