Experience the Romance of Scented Candles

Candles have served many purposes in human history. These range from providing light to providing symbolism at religious services to providing joy and relaxation in our everyday lives. Scented candles are targeted at joy and relaxation and medicinal ends, particularly in the aromatherapy discipline.

Scented candles can provide us with respite after a day of long and hard work. In addition, they can also create a desired atmosphere in the home with their beautiful aromas.

To a large extent, scented candles have replaced the incense that was burned by previous generations.

The pleasant smells that they emit remind us of the beautiful aromas provided to us by nature. To this effect the smells of many scented candles mimic the aromas of nature.

It is a known fact that candles reduce unpleasant smells in a room. For example, tobacco smoke is successfully neutralized by a burning candle.

When we combine the traditional candle with some aromatic or essential oils we create a beautiful addition to any home. Unpleasant smells are eliminated and are replaced with lovely and pleasing aromas.

Scented candles are also very useful for creating a specific and desired atmosphere in your home. To fully round off a romantic evening with your loved one, just add a few scented candles with rose, peach, or lavender smells.

In addition to these uses, scented candles are also used for more practical means such as keeping mosquitoes away and protecting your rooms from unpleasant bugs from the outside.

Fortunately, due to the advantages of industrialization scented candles have become within the reach of the average person.

For former generations scented candles were a luxury available only to the rich and famous and the kings and queens of the world.

Nowadays everyone can enjoy the beautiful aromas and the positive effects on mood, feelings, and ambience provided to us by the general availability of scented candles.

Consolidate Your Credit Cards - Lower Your Monthly Payments

If you’re like most North American people today, you travel through life carrying a just amount of credit card debt. And if you’re like most North American people, you’re all right with that. $100 per calendar month in repayments is fine, even if you’re paying that much on three different cards. It’s doable – you can afford it, if you have got to. But here’s the thing – if you consolidate your credit card debt, you don’t have got got to.

Do the mathematics with me here: You have a Mastercard, a Visa, a Discover card and an American Express. Let’s state with each of them you’re supposed to pay 12% interest per year, (which would be generous – many cards charge as high as 29% these days!) and the monthly minimum us roughly 2% of your balance that have to be paid back each month. Assuming you owe $2000 on each card, that’s A $40 minimum payment on each card, or $120 per calendar month – before interest is even factored into your repayment equation. But if you’re paying back $40 per calendar month on a card that you owe $2000 on which charges 12% interest per year, you’re paying $280 – Oregon over one-half your repayments – in nil more than interest!

Now see the options when you consolidate your credit card. First of all, you could take out a new credit card and set the balance of all those other credit cards on it. Meaning, you take the debt from your Visa, Mastercard, Discover and AmEx, and you pay it all off using your new card.

Because most credit card offers will allow you to ‘transfer your balance’ from another card to theirs for 0% interest, you might not reduce your monthly minimum payment each month, but you will reduce your interest rate significantly, thus paying your debt off much sooner. Consolidation of credit card debt can reduce your payments by 100s of dollars a year!

Another manner to consolidate your credit cards and lower your amount owing, is to take out a consolidation loan with your bank. Because credit card interest can be up to 29% (even more than in some states) without it being called ‘loan sharking’, many consumers get trapped in a debt rhythm that looks unending. Payday loans are no aid – they can be even worse, in fact. But a consolidation loan with a bank can see you pay all of those debts off at an interest rate of 5 or 6% - saving you a luck on your payments.

But maybe your credit evaluation is atrocious and you don’t believe you can get a consolidation loan, or a credit card to consolidate your old credit card debt – have no fear! There is a battalion of lending establishments whose occupation it is to happen funding for people just like you. Granted, the interest rates will be higher than for person with a good credit background, but it will still be significantly lower than what you’ll wage in credit card fees, and as you pay that loan back, your credit score will quickly get to heal.

There’s just no good ground to carry a huge credit card load these days, and it’s mainly out of apathy or ignorance that so many people do. If you’re inch need of information to assist get out of the load of credit card debt, there are many establishments and debt counseling organisations that tin aid you get out from under the ageless pressure level of debt. In fact, many of them can negociate a better rate with the banks and credit card companies you have money to, to guarantee that you can pay back what you owe without life in poverty.

Credit cards are a convenient tool, but the clip is right for you to consolidate your credit card loan payments and start life well once more.

Protecting Your Credit

Online safety tips

1. Purchase from reputable sites.

2. Check the lower left corner of your browser window for a key icon or padlock whenever you're on a screen that sends personal information or credit card numbers. If the key is intact or the padlock is closed, security technology will scramble your credit card number and personal information as its being transmitted to the merchant.

3. Print the screen that confirms your transaction and keep it as a receipt. If you don't have a printer, save the confirmation in your computer.

4. Read carefully privacy and security statements before you buy.

5. Never provide your credit card number via email.

6. If you suspect your card number has been mishandled, report it to your credit card issuer right away.

Other safety tips.

1. Make a photocopy of all your credit card numbers, their expiry dates and the phone number you call for each in case it's stolen. Keep this list in a safe place. Don't keep it in your wallet. Consider card registration plans provided by card issuers who will quickly contact each one for you should your wallet get stolen.

2. Destroy expired credit cards immediately.

3. Sign your name on new and replacement cards the moment you receive them and be sure to activate your new credit card according to the instructions provided. Keep receipts with you until after the transactions have appeared on your Visa statement.

4. Put old statements and receipts that may have your account number on them in a shredder before throwing them out.

5. Never give your account number to a stranger calling you over the phone. Beware of anyone who says you've won a valuable prize and you need to give them your credit card number to claim it.

6. Safeguard your personal information, including your social security number, your personal identification number (PIN), mother's maiden name, your date of birth, address and telephone number. Merchants should never ask for your address or telephone number, unless they will be shipping goods to your home.

7. Do not use your credit card for personal identification. Use your driver's license.

8. Do not write your card number on any document that is not associated with your account.

9. Check your monthly statement carefully and report billing errors to your credit card issuer as soon as possible and always within 30 days of the statement date.

10. Report stolen or lost credit cards as soon as you discover they are missing.

Credit Card Fraud - Part III

In this article we're going to discourse what to make if you are the victim of credit card fraud or if you desire to make what you can to minimise the hazard of being such as a victim.

One of the best things you can make to forestall credit card fraud is electric switch to cards like the American Express Blue Card. What American Express makes it centralise its transaction confirmation and Merchant Account tracking. This do their cards much more than fraud resistant. Also, because Visa and Mastercard have got the bulk of the credit card market, this do American Express a less likely target. In most cases of American Express fraud, which are relatively rare, the clients are reimbursed immediately and without question. Also, American Express have much more than friendly client service processes for handling fraud problems. In 2002 they added what are called American Stock Exchange Private Payments, which are one clip usage disposable credit card numbers. This virtually do fraud impossible unless the card is lost or stolen. And then it is simply a matter of reporting it in time.

Another thing you can make is travel to a firm that manages refund requests. Most of these are appointed by Federal Soldier Agencies that look into fraud. These firms specialise in this type of judicial proceeding and will be most qualified to manage your ailment as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. The bulk of fraud ailments handled by these firms regulation in favour of the plaintiff.

Unfortunately there are modern times when your lone resort is to call off your credit card and change banks. Usually what haps when a card number is stolen is that the issuing bank is not able to barricade continuing transactions. In this lawsuit canceling the card won't be adequate because banks usually carry over charges from one card to another. So in order to completely make clean up your account you may have got to change banks as well. This volition all depend on how good your bank is at blocking charges, especially if your card have been widely circulated.

Another thing you can make is phone the FTC hotline number for credit card fraud. They have got been put up to deal with this problem specifically. There is also a word form that you can fill up out online to determine if you are eligible for a refund.

A problem that you may run into is that some banks will decline to reimburse charges that are over 60 years old. If this haps your lone resort is to report the bank to the Federal Soldier government and allow them manage the problem.

When looking for a new bank, or for that matter a first bank to get your first card, expression for one that have a good anti fraud record. This information is available online and through respective agencies of the FTC.

Use as few credit cards as possible. The fewer cards you utilize the less opportunity of being victim of fraud. Also seek to utilize your cards as small as possible.

Check your credit card statements carefully to make certain that there are no charges that don't belong there and petition credit reports so that you can see if there have got been any unusual activity on your account.

By doing the above things you will greatly minimise the hazard of being the victim of fraud and have the best opportunity of being refunded should a fraud occur.

Credit Card Fraud - Part II

In this issue of our series on credit card fraud we're going to delve a small deeper into some facts and figs that volition most certainly raise the hair on the dorsum of your neck.

In apparent dollars and cents, a single credit card fraud can, and has, accounted for about forty-million dollars in just one twelvemonth alone. That translates to about 900,000 victims in 22 countries. That's a batch of people and a batch of money and that's just ONE fraud. For those wondering, this peculiar fraud involved grownup web sites, but credit card fraud was going on long before the Internet came to be.

What IS new is the ability to run this fraud across the full human race with just a mouse chink and attack thousands of people in a very short clip period of time. The Internet have simply given a very old cozenage new legs. It have brutally exposed the security problems with our credit card system and takes advantage of these leaks to the max.

The peculiar fraud mentioned up top was perpetrated by a company called Joule Kelvin Publications. If you desire to read about the inside information of this fraud you can make so in the August 1999 issue of Scientific American. Needless to say, it is some juicy reading.

So just where makes the money travel when a company or merchant or even individual perpetrates a credit card fraud? Well, if the fraud travels undetected in most cases the money travels to the merchant himself with the center man, if there is one, usually getting paid a cut, if for no other ground than to do certain he maintains his oral cavity shut. In some cases the money travels to the merchant and the bank. Yes, there are some crooked banks out there, especially overseas in states that volition stay unidentified for fearfulness of gun toting mobsters being sent over here to settle down a score.

If, however, the fraud IS detected then the money makes get repaid to the victim but in most cases less than the under $50 amount that the banks have got to pay. In other words, the victim doesn't completely come up away from this unscathed. Many European banks won't pay up at all. As for the merchant account, they don't desire to endure losses, so many modern times they will simply just fold up and reopen under a new name.

Because the system itself is weak, the thieves themselves are rarely caught, and then when they are, they rarely get punished to the extent that they should. The problem with the system is that is was designed for purchasing physical commodity with the card holder being physically present. With Internet transactions the cardholder no longer have to subscribe for the transaction, at least not in the usual way, and this make it manner too easy to beat the system.

In our adjacent article in this series we'll look more than into the problems of the system and what victims of fraud can do to assist protect themselves, or for that matter forestall themselves from being the victim of credit card fraud.

Credit Card Fraud - Part I

In this series we are going to cover one of the biggest problems all over the world. Credit card fraud.

For those who may not exactly cognize what credit card fraud is, a simple definition. Credit card fraud is the enactment of making a purchase using person else's credit card information. Sounds like something that should be hard to do. Unfortunately, it's not.

There are many types of credit card fraud, the most common we'll cover in this article.

First there is what is called "mail non-receipt fraud" which is when a new or substitution card is sent by the bank and never received by the individual it was supposed to travel to. This have been mostly combated by the banks sending out inactive credit cards where the individual have to do a phone phone call in order to trip the card. Otherwise it can't be used. Unfortunately there are some banks that make not make this and still direct out cards that are already activated.

Then there is what is called "chargeback fraud" where a legitimate cardholder utilizes the card to purchase commodity or services. Then when the statement come ups they name the credit card company and claim they never received the point or service or that they never authorized the transaction.

Another type of credit card fraud is called "skimming" where an employee or merchant do a second transcript of the person's credit card inside information before processing the payment. This transcript is then sold on the achromatic market to people who clone illegal transcripts of these cards. Fortunately, skimming have go less of a problem since the introduction of CVV and curriculum vitaes codes. These are not encoded on the card strip but are physically written on the dorsum of the card. This is a required three figure codification to finalize all transactions. Without this codification even a cloned credit card will not work.

Skimming at ATMs have also been a problem. What the illegally put up standard atmosphere machine makes is topographic point a skimmer device somewhere in the machine that reads the magnetic strip attached to the card. This is used together with assorted devices that monitoring device the computer keyboard of the standard atmosphere by attaching a fake facia over the original keypad. Fortunately, this is not as common today as it was old age ago when standard atmosphere machines were relatively new.

Then of course of study there is "online credit card fraud" which is the most common type of credit card fraud today with all the transactions that people make each day. This type of fraud gets a small complicated but simply stated, when a individual utilizes their credit card online, hackers supervise the person's entry into the merchant's system and essentially steal the credit card information without the individual having any thought this is happening. Another manner to get a person's credit card information online is to direct an functionary looking electronic mail telling the individual that they have got to update their credit card info. They are sent a fake nexus to travel to where the information is collected and used for whatever intent the swindler wants, whether to sell the information or usage it to do purchases himself.

In the adjacent article in this series we'll travel into credit card fraud into more than depth.

Get the Red Out

If you’re determination your debt payments are increasing but your wage is stuck in place, you’re not alone. Millions of Americans are making the error of life a lifestyle that’s not in synch with their take-home pay. Unfortunately, when that paycheck doesn’t increase, a natural inclination is to purchase more than points on credit to maintain gait with the Jones’s. It do for an ugly cycle, but one you draw yourself out of by following a few simple tips:

1. Less is more. The first thing you should see is disbursement less. Easier said than done, but the world of the state of affairs is that you are disbursement too much if you don’t have got the cash to pay off your balance at the end of the month. Alluring as it may be, you should only attain for the plastic if you’re absolutely certain that you can pay off that credit card measure in full at the end of every month. If you don’t get a manage on your disbursement debts, your debts will set a throttlehold on your bank account.

2. Defeat your debt 1 card at a time. If you owe balances on respective credit cards, wage them off one at a time. Brand at least the minimum payments on each balance every month, but program on paying much more than than the minimum amount on the card with the smallest balance. Once the lowest balance card have been paid off, start making larger payments on the card with the adjacent highest balance. With each card that you pay off, you’ll choice up impulse and be in a better place to pay off the other cards.

3. Refinance debt. If at all possible, renegociate the interest rates you are being charged by credit card companies. Some companies will lower your rate, especially if they feel that the higher rate could cause you to default on on your loan. If your credit card company declines to drop their high rates, see transferring your finances to a card with a lower rate. You may desire to advert to your current credit card supplier that you be after on making a move away from them if they will not give you a lower rate. A small leverage can travel a long way.

Paying off your debt can assist you in many ways. Once you pay off your debt, you’ll be in a better place to do purchases based on what you can afford. Getting out of debt will better your criterion of life as you agitate free of those credit card balances and usage your newfound cash flow to construct wealth.

While you’re currently in the same boat as many Americans, at least you’re not up a brook without a paddle. Follow the stairway above, and instead of trying to swim upstream, you’ll be going with the cash flow.

It's High Time for a Lower Credit Card Rate

How would you rate your credit card interest rate? Unfortunately, this is a simple inquiry that few consumers take the clip to ask, and it can be a costly oversight. High interest rates on your credit card balance can bring down some heavy damage on your wallet. A higher rate intends higher finance charges, and aches your ability to pay down your debt.

If you didn’t take a stopping point expression at your rate when you got your card, fearfulness not. Here are some simple ways to reduce your high interest rates and get a better manage on your debt:

1. Argument the rate. First things first – let’s happen out exactly what rate you’re paying on your cards. Are that your Visa card whacking you at an interest rate of 19.8%? And that section shop charge card – are they really charging you 29%? Yes, those high rates are not uncommon, and opportunities are probably pretty good that whatever you are being charged, you are probably paying at rates that are much too high.

Considering that banks are now paying rescuers from 3 to 4 % interest on nest egg accounts and certifications of deposits, then turning around and charging consumers 3-5 modern times that amount to borrow money, you’d believe they have got some room to give you a lower rate. They make – it’s just up to you to negociate to have it. Here’s how: Contact each of your creditors directly and see if they will reduce the rate on past purchases to a more than sensible level. Let’s state you get them to hold on 12%. If they accept the new rate, you’ll have got automatically shortened the clip it takes to pay off your debt without increasing the amount you pay monthly. Our advice would be to increase your monthly payment even more than to get yourself out of debt sooner.

2. Go shopping – for another card. What if the creditor won’t negociate a lower rate? Then be a good consumer and store for another card. Your letter box is probably stuffed with new credit card offers. (The Internet is also a great topographic point to shop for credit cards.) Find one that volition give you a low, fixed interest rate - somewhere between 6 and 12% - preferably with a 0% transfer rate on your balance. Once your balances have got been transferred, call off the old credit cards and snippet them to itty-bitty pieces with a scissors. You simply don’t need the enticement of an unfastened line of credit.

3. How about a loan? There are basically two types of debt consolidation loans – consumer and home equity loans. Anyone can get a consumer loan, but you obviously need a house for the second loan. These types of loans only work if the interest rate you pay is low. Be careful of concealed fees and charges and do certain you fully understand what your new interest rate will be.

If you have a home and you’ve built up some value [equity] in your home, you’ll desire to choose for the home equity loan. Rates be given to be lower, and the interest you pay may be tax deductible. Brand certain that you can afford the monthly payments of both a home equity loan and a mortgage before you perpetrate to this option.

Debt is no picnic, and it travels hand-in-hand with high interest rates. It’s going to take some of the tactics we mentioned earlier, along with a good dose of discipline, to pay down your debt. But if you followed that two-pronged attack, you’ll soon happen yourself debt free and in healthy financial shape.

Credit Monitoring - Advantages And Disadvantages

Have you heard of credit monitoring? It is a service that credit reporting agencies offer to you. The service is quite straightforward. For a fee, they will supervise your credit for you to see that nil strange appears or that nil out of the ordinary reduces your credit score. Are an investing in such as a service worthwhile?

How Credit Monitoring Can Profit You

First of all, credit monitoring makes make something that have go necessary with the coming of different types of credit fraud. Any consumer, anywhere that usages credit needs to supervise their credit score and report. It is necessary because at any clip a negative point is placed on your credit report it can be very damaging to your hereafter credit needs. Those who perpetrate such as fraud make not necessarily need your societal security number or other personal details. It all depends on where they utilize your credit card information.

It is of import to cognize what’s on that record and it is of import to cognize how it got there. The longer it travels without being disputed, the more than ‘real’ it looks in the eyes of the law. In this way, credit monitoring really can profit you because you will be notified right away when negative activity is reported on your credit report.

How Credit Monitoring Can Rake You Off

It is true that such as a service can be helpful, but credit monitoring is very expensive, up to $150 per twelvemonth in some cases. This money can be used to assist reduce credit card debt instead. If you are nett savvy, then your credit report is a few keystrokes away. All of the major credit reporting agencies can be establish online and can state you’re what your credit report looks like.

Also, in the United States, as of this year, you are provided a free credit report each twelvemonth from the credit reporting agencies so that you can supervise your credit history. This free merchandise may not be enough, but it is a start. You should check your report often and cognize what is on it. Ideally, you should check your report every 3 months. If you are going to be making any large purchases e.g. A new house, a new car you should get your report a couple of calendar months in advance so that you can unclutter up any negative points in clip to get the best deal on your purchase.

Fraud - Would You Credit It?

Findings from a recent study by APACS show that the amount of overseas fraud exploiting UK debit and credit cards has hit a five-year low. However with ID fraud as one of the UK's fastest-growing crimes, this should not be a cause for credit card protection complacency.

The figures show credit card fraud overseas £92.5m in 2004, which is the lowest figure since 1999, and following a £138.4m peak in 2001. This downward trend was largely attributed to improved fraud detection systems which enable card companies to spot unusual spending patterns associated with the fraudulent use of cards, rather than the recent introduction of chip and pin cards.

Sandra Quinn of APACS said "Simple things like making sure your cards never leave your sight, and remembering to dispose of receipts carefully, can make all the difference." Holidaymakers need to take care when using their plastic abroad, especially in the US, France and Spain, which account for nearly half of fraud against UK cards.

Foreign fraud on UK cards now accounts for 18% of total UK card fraud, which reached just under £505 million in 2004.

APACS advised that holiday makers should:

* Keep valuables safe and out of sight, for example in a concealed money belt

* When driving, keep handbags and wallets out of sight of opportunistic thieves, especially in slow-moving traffic and always remove cards and valuables from parked cars

* When paying be wary of letting your card out of your sight

* When you return home, check your statements carefully for any unfamiliar transactions

* Inform your bank in advance that you will be using your card abroad

* Carefully dispose of any receipts or statements

* Don’t tell anyone your PIN, even if they claim to be from the bank or police.

* If you have chip and pin cards make sure you memorise your pin numbers

* Make sure you have the 24-hour phone number to cancel your cards in case they are lost or stolen

Source: APACS ( www.apacs.org.uk/ )

This contrasts sharply with the rapid increase in ID fraud which was valued at an estimated £1.3bn last year. MyCallCredit warned that up to ten million people could have credit facilities registered in their name which they were no longer keeping track of. This could seriously put them at risk from ID fraud.

Which? magazine has suggested that about 1 in 4 adults in the UK have either had their identity stolen or know someone who has fallen victim to ID fraud. ID thieves can run up credit card bills, as well as ordering additional new cards, accessing the victim’s bank accounts, carrying out various other forms of fraud in the victim’s name, such as with government benefits, and taking out fraudulent loans.

In an effort to reduce ID theft, Which? ( www.which.net/ ) advised consumers to:

* not use their mother's maiden name or place of birth as a security password

* check their credit record annually

* ensure the bank knows of any address changes

* shred or rip-up post before throwing it in the bin

* never use the same password for all accounts

* not carry address details in purses or wallets

* check bank accounts and credit transaction files regularly

Further information on credit cards:

Regulations: Financial Services Authority

Credit card comparisons: www.moneynet.co.uk

Payment Protection: Barclaycard

Avoiding Credit Card Fraud

Imagine the following situations:

Someone rummages through your rubbish to find discarded receipts and then uses your account numbers illegally.
A shop keeper keeps a copy of your credit or debit card and then uses it to pay for other transactions.
A mailing asks you to call a long distance number to claim a free prize. You are told to provide your account number to sign up. You do so and are billed for transactions you never made.

Credit and charge card fraud is a huge industry costing consumers and card issuers hundreds of millions of pounds each year. It is a form of theft that is much more discrete than traditional robbery. While it is difficult to completely prevent card fraud from occurring, there are steps you can take to minimize your chances of becoming a victim.

Guard Against Fraud

Here are some tips you can take to help protect yourself from card fraud.

Do:

Sign the back of your cards as soon as they arrive.
Carry your cards separately from your wallet.
Keep your account numbers, expiry dates and company phone numbers and addresses in a safe place.
Watch your card while it is out of your sight during a transaction and seek to get it back quickly.
Destroy incorrect receipts and all carbons.
Compare receipts with your monthly billing statements.
Open your bills and reconcile your account monthly.
Report suspicious activity or charges promptly and in writing to your card issuer.
Notify your card issuer in advance of a change of address.

Don’t:

Lend your card to anyone.
Leave your cards or your receipts lying around where others might find them.
Sign blank receipts. If there are blank spaces on a receipt, draw a line through them.
Write your account number on the outside of an envelope or on a postcard.
Give your account number over the phone, unless you have made a call to a company you trust. If you have a question regarding a company, check it out with your local consumer protection office.

Report Losses and Fraud

If your card is stolen or lost, report this immediately to the issuer immediately. Many companies have free emergency numbers specifically for such calls. By law, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges once you have reported it. Calling quickly will reduce your liability for unauthorised charges, and will help the card issuer to catch the fraudster or block the transactions, making life harder for the crooks.

Credit Card Debt Consolidation: Top 3 Factors to Consider

If you’ve got a number of credit cards and insurmountable credit card debt, then perhaps it’s clip to see a debt consolidation loan. A consolidation loan is a loan that you can utilize to pay off all your debts, meaning that you can pay them off for less money without having to worry about tons of different bills.

For instance, if you had borrowed $3000 five old age ago, you may now owe $5000 (principle plus interest). A debt consolidation programme may affect eliminating some amount of interest so that you pay less than $5000.

Also, your former outstanding balances may be on five different credit cards. You need to pay 5 measures every month. Once you take part in a debt consolidation program, all your accounts will be consolidated into one account. You now pay only one measure each month.

In a credit card debt consolidation, your average interest rate may be reduced. All your loans can also be transferred to one single card that have a lower interest rate than the 1s you are currently paying.

Here are top three factors to see for Credit card debt consolidation:

1. Interest Rate

Get the best interest rate you can if you choose for debt consolidation. This interest rate is almost as of import as the 1 on your mortgage, but much harder to change after you’ve signed on the dotted line. Don’t be fooled by any offers that give you a good rate for a limited clip – you’re going to have got this loan for quite a while.

Interest rates for credit card debt consolidation loans through traditional lenders may be based on your credit score. If high, you are likely to get a credit card debt consolidation loan at a lower interest rate. If the credit score is low, credit card debt aid companies may be able to assist offer methods for raising your credit score.

2. The loan tenor voice or length of the loan

The most overlooked facet about debt consolidation loans is that the 1s with lower payments generally last a very long clip – you may stop up paying it off for twenty years, or even longer. You should seek to happen a loan that doesn’t last as long, and inquires for payments that are as much as you can afford.

3. A payment sum of money that you can manage.

Almost without exception, the loan will be secured on your home. That agency that if you begin missing payments, the finance company will kick you out, take (‘repossess’) your house, sell it, and pay back the debt with that money.

There’s A whole industry around property developers buying repossessed houses and merchandising them on for a profit. The opportunities are that you’ll come up out of it with nowhere near adequate money left to purchase even the smallest home, and nowhere to live. So be sure, to travel for a program that you can safely accede to, without losing your home!

If you make take a debt consolidation loan, you need to read all the mulct print. Good luck!

The Credit Card Surprise That You Need to Look Out For

Companies that issue credit cards want to make a profit. No one disagrees with that. The problem is that, we as consumers have, is when they have hide or disguise what it really cost for you to use a card.

Here are some ways that you could be paying more, not even knowing it for your credit cards.

Those Teaser Rates

As these rates are low at the beginning but rise after six months or a year. This is a popular way for credit card issuers to attract new cardholders. I don't know if you're aware of this but when the low rate expires, any balance that you may have left on the card automatically jumps to the new rate and just not on new purchases. This is something you should discuss or read before you even get a new credit card with low teaser rates

Those Costly Cash Advances

There is usually both a finance charge or interest and a transaction fee for cash advance cash even though the as may say “no finance charges". There is no grace period for that cash advance. You will pay all the interest from the day you take that advance. The transaction fee may be as high as 2-5%.

Extra Fringe Benefits

Cards that were offering benefits like percentage discounts, rebates, purchase protection, etc., may have been cutting back on those benefits and without any notice. Watch your mail when you get those updated versions for your credit card. If you don't read it, then you didn't know it changed and unfortunately it's your fault.

The Grace Period.

These high limit cards may sound great but may not have a grace period. If you ever noticed on your credit card bill, you may receive the bill five days before the due date. How are you supposed to then pay your bill on time?

If you don’t want to take any chances in having to pay a finance charge, then pay your bill in full each month. If you receive your bill late, call the credit card company and tell them that.

Two cycle billing.

Two cycle billing means the credit card issuer charges interest the first month that you don't pay your of balance in full.
Always read through your terms and conditions on your credit card bill and if you have any questions just call the credit card company and ask questions!

Credit Card Processing: How to Legally Beat the System by Passing Processing Fees to Customers

Imposing surcharges on credit card transactions is illegal, and it will only lead to problems. The secret to whipping the credit card processing system is not charging more than for credit card sales, but instead is charging less for cash sales. It may sound like the same thing, but there is a large difference.

The increasing costs associated with accepting credit cards are leaving many merchants searching for ways to go through along at least a part of processing disbursals to their customers. Card conceivers such as as as VISA and MasterCard are becoming wary of this new tendency and are enforcing hard-and-fast ordinances specifically designed to impede any such attempts by merchants to enforce surcharges on credit card purchases.

Discount fees, transaction costs, and other disbursals associated with the acceptance of electronic bank cards (credit and debit entry cards) are putting a strangle clasp on to the network net income of businesses of all sizes. To assist minimise the impact that processing costs are having on profits, many businesses are charging a surcharge to clients that take to pay for merchandises or services using a credit or debit entry card.

Card conceivers such as as VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover have got a batch to lose if the pattern of imposing surcharges on credit card transactions goes popular among merchants. When merchants enforce surcharges on credit transactions, they do purchasing on credit a less appealing option to consumers, and many consumers take to avoid the further cost by simply paying with cash or a check. A lessening in the usage of credit cards by consumers translates directly into lost gross for processing banks. Not only make banks lose out on the processing fees that they would have got got collected from the merchant, but they lose any finance charges that would have been incurred by the client as well.

You may inquire why so many businesses still take to put a surcharge on credit transactions, even though it is strictly forbidden in the processing understanding they had to subscribe when gap their merchant account. Quite frankly, many business people take to disregard this clause in their processing understanding and enforce a surcharge anyway. This attack is not recommended. When and if these businesses are discovered, their merchant accounts will be terminated, and they may even be placed on the Terminated Merchant File (TMF) which will do it nearly impossible for them to get another merchant account.

Card conceivers and banks have got control over credit card (bankcard) transactions, and they can legally ban a merchant from imposing surcharges. However, they make not have got any legal control over other word forms of payment such as as cash and checks. The largest card conceiver (VISA) have even published information stating that, "You may, however, offer a terms reduction for cash transactions, provided that the offer is clearly disclosed to clients and the cash piece is presented as a price reduction from the criterion price charged for all other word forms of payment".1

Most merchant accounts operate on a tiered price reduction pricing power system and, ironically, the secret to whipping credit card processing fees is to enforce tiered pricing on your merchandises and services as well. The old saying, "if you can’t beat out em', fall in em’" uses perfectly.

While you can’t charge extra for credit card sales, you can charge less for cash as long as all terms are clearly stated to customers, and the cash terms is reflected as a terms reduction from the original purchase price. For example: if the terms tag on an point states that the point costs $10, the cash terms must be represented as a terms reduction from that price. The terms tag for this peculiar point should look something like this:

Price: $10.00
5% price reduction for cash payment @ $9.50
5% Discount for Check Payment @ $9.50

By utilizing a tiered pricing grid, merchants can relieve the cost of accepting credit cards, while still providing their clients with the freedom to take their preferable method of payment.

1. Published by VISA in the Card Acceptance and Chargeback Management Usher for VISA Merchants, ©2004

Copyright 2005 Jack Lang

Should You Sign Your Credit Card?

It sounds like a no-brainer. You receive your credit card in the mail, along with a note that tells you, among other things, to sign the back of your credit card immediately. Lately, people have seriously questioned this course of action, pointing out that if your card is stolen, a thief then has a perfect copy of your signature to duplicate. Instead, say many, in the space for your signature on a credit card, you should write 'Ask for Photo I.D.'

It sounds like good advice. But what do the experts have to say? According to all three major credit card companies - Visa, Master Card and American Express, the answer is - sign your credit card immediately. In fact, all of them have rules that prohibit merchants from accepting credit cards that don't have a valid signature. Visa states that a merchant may not complete a transaction UNTIL the card is signed.

Bottom line on the question of whether to sign your credit card, then, is yes, you absolutely SHOULD sign your credit card as soon as you get it. But what about other security measures you can take to guard against credit card fraud? Here are five security tips to help you safeguard your credit card security:

1. Never give your credit card number to someone that calls you on the telephone. If the caller purports to be from a company that you do business with, or from the credit card company itself, tell them that you'll call them back at the number that YOU have for the company. That way you'll know that the person you're speaking with is legitimate. If they demur at all, hang up immediately and call your credit card company's fraud line with any details of the call.

2. Ditto for any email you receive asking you to 'verify' details for your credit card info by clicking on a link in the email to take you to a verification page. If it's a company with which you do business - PayPal for instance - open a new browser window and type in the URL to the legitimate site by hand.

3. Keep a separate low credit limit credit card for paying online - or use a credit card company that will provide one-time verification numbers. That way if your credit card security is compromised, you're losses are limited by the amount available on the card. Or - use a debit card that you keep just for online purchases the same way.

4. Reconcile your credit card bill every month just as you would your checking account. Go over the bill with your receipts, and report any charges for which you don't have a receipt or don't recognize.

5. If you have the option, register all your credit cards with a credit card registration service. In any case, write down all of your credit card numbers, expiration dates and contact telephone numbers for each card and keep it in a safe place. If your wallet and credit cards are ever stolen, you'll have a handy reference to make sure that you don't miss anyone when you're calling to report your credit cards stolen.

General Tips on Credit Cards

Credit card or plastic money is ubiquitous today. Today they are treated as more than of a necessity than just a commodity. Thus it is indispensable that you not only utilize them properly but also take proper care of them. The following listing is a digest of some tips on credit card management:

1. Never chose a peculiar credit card because your friend or person else have chosen it. Instead basal it on your needs.

2. Compare assorted credit cards before arriving at the right 1 for you.

3. Always mark at the dorsum of your credit card, as soon as you have it. This is an of import credit card protection mechanism.

4. Protect sensitive information/details about your credit card e.g. PIN. Never uncover the inside information to anyone.

5. Destroy any mails containing such as the inside information about your credit cards. Fraudsters might be scanning your garbage for such as information.

6. Bash not share your credit card with friends, household and others. Apply for supplementary cards if you necessitate one for your household etc.

7. Never use more than than 75% of your credit limit. This volition aid in containing your credit card debt and also in maintaining a good credit rating.

8. Be on time in your payments. If you haven’t received your monthly bill, enquire with your credit card supplier. Non-payments and late payments maculate your credit rating.

9. Never allow your credit card travel out of your sight.

10. There is no magic wand for debt elimination. So return measurements for getting out of your credit card debt. This includes things like controlling your credit card usage, using cash on some occasions, debt consolidation etc.

11. In lawsuit your credit card gets lost or is stolen. Immediately inform (call) your credit card provider to get it invalidated. Keep this phone number separate from your credit card.

12. Be on time in advising the change of computer address to your credit card supplier.

13. Be aware of assorted offers / dismisses that accompany your credit card. You never cognize when one might turn out utile to you.

14. Bash not error credit card for free money or a lottery. Remember that you will have got to pay for it. So always lodge to your budget.

15. Check if one of the particular credit cards e.g. student credit card, small business credit card is better for you.

16. Always read all the instruction manual supplied with your credit card especially the 1s related to fee/commissions etc.

17. Deliver rank rewards in time. Don’t allow the points get expired. Never go forth them unutilized when shutting your credit card account.

18. Take professional advice if you are too deep into credit card debt.

19. Never get lured by all the free offers on your credit card and end up disbursement thousands of vaulting horses just to recognize later that you can’t actually pay it back in time.

20. Never apply for too many credit cards just for manner sake. Even you don’t usage them you might still be paying annual fees and them and moreover why maintain something you don’t need.