Credit Card Offers and How To Deal With Credit Card Debt

By Steve Gee

Do you have too much credit card debt?

You spend too much one month and you put it all on your credit card account. You can’t pay it all off so you leave it until next month but you can’t pay it off next month either. Before you know it your bill has grown into something that you can’t manage and you are going to have to do something dramatic if you are ever going to get the debt under control. Why not make your credit card account work for you instead.

Credit card offers available

0% APR credit card offers are readily available but they only give you zero interest for a limited time and often have some catches. They may give you zero interest on the balance you transferred onto the card but not on new purchases for instance. You should also make sure that you understand what happens after the introductory offer period. Will the interest rate go sky high in 6 months time?

You can use the 0% APR credit card offers to slow down your accumulation of debt and give you a chance to start paying it off. It's a lot easier to reduce the balance if they aren't forever adding interest to it. Be ready at the end of the introductory period however because the interest will start piling up again. When you get close to the end look around for another 0% APR credit card that you can transfer your balance to. This is called 'surfing' your credit cards.

Here are some things to look a=out for when hunting for credit cards.

APR or Annual Percentage Rate

This can vary a lot and will make a huge difference to your monthly repayments.

Interest Free Period

Most cards charge interest from the date of the statement but some calculate your interest from the date of your transactions. In most cases the maximum interest free period is 56 days.

Cash Withdrawals

Be careful when drawing cash from a credit card. The interest rate can be much higher than it is for purchases or transfers. They also start charging you interest from the moment you withdraw the cash with no interest free period.

Annual Fee

Make sure that there isn't one.

Consumer Protection

This can give you protection in the event of goods not received or faulty or even stolen. There is often a minimum value transaction that allows you to benefit from this protection so make sure you know what it is.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance when you purchase by credit card can be useful especially if you commute to work. Check the terms and conditions before you take the credit card though.

Cash Back

Some cards will give you 1% or more of every transaction back. This doesn't sound much but it can add up over the course of a year.

Reward Schemes

Some cards offer air miles or reward points for large stores. This might interest you if you are a frequent flyer.

Charitable Donations

This can be a painless way to donate a little of what you spend to charity. Often you won't notice it because other cards may have given it back to you in the way of cash back.

Online fraud guarantee

Having a guarantee that you won't lose money due fraud when you use your credit card on line can be a very comforting thought.

Gold and Platinum Cards

They only give these cards to people that they think will be able to pay back larger debts accrued on them. Think very seriously about taking one of these credit cards.

I hope that this information has been helpful to you in making an informed decision about using credit cards to manage your debt.


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How To Pay Credit Card Debt Off

By Gary Gresham

If you are determined to pay credit card debt off you are making the best financial decision of your life. The reason credit card debt is so bad is because it carries such a high interest rate.

The quickest way to take back control of your finances is to pay credit card debt down or get rid of it completely. Here are the best and quickest ways for total credit card debt elimination.

Eliminate Credit Card Spending

You must immediately eliminate credit card spending because you will never pay credit card debt off if you continue to add to the outstanding balance. The interest on that debt added with a climbing balance will make it impossible to ever pay off.

Pay More Than The Minimum Payment

Always pay more than the minimum payment on the credit card you want to eliminate first. Paying the minimum payment makes you keep paying that high credit card interest rate. That's exactly what the credit card companies want because they are making a fortune off of that interest.

The best way to pay credit card debt off is start paying off the credit card with the highest interest rate first. Pay the minimum monthly payment on the others. Once each card is paid redirect your funds to the next highest interest rate card so you can eventually get rid of credit card debt.

Snowball Debt Payments

Snowballing debt payments means to transfer credit card debt from a high interest rate card to a low interest rate card. By doing this you pay a greater amount of money towards the balance and less interest on debt.

This increase in the amount of money you pay toward your outstanding balance allows you to snowball your efforts and pay credit card debt off quicker. It's worth looking at each individual card and determine how much interest you are paying with each of them.

Renegotiate With Creditors

Contact your credit card company and ask for a lower interest rate. They may want your business enough to lower it. The interest savings to you will multiply your efforts to pay credit card debt off quicker.

One last tip is, if you choose to close your credit card accounts, do not close them until after the final bill has been paid. Some credit card companies will penalize you by raising your interest rate if you close an account that carries an outstanding balance.

If you are ever going to get rid of credit card debt it's important to set a realistic budget for yourself. Lower your spending in all areas so you can
pool your available cash to pay off your balances quicker. Think of how you will feel when you pay credit card debt off and you are finally free of high credit card interest.

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Simple Steps to Prevent Credit Card Fraud

By Michael Strauss

Many people are wary about using their credit cards, especially online, because of the possibility of becoming a victim of fraud. While fraud does happen, and costs hundreds of millions every year, there are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself and make it unlikely that you'll become a victim.

- Online use

The most important rule to follow is to only use your card online at trusted, secure sites. You can recognize a secure site by looking for a yellow padlock symbol appearing in your browser, and also by the address starting with 'https' rather than 'http'. Sites secured like this encrypt all the information sent back and forth to your browser, meaning that it's very dificult indeed for someone to spy out your credit card details.

Also make sure you're confident of the identity of the site asking for your details. Avoid any sites that send you an email asking for your card details - they might not be who they claim to be. It's better to phone the company direct to make sure their request is genuine.

You should never give out your card details in an email, as there is no encryption involved and there's always the danger that a fraudster could intercept your message and gain your details.

Finally in this section, make sure that your virus protection is up to date and that your computer is clean of any 'spyware'.

- Offline use

If at all possible, don't let the card out of your sight when paying, to reduce the opportunity for a fraudster to make a copy of your card. This is easier nowadays with the arrival of the handheld chip and pin input devices that are brought, for example, to your table in a restaurant.

It's advisable not to send card details by fax, as you've no control over how long the fax will be left unattended at the receiving end. A faxed copy of your card number, expiry date, security code and signature makes it altogether to easy for a scammer!

Only give your credit card number over the telephone if it was you who made the call, and you're certain that you're speaking to a genuine person. If someone calls you claiming to be from a company you deal with, and asks for your details, ask for a phone number to call them back on - via a switchboard operator if possible - and verify that the number is correct.

- General

There are several other measures you can take to reduce the chances of becoming a victim of credit card fraud, and most them are pretty much common sense. You should sign any new or replacement cards as soon as you receive them, and cut up the expired cards making sure to cut through the magnetic band on the back.

Never keep your pin numbers written down in your wallet or purse, as if you lose it or it's stolen a fraudster will have both your cards and their pins. Also, report any stolen or lost cards to the issuer immediately, so that they can be cancelled before falling into the wrong hands.

Open your statements and bills as soon as you receive them, and check them carefully for anything you don't recognise. If you spot something you're unsure of, call your card company straight away and ask them for more details. After checking your statements, either file them away somewhere safe, or shred or burn them. Never simply throw them away - they contain far too much valuable information that can be used for fraud purposes.

All this might seem like a lot of work, but remember that with most credit card accounts you won't be held liable for any fraudulent use so long as the fraud hasn't happened through your own negligence. Following the steps above is very powerful evidence to the card issuer that you've done everything possible to protect your account's security, so if you're unfortunate to become a fraud victim then the financial damage to you will be kept as small as possible.

Michael writes for Card Sense UK where you can compare credit cards and their features including balance transfers and rewards schemes. Visit today!

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