Credit Card for Everyone

What Are Credit Card Fees?

Credit card companies are in the business of making money. It really is that simple. They earn their money through two principle methods. One is through the finance charges that they levy when you make purchases on the card, and the other method is through the use of credit card fees. It should be understood that these are not one in the same. They are different, and knowing more about the fees that a company charges (or does not charge) its customers can help you save money.

Credit card fees can (and do) vary from one company to the next. There is no set schedule for credit card fees. This makes it very important for consumers to read carefully the literature that is supplied by the company in order to know exactly what you will be billed for during the course of your association with the company.

Some of the more common types of fees include:

Annual Fees: Many credit card companies are moving away from this particular fee, but there are still some that use it. The annual fee is generally just a yearly fee, billed monthly, for having the card. Whenever possible, you should avoid credit card companies that charge an annual fee. You get nothing but the card in return for this payment.

Set Up Fee: This, too, is becoming less popular with most companies, meaning they do not charge it any longer. Again, however, there may be some companies that do charge a fee for setting up your account. Read carefully exactly what the

fee is and the explanation that the company offers for charging this fee. You may find that working with another company that does not charge this initial fee is a good idea.

Cash Advance Fee: This is one fee that you will find with many credit card companies. This fee is applied to your account if you take a cash advance from the card. It can be a flat fee or it can be a percentage of the cash amount. Keep in mind that this is in addition to any finance charge the company will levy as well.

Late Payment Fee: This fee is assessed when you make a late payment. The trigger date for this fee is the "due date" as it is stated on the bill.

Transfer Balance Fee: Not all companies will charge this fee, but some will. This fee is levied when you transfer a balance from one credit card to another one.

Exceeding the Limit Fee: This fee may be assessed should you exceed your credit limit. Modern technology has made it harder to exceed your limit in that online approval or disapproval from the company is immediate.

Increase Limit Fee: Some companies will charge a small fee when you want to increase your credit limit. Not all do, but some will want to charge this fee.

Bad Check Fee: As with most companies, if you send a bad check the credit card company will usually want to charge for this.

These are just some of the possible fees that a credit card company may charge to your account. It is important to read their literature carefully in order to know what they will charge for and what they do not charge for.

Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at Bank Charge Refund and Secured Loans
Visit http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk

We strive to provide only quality articles, so if there is a specific topic related to credit card that you would like us to cover, please contact us at any time.

And again, thank you to those contributing daily to our credit card website.

How Does Cash Advance Work?

Today, more so than ever, credit card companies are allowing cash advances to their customers. Not all credit cards will allow this, but many of them do. While it is tempting to use this service at times, consumers should be very careful before taking that cash from the credit card. Here are some issues concerning cash advances that you should know about.

For the most part, credit card companies treat a cash advance differently than they do a purchase. Of particular importance to consumers is the interest rate that the company may charge for the advance. You should carefully check to see how much more interest you will be charged for the cash advance as compared to the purchase interest rate. In many instances, the interest rate for the cash advance will be much higher than the purchase rate. Do not assume that the purchase rate will apply to the cash advance. Check on this before you take the money.

Most (but not all) credit card companies will allow you to get the cash advance from an ATM machine. Other companies, however, may send you checks in the mail. You can learn how the company handles this by reading the billing information that you get from them. You should check to see if there will be any additional charges should you use an ATM.

Your credit card company may also impose a cash advance fee when you take cash. The fee is in addition to the finance charges and may be in addition to any ATM fees that are levied.

Almost all credit companies have a cash advance limit. Some companies limit cash advance amounts to a specific dollar amount, while some limit the amount to a percentage of the credit limit that you have with

them. When a specific amount is stated it may say: $300 per advance or it may be worded as $300 per week. While this limits your cash advance amount it also limits the amount of cash a thief could charge to your account should your card be stolen or your information compromised.

Restrictions can be an issue as well. Some companies will not allow electronic transfer of cash advances to certain accounts. An example of this might be an online gambling site.

Understanding how cash advance payments will be applied to your account should be on the top of the list for anyone who is using or planning to use the cash advances companies offer. Here is why.

Some credit card companies (indeed, most of them) will treat your cash advance as a separate entity. This means that payments that you send in may first be applied to your regular purchases account and whatever is left over (if anything is left over) will be applied to the higher rate cash advance portion of your bill. In other words, if you make only the minimum payment per month, your cash advance balance may not go down at all, and will, in fact, go up because of the interest that is being charged.

Your credit card company must tell you how it treats payments when a cash advance is involved. You should read this information carefully, and if the system they use makes you uncomfortable, then avoid using the cash advance services.

Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at Credit Cards and Poor Credit Loan
Visit http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk

We strive to provide only quality articles, so if there is a specific topic related to credit card that you would like us to cover, please contact us at any time.

And again, thank you to those contributing daily to our credit card website.

How Do I Cancel My Credit Card?

Here are two important questions for credit card consumers:

How many credit cards do you have?

Do you need all of them?

Many consumers carry several credit cards with them on a daily basis, but use only a few over any given period of time. For many people, two or three credit cards are all that is truly needed. The rest of them can be cancelled, and probably should be cancelled.

One of the very best reasons for canceling some of those cards is that it reduces your temptation to use them. After all, you cannot put additional credit on something that you do not have. However, before you begin chopping up those unused credit cards, consider the following.

Make sure that the credit card you are going to cancel is an empty account. This means that the balance on the card is zero. If you owe anything on the account, even a few dollars, make sure that you pay it off completely before you cancel the card.

Silence is golden. If you are planning to cancel a card, keep it to yourself. In other words, do not tell the credit card company that you are planning to leave. This applies when you have a balance on the account but are planning to pay it off and then leave. It does not always happen, but some companies may increase your interest rate on that balance if they think you are leaving soon.

Timing is important. If you are planning to apply for a big loan in the near future such as a home loan or car loan you may want to hold onto your old cards (don't use them, just hold on to them). In some cases, canceling a credit card can hurt your credit score which is used during the home, car, boat etc. loan process. If the balance on the old card is

zero, then simply keep it put away until after the future transaction has taken place. Once the transaction is finalized, you can cancel the card.

When it is time to actually cancel the credit card your first step should be to contact the creditor. In some cases, you can cancel an account via phone. In other cases, you need to do it by mail.

If you cancel by phone and you have been a good customer do not be surprised if you end up talking to someone who will try to convince you to keep the account open. In some cases, they may offer you some incentives for staying with them. This might include a lower rate, better promotional deals (air miles or phone minutes for example) or any other benefit that they feel you might enjoy. If the new rate, for example, is lower than some other card that you have, you may want to reconsider your cancellation. If the new incentives do not make a substantial difference, go ahead and cancel.

You should also ask that the credit card company tell the credit reporting agencies that the account was closed at your request. Make a note of the time you called, the day you called, and the name of the person you talked to on the phone. You should get, via mail, a confirmation letter that your account was closed.

Follow these steps and canceling your old credit cards will be painless and safe. You will be happy that you did this work later on when you have fewer bills each month.

Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at Credit Cards and Homeowner Loan
Visit http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk

We strive to provide only quality articles, so if there is a specific topic related to credit card that you would like us to cover, please contact us at any time.

And again, thank you to those contributing daily to our credit card website.