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Showing posts from October, 2019

7 Credit Card Facts You'll Wish Weren't True

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MoneyTips Do you have a love-hate relationship with your credit card? After all, it brings you both pleasurable purchases and painful bills. Credit cards are valuable financial assets – but cards and the companies that issue them aren't necessarily your friends. Consider these seven things you may not know about your credit card as you reassess your credit card relationship. 1. Our Cards Aren't Set Up For Maximum Security – Your credit card is likely an EMV card containing an embedded chip for enhanced security.Unfortunately, America doesn't use their full security potential. EMV cards were designed for "chip and PIN" use, requiring a PIN to be entered at each transaction. Many foreign markets use this approach, but most U.S. transactions don't require PINs. This makes American cards more valuable to thieves, since it's easier to make fraudulent transactions. If you would like to mon... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2qZyhqr

Experian Boost 101

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MoneyTips Experian Boost? Is that a new energy drink? No, it's not designed to boost your energy – Experian Boost is designed to boost your credit score. This new program from the credit reporting agency Experian was launched in March 2019. In its first six months of activity, Experian Boost has instantly increased a total of more than 11 million credit score points. Two out of three users saw rises in their scores, with an average instant increase of over 10 points. How can Experian Boost make such an impact on your credit score? Normally, it takes months of diligence to improve a credit score . First, you show fiscal responsibility through making on-time payments, keeping card balances low compared to your credit limit, and not opening excessive new accounts. Your credit score will slowly increase as a result. Your credit score is compiled from information in your from MoneyTips https://www.moneytips.com/experian-boost-101

How To Get A $0 Balance On Your Credit Report

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MoneyTips You need a loan and you want the best interest rate possible. You know that a high credit score paves the way for the best interest rate offers – but did you know that your credit card balances contribute to one of the five factors used to calculate your credit score? Your credit utilization , defined as the amount of credit you use compared to your credit limit, is one of the largest components of your credit score. When your credit balance is zeroed out, your credit utilization at that moment becomes zero as well. Creditors can see that you have managed your debts well and are capable of handling new debt. Unfortunately, you probably aren't going to show a $0 balance even if you pay all your bills on time as soon as your billing statement is available. The amount reported to the credit reporting agencies is the balance on your billing statement on the reporti... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2N67LD0

How To Get A $0 Balance On Your Credit Report

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MoneyTips You need a loan and you want the best interest rate possible. You know that a high credit score paves the way for the best interest rate offers – but did you know that your credit card balances contribute to one of the five factors used to calculate your credit score? Your credit utilization , defined as the amount of credit you use compared to your credit limit, is one of the largest components of your credit score. When your credit balance is zeroed out, your credit utilization at that moment becomes zero as well. Creditors can see that you have managed your debts well and are capable of handling new debt. Unfortunately, you probably aren't going to show a $0 balance even if you pay all your bills on time as soon as your billing statement is available. The amount reported to the credit reporting agencies is the balance on your billing statement on the reporti... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2N67LD0

How To Get A $0 Balance On Your Credit Report

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MoneyTips You need a loan and you want the best interest rate possible. You know that a high credit score paves the way for the best interest rate offers – but did you know that your credit card balances contribute to one of the five factors used to calculate your credit score? Your credit utilization , defined as the amount of credit you use compared to your credit limit, is one of the largest components of your credit score. When your credit balance is zeroed out, your credit utilization at that moment becomes zero as well. Creditors can see that you have managed your debts well and are capable of handling new debt. Unfortunately, you probably aren't going to show a $0 balance even if you pay all your bills on time as soon as your billing statement is available. The amount reported to the credit reporting agencies is the balance on your billing statement on the reporti... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2N67LD0

7 Life Events That Can Affect Your Credit Score

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MoneyTips We all go through major life changes, both positive and negative. All have the potential to affect your credit, in either a positive or negative way. The outcome depends on how you handle these life events and the corresponding changes. Consider the following examples. 1. Going to College – College is more than four years of fun – it's an investment in your future. Is your degree likely to result in a job that pays enough to cover your student loans? You can build credit by making all student loan payments on time or ruin your credit through missed payments and excessive spending. If you need help, income-based repayment plans and other assistance programs are available. 2. Changing Your Marital Status – Your credit scores won't blend after marriage, but activity on joint accounts will affect both credit sco... from MoneyTips https://www.moneytips.com/7-life-events-that-can-affect-your-credit-score

Penalty APRs 101

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MoneyTips You shopped around to find the credit card with the best annual percentage rate (APR) for your qualifications. Maybe you've got a lower rate than the average – around 17%. The last thing you want to do is incur a penalty APR that ruins your hard work. If you've missed a credit card payment for at least sixty days, your account may be subject to a higher interest rate known as a penalty APR. The penalty APR represents your increased risk in the card issuer's view – if you've missed one payment, you're more likely to miss other payments. You can be assessed a penalty APR for reasons other than missed payments, depending on your card issuer's policy. Examples include returned payments, making charges past your credit limit, or defaulting/missing payments on a different account with the same card issuer. Penalty APRs can be up to 29.99%, but may be lower depending on your card's terms and your creditworthiness. Review the terms and conditions sec

Payday Loans Can Only Hurt Your Credit Score

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MoneyTips Bills are due, and you're out of money. You're considering a payday loan to plug the gap in your cash flow. You think you can use the payday loan responsibly and use it to build up your credit score. Think again. Payday loans, along with almost all no-credit-check loans, do not report payment information to the credit reporting agencies. The only time payday loans show up in credit activity is when the loan goes into collections. A payday loan can't help your credit score, but it can harm it once an unpaid debt is reported. Before you seek a payday loan, understand what a payday loan is and how they stack up against alternatives. Payday loans target the poor credit market. Since there's higher risk to lenders when the borrower's credit is poor or unknown, lenders charge higher interest rates. Payday loans are short-term, small loans – generally for $500 or less and due within two weeks (the typical pay cycle). Because of the relatively small size of

Goodwill Letters 101

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MoneyTips After years of spotless credit, let's say you've harmed your excellent credit score by missing a payment. Perhaps you've had an unexpected accident or medical expense that disrupted your payment schedule, or maybe you simply had a brain cramp and forgot to submit your payment on time. You've made good on the missed payment, along with any late fees – but now you have a black mark on your credit history that will drop your credit score and be a factor in your credit score calculations for up to seven years. However, you may have an alternative. You can attempt to have the late payment removed from your credit report by sending a goodwill letter to the creditor that reported the missed payment. A goodwill letter is different from a letter disputing a charge or a payment status. In ... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2pUrKwJ

Who's Keeping Your Credit Score Down?

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MoneyTips No matter how hard you try, you can't improve your credit score. Who's to blame? Identity thieves? President Trump? Space aliens? It's time to find out. Start by reviewing your credit report , which is a compilation of your credit history. Creditors report activity on all of your loans and credit accounts, such as history of payments and outstanding balances, to the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). Each reporting agency adds this information to their version of your report. Your credit report includes your personal information, certain negative financial information that's a public record (such as a civil judgment against you), delinquent or unpaid accounts that have gone to collections, the record of past accounts, the status of current installment loans and revolving (credit card) accounts, and requests for your credit history. Your cred... from MoneyTips https://ift.tt/2oHrlxa