Credit Cards and Credit Lines

Auto Loans

gary — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:12:17 +0000

Recently there was legislation passed regarding the $700b bailout package. Lately banks have tightened up and auto loans and car dealership financing. However I pre-wrote the following article and will post it for your reference in case times change for the better!

When your ready to purchase a new or used car. And you want to actually save money over the long term. It’s best to get approved for auto financing before you walk in to the auto dealership.

The reasons for this is clearly you will have purchasing leverage! You know that you have been approved for the loan. Now you need to get the car at the right price. Never be sold on monthly payments! Purchase the car based on the price.

The dealer finance manager and the salesman will negotiate and sell you on monthly payments. So if they finance you how do you know the following items during negotiations:

Interest rate
Term
Price of car

This will happen especially if your using their in house finance guy to set up the loan for you. As a result of the dealer obtaining your financing they usually, in most cases get a rebate from the lender. Since they are getting money back from the lender, your interest rate could be higher. So it would be better just to do this financing your self and save money.

Not everybody reading this book, will want to shop their own loan, so in that case let the dealer do it for you and enjoy the convenience.

If you have average to good credit and a job that reflects you can handle the payments for the price of the car you seek. Begin your search with the following.

If you have not done so already…join a credit union and apply for a car loan with them. They do many of these each day. Even the dealerships call them and try to approve their customers!

If your credit is perfect and you have a great job…go to a local bank.

If you would like a loan broker to find the best auto loan deal for you try the following companies:

www.eloans.com

www.lowermybills.com

www.carcredit.com

www.lendingtree.com (click auto loan tab)

1-800-BAR-NONE

1-800-APPROVED

They send your loan application out to different lenders. The lenders will respond if you are approved, and give their best offer since the are competing for your business/loan. The lender should call you directly, to notify of what they have for you or if anything else need to complete the application.

It’s always worth a mention when you purchase a used car that you check it out good and have a qualified mechanic inspect it. You can also perform a lemon check at www.carfax.com

Good Luck & I hope you get the car your looking for!

Please Read!..This chapter is not a promise or guarantee of credit approval. It only presents you to the lenders.
Each company has their credit underwriting & approval guidelines. You may or may not be approved. Results may vary.

Post from: Credit Cards and Credit Lines

Auto Loans

What Is A Secured Visa Card?

gary — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:56:41 +0000

A secured visa card allows you to spend up to the credit limit you establish by funding your Secured Card Collateral Account.

To establish a credit limit, you must set up a Wells Fargo Secured Card Collateral Account (”the Collateral Account”) and make a deposit to it in increments of $100 ($300 minimum/$5,000 maximum).

You may charge up to the dollar amount of your credit limit

Your Collateral Account is held as security for your credit card account.

The Collateral Account is not interest-bearing.

You may be eligible to graduate to an unsecured credit card after 12 months To learn more, read Establishing Good Credit or contact customer service at 1-800-642-4720 apply online or print an application. Wells fargo has received good reviews for this program.

Post from: Credit Cards and Credit Lines

What Is A Secured Visa Card?

Wells Fargo Secured Credit Cards

gary — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:50:21 +0000

http://www.wellsfargo.com/credit_cards/select_card/secured/
Whether or not you’ve used credit cards in the past, or are attempting to rebuild your credit, a Wells Fargo Secured Visa Card can be your first step to establishing credit.
Apply now and receive a 5.9%1 introductory APR on purchases for six months

Post from: Credit Cards and Credit Lines

Wells Fargo Secured Credit Cards

The Bank of America Secured Visa Gold Card

gary — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:43:04 +0000

I’ve read some good reviews on The Bank of America Secured Visa® Gold Card. It seems to be better than Orchard Bank, actually it is the top rated secured card on the cardholder reviews website I visited. It has more features and benefits than most other secured credit cards. The card reports as a secured card to credit bureaus but within a year BOA will unsecure the card as well as up your credit line according to your payment history.

I wish there was an easy link I could put on this page, but theres not. To find this card…do the following easy navigation on the web:

8. Go to http://www.bankofamerica.com/
Then Scroll down just a little to center of page, Under Cards, click Credit Cards.
In the center of that page, click Choose and compare cards
On the right hand side of that page Look Under Student and Secured,
Secured Visa Card

Feel free to search around their website if you see something else that interests you.

This program may or may not be active check with the bank or visit their website.

Post from: Credit Cards and Credit Lines

The Bank of America Secured Visa Gold Card

Getting New Credit Cards

gary — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:38:03 +0000

As of this writing the credit is reported as “unsecured’. That is a good thing. I know it has help build my credit rating! Sure the fees are a little high, but I think thats the price to pay… to build a good credit history.

The next honorable mention is Household Bank MasterCard.
Also referred to as Orchard Card.
www.householdbank.com

House Hold Bank Features:
Competitive APR (they claim)
Shopping Guarantee - Cards come with unauthorized use protection
Complete online access 24/7
Complimentary online bill pay
Im a card holder and have no complaints about them.

Post from: Credit Cards and Credit Lines

Getting New Credit Cards

gary — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:14:40 +0000

In this post, I will show you where you can apply for credit. These will be for secured un unsecured credits cards. As well as department store credit cards and merchant cards. I don’t know your current situation, but you can decide which card will best fit your credit needs. In most cases, for your convenience, a link is provided with each credit company. Review their website and decide if they are for you.

Take your time and review everything if you are seeking new credit cards, re-establishing credit or building a bigger credit file for yourself.

Starter Bank credit cards:

To begin the first group of credit cards are known as “Unsecured bad credit cards” Though they claim to be unsecured, I prefer to consider them secure, because of how their fee structure is set-up. See each website for details.

I will say that I do have some of these credit cards already and I really have not had any problems with them. So I feel they deserve a mention in my post.

1. www.premiercreditcardsf.com

2. www.premiergoldcards.com

3. www.centennialgoldcards.com

4. www.centennialcards.com

5. www.nmbplatinumcards.com

6. www.eufora.com

The above cards have:
Monthly reporting to all 3 major credit bureaus
Quality customer service
Online account access
Online bill

Besure sure to check their terms of service and fees before you apply. Generally since these are starter credit cards they may have a high interest rate and an annual fee.

Post from: Credit Cards and Credit Lines

Getting New Credit Cards

Cash Advances

gary — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:23:06 +0000

Don’t cash advance using your credit card, to costly. Unless it is absolutely, positively an emergency.

As far as how many credit cards should you have. Well in the range of about 3-10 cards will make your credit look good if your utilizing the credit responsibly. Having only 1 or 2 cards may not be enough.

I know that credit scoring is looking for how many credit cards you have, and could be penalized for not enough credit. The important thing to keep in mind that will help your credit rating is to keep your credit limits high and your balances low. It could really make a difference with your purchasing power in the future!

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Cash Advances

Minimum Monthly Payments

gary — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:21:32 +0000

Paying the monthly minimum will always keep you in good standing with your credit card companies. But, for those who only pay that amount read on…

In most cases when you pay the minimum, from my calculations most of that is only covering the interest for the month. Just a few dollars are being applied to the principal. If you pay just one day late you will get hit with their late fee, Which is normally around $29 to 49 depending on which bank it is. So in essence, if you were late, your minimum payment only paid the late fee.

Before you apply for a credit card make sure you review all of their fees. If you do not agree with them don’t apply for it.

Post from: Credit Cards and Credit Lines

Minimum Monthly Payments

Qualifying For A Credit Card

gary — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:44:14 +0000

There’s no way to know if you’ll qualify for a credit card without doing some research. Some of the basic things that lenders look for include:
• Good payment record - If you pay your bills on time, you’ll score major points with lenders. If you have a lot of late payments, this can hurt your chances of getting a card, and, if the lender decides to issue you a card, it’s probably going to have a higher interest rate.

• Control of debt load - Lenders generally want to see that you are a good credit risk and that you aren’t living beyond your means. Experts say that non-mortgage credit payments each month should not exceed more than 10 percent to 15 percent of your take-home pay.

• Signs of stability, responsibility - Lenders perceive things such as longevity in your home and job (at least two years) as signs of stability. Having a respected profession doesn’t hurt either.

• Lack of credit inquiries - This one is a little strange. Whenever you apply for a credit card, the lender pulls your credit report from one or more of the major bureaus as part of the approval process. Each time a report is pulled, it’s marked as an inquiry and stays on your credit bureau report for two years. Lenders perceive several inquiries on your report as indications that you’re scrambling for loans and may consider you a poor credit risk. So, in order to beat this system, don’t allow every credit-card issuer you speak with to pull your report.

• Lack of available or unused credit - Did you know that having credit cards that you don’t use — and have a zero balance on — can hurt your credit? The rationale here, experts say, is that if you have all this available credit lying around, you could run it up at any time (even if you never have).

Once you qualify for a card, or several cards, there’s always the chance that you’ll end up spending more than you’ve got. A pretty good chance, actually. The next section discusses what you can do if you find yourself in credit-card debt.

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Qualifying For A Credit Card

Types of Credit Cards Available

gary — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:07:34 +0000

House cards that are good only in one chain of stores (Sears is the biggest one of these, followed by the oil companies, phone companies and local department stores.)

Bank cards, issued by banks (for example, Visa, MasterCard and Discover Card)

Travel and entertainment (T&E) cards, such as American Express and Diners Club

Secured Major Credit Cards such as master card and visa, that are secured by your deposit that earn a nominal interest rate. Nothing great I can assure you.

Debit Master Card / Visa is a bank debit card and not a credit (which is NOT reported to credit bureaus). The money in your savings/checking account is used to pay transactions used with the card. Also referred to as a check card.

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Types of Credit Cards Available