Credit Card Affairs Blogtag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008-03-25://12009-11-14T03:02:08ZMovable Type Pro 4.21-enFICO Finally Reveals Part of Score Structuretag:creditcardaffairs.org,2009://1.1532009-11-14T02:54:02Z2009-11-14T03:02:08ZThe makers of FICO have always been ridiculously secretive about their little formula but now they finally have disclosed part of their calculations. Check out the link below to see how some common credit mistakes might affect your score. Not...GT CreditCards.com: FICO reveals how common credit mistakes affect scores. ]]>
Take Advantage of Rewards and APR Offers Before They Disappear Forevertag:creditcardaffairs.org,2009://1.1522009-11-14T02:29:13Z2009-11-14T02:44:57ZAny person who applied for their first credit card in the 1980s or earlier will tell you that credit cards were much harder to get and offered very few of the perks we take for granted today. With the economy...GT
"We are going to see attempts to limit the rewards," at least in the short term... regulations will probably lead to less lucrative rewards programs in due course."
If you've been looking to get a new card, now is probably a good time to apply, but remember to look out for those high annual fees that are starting to become more common these days.
Wall Street Journal ]]>
Have Credit Card Defaults Peaked?tag:creditcardaffairs.org,2009://1.1502009-11-09T03:25:38Z2009-11-09T03:34:58ZThe government just announced that we have a 10% unemployment rate and recovery seems to be sluggish at best. Yet, analysts over at Bank of American think that losses from credit cards have reached their peak, mainly due to a...GT
Most U.S. credit card companies reported defaults fell in September
from record highs as consumers used tax refunds and other economic
stimulus proceeds to lower debts, but late payments rose, suggesting
more troubles ahead in an already battered industry.
Most sectors are talking about the worst being over these days, but I'm not sure if that applies to the credit card industry. If the unemployment rate starts to decline within the next couple of months we might see an improvement in the industry, but if high unemployment persists it'll be a whole different story.
Source: ABC News ]]>
Credit Union Credit Cards - It's like paradisetag:creditcardaffairs.org,2009://1.1492009-11-09T02:06:35Z2009-11-09T03:23:47ZFor anyone who's every been a member of a credit union this won't be a big surprise, but everyone else might just wonder why they've never even considered joining one. I don't know if it's the lack of advertising or...GT
Forbes can't deny the appeal of credit unions:
...interest rates for credit cards issued by the nation's 12 largest credit unions were 20% lower than those for bank-issued cards
The credit unions studied charged a high of 13.75% interest on cash advances, versus as much as 21.24% by banks.
13.75% APR for cash advances?! Sign me up. Search for your local credit union at CUNA
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BBC Looks at the Changing Credit Card Industrytag:creditcardaffairs.org,2009://1.1472009-10-28T06:46:11Z2009-10-28T06:55:51ZWhile most of the article deals with credit card issuers and regulations in the UK, the author makes some interesting points. One cannot help thinking that we may have already seen the peak of the credit card market. Prepaid cards,...GT
One cannot help thinking that we may have already seen the peak of the
credit card market. Prepaid cards, debit cards and the likes of PayPal
are steadily gaining market share and if the faithful credit card loses
some more of their allure the trend may continue.
...There is a market for the credit card but it looks likely to get smaller.
Maybe we really have seen a peak in the credit card market. It's not realistic to expect that people will just keep getting more and more credit cards. Of course, this doesn't necessarily apply to all markets. In some countries, credit cards are really just taking off. I don't think that debit cards or prepaid cards are really taking away too much business from the credit card companies. After all, credit cards offer a lot more flexibility and rewards.
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Visa Posts Profit Thanks to Debit Cardstag:creditcardaffairs.org,2009://1.1462009-10-28T06:38:00Z2009-10-28T06:45:29ZVisa just announced that they made a $514 million profit in the last quarter. Payment volumes are still down but the number of cards and transactions are up. The chief executive, Joseph W. Saunders, said Visa was beginning to see...GT
The chief executive, Joseph W. Saunders, said Visa was beginning to see
signs of stabilization that appeared to reflect early signs of economic
recovery.
Wanna tell that to all the unemployed people?
NYT: Debit Card Use Helps Visa Post a Profit ]]>
Credit Cards You Might Not Totally Hate...tag:creditcardaffairs.org,2009://1.1002009-05-04T01:46:24Z2009-05-04T02:00:35ZMany of us feel like we've been raped by our credit companies... slashed credit limits, high APRs, rude customer service and the list just goes on and on. We fully understand the current market conditions and realize that some issuers...GT
Our friends over at Yahoo have compiled a list of credit cards that are more consumer friendly and as far as we can tell they've picked some obscure but interesting cards:
Despite a $35 annual fee, for a low rate it's tough to beat Iberia's Visa Classic cards, with a purchase rate fixed at 6.5%, compared with a national average of about 13%. Farm Bureau Bank's no-fee Platinum MasterCard currently carries a low, 5.24% variable rate.
Those rates are incredibly low. Leave a comment if you have one of these cards. Check out the link after the jump for the entire article and some more cards with reasonable rates. ]]>
Yahoo: Credit Cards You'll Love ]]>
MasterCard Doing Just Finetag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008://1.572008-11-04T19:40:59Z2008-11-04T19:52:10ZThe current state of the economy may worry credit card issuers, but MasterCard and Visa seem to be completely isolated from all those bad news. Both companies don't actually issue cards so they don't have to worry about consumers defaulting....GT ]]>
Credit Card Market Outlook for 2009tag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008://1.552008-11-03T20:14:10Z2008-11-03T20:27:18ZUntil recently, many economists predicted that by early next year the economy would turn a corner and start to recover. However, this is no longer the case as some fear that the worst is yet to come. So far, credit...GT
record losses in 2009. Thanks to the $700 billion bailout we probably won't see any large credit companies fold. Let's hope for the best.
WSJ ]]>
How are credit card companies responding to the wall street?tag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008://1.532008-10-27T19:36:48Z2008-10-27T19:38:08ZBattered by the mortgage meltdown and a shrinking economy, credit card issuers are aggressively tightening their lending standards. But what exactly are they doing?1. Sending out fewer card offers. Only people with very good credit are getting offers these days....GT
1. Sending out fewer card offers. Only people with very good credit are getting offers these days. Got a few blemishes on your credit - you might be out of luck. 2. Fewer 0 percent APR offers. People have been using these offers to pay off their debt, but as more and more people are defaulting it no longer makes sense for banks to offer these kind of terms. Check out the rest of the list here ]]>
Alaskans Love Their Credit Card (Debt)tag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008://1.322008-09-16T18:51:09Z2008-10-19T17:44:24ZTransUnion just released their latest data on the credit market and it's looking pretty grim. Despite the economy downturn, credit card debt increased by 2.7 percent to $1,700 in the second quarter of 2008. Surprisingly, Alaskans carry higher balances than...GT
I expected to see higher balance increases in 'mortage meltdown states' such as CA, FL and NV, but none of these states have seen sharp increases in credit card debt. Maybe all those people who lost their homes down here had to flee to Alaska?
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No More Student Loans Thanks to Your Credit Cards?tag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008://1.312008-09-15T18:40:34Z2008-09-15T18:58:29ZStudent debt can add up quickly over the years and paying it down can take decades. So could it possibly make sense to transfer some high-interest private student loans to your credit card to pay them off?Maybe, but most likely...GT
Maybe, but most likely not. Here's why: Credit card interest rates are usually higher than those on student loans. Yes, you might be tempted by one of those 0% APR offers, but keep in mind that those usually only last for 6-18 months. Also, there are fees associated with balance transfers that can quickly wipe out the savings you were hoping for For more advice from an LA Times columnist click here ]]>
Credit Card Company Shares Down, Down, Downtag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008://1.302008-09-15T18:31:15Z2008-09-15T18:37:20ZAnother tough day out there. All major credit card companies saw their stocks slide sharply this Monday, not surprising considering all the turmoil in the financial sector. Many experts believe that credit card issuers could be hit hard by the...GT
MasterCard was down 4.4 percent, Visa 3.2 percent and AMEX and Discover around 2 percent. Source: AP
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Banks Are Trying To Help out Struggling Customers... Sort Oftag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008://1.282008-09-10T19:11:29Z2008-09-10T19:35:06ZDesperate to avoid a credit card debt meltdown, banks are doing their best to keep customers afloat. What exactly the banks are doing varies. Most are trying to detect potential collection cases sooner by calling customers who have only been...GT I am very happy to see that most banks have realized that their better off giving up some of their profits to help out customers, rather than pushing everyone into bankruptcy...
To find out what Banks are using what strategy exactly click here
Source: WSJ ]]>
Taking the Plastic out of 'Plastic'tag:creditcardaffairs.org,2008://1.272008-09-09T18:52:55Z2008-09-09T19:24:29ZWith technology advancing faster than ever before it should come as no surprise that many tech freaks consider credit cards to be antiquated. Barclaycard Canada just announced that they will start pushing contactless cards and plan to issue over one...GT
Now if they only would figure out a way to make those contactless payments more secure...