Business and Finance

Posts Tagged ‘Consumers’

So you’re stuck as to which plastic you favor best: credit card or debit card. There are undoubtedly intrinsic benefits to both: one has excellent fraud protection, while the other prevents you from spiraling into too much debt. Given that both of these types of cards have their own specific benefits, does it really matter which one you prefer to carry?

Surprisingly, yes. Read on to find out five reasons why prepaid debit cards are far superior to credit cards!

1. Debit Cards Have No Interest Rates.

Depending on the consumer’s credit history, credit cards can have an interest rate from 5% to as high as 24% – and that’s exactly why debit cards are superior to credit cards. For every purchase you make with a credit card, it’s like taking out a loan with a very high interest rate. You wouldn’t accept a mortgage with an interest rate of 18%, would you? Debit cards have no interest rates; therefore, you won’t be throwing your money away should you ever carry a balance.

2. You’re Likely To Be More Responsible.

For some consumers, credit cards make it all too easy to fall into debt, as it’s not regarded as “real” money. Since prepaid debit cards are loaded with your own available funds, you’re more apt to keep spending under control since it’s your actual bank account!

3. You Can Build Your Credit History.

Of course, credit cards allow you to build a credit history – but with interest rates as high as they are today, why risk it? You can boost your score just as easily as using a debit card, without sacrificing your money to criminal interest fees!

4. They’re More Secure Than Credit Cards.

Sounds a bit backwards, but credit cards can be fraudulently used much easier than debit cards. Whenever you make an offline transaction with your prepaid debit card, you’re required to enter your pin number, thus ensuring that the person using it is definitely you. With a credit card, some merchants don’t even ask to see a picture ID, making it either for identity thieves to get away with it – now that’s scary!

5. You Can Avoid Serious Debt.

This is different from number two in that credit cards make it far too easy to fall into serious debt, and in the most extreme cases, even bankruptcy. Credit card debt has easily ruined many people lives – now when’s the last time you heard about debit cards having this effect?

Many people are interested in payday loans, apart from normal loans. Payday loans are loans which are small and short term in nature. Most lenders will be able to deposit your requested funds directly into your banking account within 24 hours of filling out your online application. You will want to look for a low interest payday loan. Not all lenders will offer you the same rate so you will want to shop around and get multiple quotes. Only by comparing multiple quotes can you be assured that you are getting the best rate.

Here are some of the conditions needed to get a low interest rate payday loan:

Most lenders require that you are employed or have a source of future income, have an active checking/savings account, and are at least 18 years old. Then taking into consideration all the above factors a lender will determine the amount of money you can borrow from them.

Low Interest Rate Payday Loans

The biggest advantage of this type of loan is that, here your credit history is not checked by the lender or the financial institutions and hence all the loans are received in the matter of minutes. Payday lenders are concerned only with your ability to pay back the loan and often will look over past financial problems.

What if you are self employed?

Nowadays low interest rate payday loans are very easily available to people who work for themselves because there are a lot of lenders who trust self employed people to pay back the loans. Normally, an online payday loan company offers a loan when a person opting for the loan shows his last three month’s bank statement as a proof of income.

So when you are in an urgent need for money low interest rate payday loans provide you with that urgent relief. The best way to obtain a low interest rate payday loan is to compare lenders and get multiple quotes.

Great new tool for getting low interest rate payday loans

There are now websites out there that can be very helpful to consumers looking for a short term loan. These websites let you fill out a single application and receive multiple quotes from various lenders in your area so you are able to look through and find the best overall deal. Most of these sites are free and they will definitely save you time and probably money.

A Phillips 66 gas credit card is a very useful item to carry around with you, and all too few people take advantage of these handy devices. Here are some of the benefits they offer you.

First of all, you don’t have to walk inside to pay the cashier-just swipe card at the pump and you are good to go. It’s amazing how many people still confine themselves to paying cash for things, when credit cards are much more convenient, both for purchasing and for carrying around.

The next great thing about them is that there are no yearly fees you have to worry about. As is often the case with gas cards, you have to pay every year in order to keep it active, but this isn’t true of the Phillips 66 credit card.

So what exactly do you get out of these credit cards? In quantifiable terms, you get a three percent rebate on everything you buy from either Phillips 66 or Conoco gas stations. The drawback is that, if you are in an area where you can’t find one of these stations, you are out of luck.

What’s the interest rate on them? 6 percent for the platinum card, and 10 percent for the regular one. If you want to transfer a current balance onto your new Phillips 66 credit card, there is no fee to do so within the first half a year you own one, so make sure you do that in this time period.

The bottom line? While the Phillips 66 credit card is still very popular among consumers, there are better alternatives out there. Quite simply, most gas stations offer a five percent rebate on purchases made with them, so the three percent that Phillips offers is actually quite sub par. Search around, and try to find a better deal before going with this one, as you can save more money.

Prepaid credit cards begin to rise in popularity during the late 1990s. More people are using them today. What are prepaid credit cards, and what advantages do they have over traditional credit cards? In this article I will go over this in detail.

Credit card companies have realized that many people don’t meet the necessary credit requirements to use their cards. Even people who do qualify often fail to pay back the debts they owe and file bankruptcy. This has caused credit card companies to suffer massive losses.

The credit card companies begin offering secured cards in order to combat this. Customers would be able use their cards without fear of going into debt. Once customers established that they were responsible using these, credit card companies would then begin slowly giving them more credit.

This was the forerunner to the prepaid credit cards used today. The primary difference is that users are given credit for purchases made using these newer types of cards. You are able to set the limit you want on the card by adding the necessary funds into the account.

In the past, credit card companies set the credit card limit, and it was up to the consumer to make sure they didn’t go over it. It was very difficult to track your purchases, and you weren’t able to add any funds other than what the credit card company added.

Because of this many people would go over their limits, spending money they didn’t have. This caused people to get into serious debt they couldn’t escape from. By using prepaid credit cards, you only add the money that you actually have, instead of being credited money by the credit card company.This allows you to keep better control over your finances.

This creates a situation in which both credit card companies and consumers win. Credit card companies minimize their losses by allowing consumers to add their own funds. Consumers win by using their own money and setting their own limits instead of relying on the funds given to them by credit card companies. This greatly reduces their chances of going in to debt.

Having good credit is an important part of succeeding financially today. You want to use tools which reduce the chances of you getting into debt instead of increasing them. Using prepaid credit cards are a tool which will help you achieve this, and keep better control over your finances.

With so many consumers looking for ways to rebuild their credit, secured and prepaid credit cards are growing in popularity. Some people swear by them, and others try to avoid them. If you’re new to credit cards, you may have wondered how a prepaid card differs from a secured card, and how either kind can be used to build credit.

Secured credit cards work much like regular credit cards, but with less risk to the card issuer. The cardholder deposits money into an account, which is used to secure a line of credit. Typically, the cardholder needs to deposit enough money to cover 100-200% of the card’s credit limit. For example, a one thousand dollar deposit would result in a credit limit of five hundred to one thousand dollars.

Secured cardholders are responsible for timely payments, just like regular cardholders. This is a good thing, because it teaches good repayment habits and helps to establish a positive payment history – a very important part of rebuilding damaged credit. If a secured cardholder does default on a payment, the card issuer is protected; they can recover their loss by taking it out of the cardholder’s deposit account.

Critics of secured credit cards point out the difficulty of coming up with a lump sum of cash to use as the deposit, and they do have a point; if cash is that tight, perhaps it isn’t the best time to get a credit card of any type.

By contrast, prepaid credit cards are not actually credit cards at all. They look like them, and can be used like them, but they are really more similar to debit cards. The cardholder deposits money into an account and the prepaid card is then used to draw on these funds. No actual credit is offered by the card issuer. Setup fees and small monthly fees usually apply.

Prepaid cards can be issued to minors. These cards are popular with parents of teenagers who want their kids to have access to a credit card, but one with a definite spending limit in place. No large, up-front deposits are required to obtain a prepaid credit card. The prepaid card limit is up to the purchaser, who can load the card’s account with an amount of their choosing.

Prepaid cards can also be used to establish or rebuild credit. Some issuers give out cards with the Visa or MasterCard logo on them, and these cards can be used anywhere those brands are accepted. Setup fees and monthly fees vary by issuer, so do a bit of research to find the best prepaid card for you. You will find that your options are plentiful, and competition between issuers is steep – which is good news for potential cardholders.

Secured and prepaid credit cards are similar in form and function, with a few notable differences. If your credit is damaged or nonexistent, these cards present an opportunity to improve your situation. If you have a teen or young adult with an allowance, but don’t want to worry with cash or checks, prepaid cards can be a safe and convenient way to store their money. Likewise, if you have trouble limiting your own spending, you might want to try one of these cards.

But if your credit is average or better, and you’re able to control your spending and pay off your credit card balance each month, you might be better off going for a standard, unsecured credit card. The interest rate and fees will almost certainly be lower, and you won’t have to worry about putting up a big deposit. There are many available cards to meet many needs. A little research should turn up the card that best meets yours.

If you have ever shopped online, then you might know about some of the dangers associated with online purchasing and online credit card fraud. If you are not careful, you could end up being a victim of online fraud, which could leave you with a large bill to pay of items that you have not purchased. Here is some more information about the dangers of online credit card fraud and how to avoid them.

Why shop online?

If there are dangers to shopping online, then why do so many people do it? Well, the dangers of online fraud are only equal to those of any other type of transaction. Also, online shopping is often much cheaper and quicker than regular shopping, and consumers who want to find great deals without leaving their home are turning to online stores.

Use credit not debit

The first tip to help you avoid online fraud is to make sure you try and use a credit card to purchase goods rather than a debit card. This is because credit cards are much safer than debit cards and have far more security features. If someone were to get hold of your debit card details, you are unlikely to be protected. However, credit cards are usually covered by purchase protection, meaning that items you have not bought will be refunded to you.

Use HTTPS

When shopping online, it is important to make sure you only enter your card details over a secure connection. If you enter your details on a page that is not secured, it will be easy for fraudsters to get your details and use them to purchase items. To make sure the page is secure, check that the page address starts with https://. This means that the page is secure, and it is safe to use. If it does not start with this prefix, then do not enter your details.

Use trusted web sites

Although making sure the page is secure is important, you should try and make sure you only use tried and trusted web sites for purchasing online. Using small or unknown sites can lead to problems, whereas if you stick to large company sites that are used by many then you are more likely to stay safe. These large web sites have better security features in place, and are more likely to help you with any problems regarding unauthorised transactions.

Keep all details

If you make a purchase online, make sure that you print out all of the details of the order, such as the company name and address as well as an invoice number and the amount you have spent. If anything goes wrong then you will have some record of the transaction and be able to sort out the situation.

Computer protection

It is important to remember that as well as being safe online, you should make sure your computer itself is safe. The easiest way for a fraudster to get to your financial information is to hack into your computer. Make sure you have adequate anti-virus protection that is up-to-date and that you have firewall in place. This will help to stop fraudsters getting hold of your information, and keep your money safely where it belongs.