When shopping overseas, a merchant may ask you if you would like to convert your credit card transaction from the local currency into U.S. dollars. This is called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), and while it may sound like an enticing offer, this conversion is very expensive for the cardholder and should be avoided.

Generally, when an overseas merchant makes this offer, they will use a conversion rate that is far higher than the actual going rate, as high as 7 percent, and pocket the difference as a fee. They get away with it because many customers are not checking the math at point of sale to make sure the conversion was accurate.

When choosing a credit card for your business, you should consider the advantages of both general consumer and small business credit cards. Even though small business credit cards have the word ‘business’ in the name, the business owner is still personally responsibly for the debt incurred on the card. Therefore, there is no difference in terms of your personal obligation for general consumer and small business credit cards.

Where they do differ is in their protection under the new credit card law (Credit CARD Act). Business credit cards were excluded from the Credit CARD Act, and therefore do not have the same protection from unexpected APR increases or extensive penalty fees that general consumer credit cards do.

The first thing you should do before applying for a loan is go to AnnualCreditReport.com and get your credit report from all three credit bureaus to make sure that there is no inaccurate information that could be damaging your credit score. Everyone is entitled to a free credit report from each bureau every 12 months. You want to be sure to check all three because, although it is a good sign that one of them is accurate, there can be discrepancies so don’t assume that they will be the same.

The next thing you should do is maximize the positive information that is consistently being reported to the credit bureaus (and therefore on your credit report). If there is negative information on your credit report, unfortunately it is not under your control to remove it. Negative information will be removed from your credit report automatically 7-10 years after it was first reported. If this is your situation, it is even more important to increase the flow of positive information in order to dilute the negative.

When applying for a credit card, it’s best and highly recommended that consumers read the full disclosures before they click ‘Submit’ on an application. However, the reality is that most people do not have the time or the patience to wade through and interpret the dense language in the fine print or all the details of pricing disclosures.

Therefore, we felt it was important to determine how up front credit card applications are without reading the fine print, as this is what most consumers see before they apply. We isolated a few key components of a credit card agreement that people should definitely be aware of before applying for a credit card. The components included clarity on the introductory and regular APRs for purchases and balance transfers, clarity on the balance transfer fee and annual fee, clarity on how a customer earns rewards, and clarity on how valuable their points and miles are for rewards credit cards. Ideally, an applicant should not be able to start filling out an application without seeing this information.

The way you tackle high interest rates on credit card debt depends on your specific situation. If you have good credit, the first thing you want to consider is a balance transfer. Typically, you need a credit score of 660 or higher in order to be approved for a balance transfer credit card, and a score of 720 or higher to get the best offers. Once you are approved for one of these credit cards, you can transfer your balance from a credit card with a high interest rate to the new credit card with a lower rate. Most balance transfer credit cards offer 0 percent interest on the transferred balance for the first year of the agreement, but generally will charge a fee between 3 and 5 percent of your balance.

While the introductory rate is usually 0 percent, you also need to consider what the regular interest rate is after the introductory period is over. The key to determining how important the regular interest rate is for your situation depends on how long it will take you to pay off your debt. You can determine this by using a credit card payoff calculator. If you are able to pay off your debt before the introductory period is over, the regular interest rate is not of much significance to you. However, if you know it will take you much longer, you should carefully consider how much the regular interest rate will cost you over time.

Overview:

A person is considered new to credit if they have had their own loan or credit card for less than 3 years (or have never had one at all). For example, if you are a college student, new to the country, between the ages of 18 and 21, or recently divorced with no credit under your name in the past 10 years, it is highly likely that you have limited or no credit history.

In this article we cover all you need to know about getting a credit card account for your church. We will discuss what you should consider before applying for a credit card, as well as offer advice on how to set up a church credit card use policy that will prevent abuses or misuses of your credit card account. We will also explain how church credit card donations can become a useful tool for both your organization and the members of your church community.

Best Credit Cards for a Church

Before you start looking at your options for credit cards, you should be aware that the Credit CARD Act, effective February 2010, added new rules for consumers under the age of 21 interested in having their own credit card. If you are under 21 years old, you will need to show that you are able to make payments – in other words show proof of income – in order to open a credit card account.

The other alternative is to have a cosigner on your credit card account. This person must be 21 years of age or older and be able to prove their ability to repay the debt incurred on your credit card account. They will assume joint liability for your credit card debt, so it will have to be someone who trusts you to make your payments on time and use your credit card responsibly. If you have opened a credit card account with a cosigner and want to increase your credit limit, your cosigner must agree to the increase in writing.

Your credit score is calculated from a lot of different credit data in your credit report, so there is no formula that guarantees your score will go up in any specified period of time. The factors that affect your credit score include things like your payment history, the length of your credit history, the amount of debt you have, and the percentage of credit you use in relation to the amount of credit that is available to you.

Before you can start working on improving the information that affects your credit score, you need to make sure that no new negative information is being reported on your credit report. For example, you don’t want to have an open credit card account on which the lender, on a monthly basis, continues to report you as being delinquent. It’s fine if you have existing negative information on your credit report, but it is important that you cut off any additional negative information from coming in before you can start improving your score.

State Governments Collect Gift Cards as Unclaimed Property
This study focused on the top 10 largest states in the U.S. in terms of population

Below you will find the CardHub.com study that evaluates the policies in the 10 largest states on claiming unused gift cards as unclaimed property. The study identified an opportunity for consumers to reclaim the full value of their expired gift cards, but also discovered a major pitfall for consumers who try to use unexpired gift cards that have already been claimed by the state.