credit card forum [the blog]

Posted on Tuesday, 2nd December 2008 by CreditCardGuru

Are you tired of lousy returns on your savings account? Excessive overdraft fees on your checking account? Overall poor customer service at your bank? Or just worried about the financial stability of your bank? Well the solution is not to bury cash in your backyard! Instead you should look into the best-kept secret in banking; the credit union.

Unlike banks, credit unions are not-for-profit. Credit unions are also owned by the members (account holders) themselves. The members, regardless of how much money they have, each have one vote to elect the credit union’s board of directors. Interest rates and other policies are decided by these directors.

How many credit unions are there in the world? There was 46,377 credit unions in 97 countries at the end of ‘06, and today there are even more. With so many credit unions in existence, it’s almost guaranteed there is at least one in your area you qualify to be a member of. In today’s mortgage meltdown, credit unions are a particularly useful place to find a mortgage with favorable terms if you are currently stuck in a high rate or adjustable-rate mortgage.

To learn more about credit unions we recommend you check out our friends over at the Bruen/Bensley Credit Union Blog. They’ve been blogging daily for 6 years now about credit unions and their blog is loaded with great advice.

Tags: banking, credit union, mortgages
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Posted on Thursday, 27th November 2008 by Nicole

Credit Card Forum wishes you and your family a happy Thanksgiving!

Despite troubling economic times, it’s important to remember that we all have much to be thankful for. With employment and housing concerns at an all time high, and many of us experiencing the problem first hand, we can still be thankful for all that we do have; friends, family, health, or whatever else you have been blessed with.

Remember that at this very moment you are reading this on a computer… a luxury the majority of the world doesn’t have access to.

God Bless…

Tags: happy thanksgiving
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Posted on Saturday, 22nd November 2008 by CreditCardGuru

Credit and debit card payments have become a beneficial simplified method of payment for consumers, but how about for charities that rely on donations from spare change? With card usage now exceeding cash payments at most stores, customers often no longer have coins to donate when they are leaving a store.

This has led to fewer donations for long time charities such as The Salvation Army which previously relied on this as a main source of donations. But if you have no coins or cash it may no longer be a problem. In the Dallas area The Salvation Army is doing a pilot test using a dozen of their famous red kettles which are now equipped with credit card readers. Simply swipe your card instead.

The transactions will be wireless and encrypted to protect cardholders. The bad thing is that The Salvation Army will have to pay a 25 cent fee plus 2.9% for each transaction. Hopefully if the pilot program is a success and leads to wider use they will be able to negotiate the processing fees to a lower amount, or ideally zero, since they are a charity.

Tags: charity, credit card processing fees, credit cards, salvation army
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Posted on Monday, 17th November 2008 by Nicole

Credit cards were created over fifty years ago, long before there was such thing as the personal computers, the internet, and of course online shopping. The credit card industry has tried adding security codes and using elaborate fraud detection algorithms, but credit card fraud still thrives everyday. Even though the actual cardholder is never responsible for the costs incurred from fraud, the credit card company is.

Visa is designing a credit card with a built-in random number generator. There would be a small LCD screen on the card which would generate an 8-digit pin number which would be used for one transaction. A new number would have to be generated for the next transaction. Therefore the thief could have your credit card information, but it would be useless without having the pin number. Since the pin number would constantly change from transaction to transaction, it would be virtually impossible for a thief to guess it.

Tags: credit card fraud, credit cards, online credit card fraud, visa
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Posted on Thursday, 13th November 2008 by CreditCardGuru

Just days ago we reported about a proposal by the financial institutions to set up a program which would forgive up to 40% of consumers credit card debt if they were underwater with payments.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates banking, came back and said:

The agency does not consider any plan that defers the timely recognition of loss as prudent, and any such proposal cannot be viewed favorably by us.

So let’s get this right. Spending over $100 billion to bailout AIG whom spends it on luxurious spa retreats for executives… Good! Spending money on the people who actually pay these taxes, the consumers… Bad!

…So much for our government being by the people, for the people.

Tags: bailout, credit cards, credit crunch, debt relief, financial meltdown
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Posted on Sunday, 9th November 2008 by CreditCardGuru

Most financial institutions are struggling left and right, but others apparently are not - such as the case with Kazkommertsbank, who has recently announced they will be issuing a diamond inlaid credit card for their richest customers.

The Diamond credit card will have a 0.02 carat diamond embedded in its center. But the $1,000 annual fee only gets you a $50,000 credit limit, a limit that is not uncommon on credit cards in the United States. The card will feature the graphic of a peacock for female cardholders and a winged horse for male cardholders. Borat would be proud.

However this is not the first credit card made of diamonds and gold. The Dubai First Royale MasterCard (pictured above) is by invite only and issued to the VIP’s of the UAE. It looks like the American Express Centurion now has serious competition.

Tags: credit cards, diamond credit card, mastercard, mastercard diamond
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Posted on Wednesday, 5th November 2008 by CreditCardGuru

The day after the election, turn on any news station and you will hear all the talking heads trying to figure out exactly how Obama ran what may have been the best presidential campaign in the history of the United States. Of course there are many reasons for the success, but as funny as it sounds, credit cards played a very important role in giving Obama the financial resources needed in order to get his message out there.

Before he even secured the Democratic nomination, the campaign has been focused on small donations. They took a huge gamble and skipped public financing, a move that hasn’t been done by a major party since the option was introduced in ‘74. By utilizing the internet, the campaign gathered millions of smaller donations by the time the campaign was over. Many people wouldn’t bother the tedious process of mailing a check for a $5 or $10 donation, but when it was as simple as clicking on a Facebook ad and entering your credit card number, those small donations made more sense to do. The small donations even incorporated contests, such as the one a week before the election; where if a user donated $5 or more with their credit card, they would have the chance of winning a backstage VIP trip to Obama’s rally in Chicago on the eve of November 4th.

When all was said and done, Obama pulled in over $650,000,000 (the final numbers have not been reported yet). Of course money is not why Obama was elected, but in the cut throat world of politics, big money is needed to get your message out there and defend yourself against negative campaigning…. and that big money came from little credit card donations.

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Posted on Sunday, 2nd November 2008 by CreditCardGuru

Banks advocating debt forgiveness? That’s a line you’d never expect to hear. But in an unusual move, banks have joined forces with consumer advocates to pitch a proposal to the government, where up to 40% of an individual’s credit card debt would be forgiven. The remainder could be repaid over several years at a favorable interest rate. Banks have came to the realization that it will be better to settle the debt for something, then get nothing.

Over 100 of the biggest financial institutions are behind the initiative. If approved, it would start as a pilot program involving as many as 50,000 Americans. The severity of an individual’s financial situation would determine the percentage of the debt to be forgiven.

Tags: credit cards, credit crunch, debt consolidation, mortgage meltdown
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Posted on Wednesday, 29th October 2008 by Sam

Most credit cards offer rewards on purchases. Now what if those rewards were put in the government’s pocket instead of your own?

If Anthony Pollina, an independent candidate for the governor of Vermont gets elected, that may happen. Pollina propose creating a “Vermont credit card” which would be issued by Vermont banks. He claims the card would carry a low interest rate and instead of earning cashback or airline miles, that money would go into a local economic development fund. Pollina states he is not advocating Vermont citizens get this credit card to run up debt, but rather use the card in-lieu of their current credit cards.

Some argue it’s big brother stepping in and trying to find away to squeeze more money with a hidden tax. Others say it is an ingenious way to increase funding without increasing taxes. Whether you are for this or against it, no one can deny it is an innovative idea.

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Posted on Thursday, 23rd October 2008 by Nicole

With all the gloomy banking news here’s something to lighten the mood…

Did you know in 1999 David Bowie had his own retail bank? They even issued a MasterCard debit card. The operation closed shop shortly after. Apparently customers don’t desire debit cards with David Bowie’s mug on them.

Other celebrities that have dipped their toe in banking include Usher who had a prepaid Visa card, and Kiss, who has issued a credit card. Capital One has issued World Championship Wresting credit cards featuring the photos of Hulk Hogan, Bill Goldberg, and Sting among others. The Cool Country Visa from SunTrust featured the faces of Reba McEntire, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Alan Jackson among others.

No celebrity banking service has ever been a huge success and most have only last a very brief time. Just because we want to buy their music does not mean we want to do banking with them… especially during a time like this.

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