Bad Credit Loans to Ease the Pain

Even though the banks have become more conservative in recent years, there are lenders who will still provide bad credit loans realizing that they can charge a little more interest on these loans because of the perceived greater risk involved. Recent financial problems have had an impact worldwide and North America has certainly not avoided the problems.

What began as a financial crisis spread throughout the economy with the resultant fall in consumer demand and business closures. That had a knock on effect both on employment and the real estate market. A country which had had a tendency to live on credit suddenly found credit more difficult to come by.

Default meant a hit on credit scores and the impact of that meant that many households found it more difficult to pay their bills regularly. While banks have been generally disinterested in being part of the solution, other lenders have found that the demand for bad credit loans has risen. Their initial experience of applicants' willingness and ability to repay on a monthly basis has been good and confirmed their decision to explore this market.

It does require some experience, and perhaps instinct to look behind the stark fact of a poor credit score and see someone who will successfully repay a loan.

The online process is simple. Some initial research may prove valuable to see what is on offer though in a competitive market place, everyone seems to be aware of its competitors and keeps abreast of the best offers. An applicant needs to provide name and address with ideally some security of tenure on the address.

The most important part of being granted bad credit loans is being able to demonstrate the ability to make the payments. That can be shown by providing employment details, certainly for a period of the past three months and showing a regular income that is not purely commission based. An applicant should also have a checking account with recent transactions in order even if the previous history was poor.

Bad credit loans may be secured or unsecured and the rate of interest charged will vary between the secured and the unsecured. If someone is confident of acceptance and is prepared to pay slightly more, it means that their real estate need not be lodged as security because the ultimate sanction of defaulting is repossession. A lender will proceed with unsecured loans based on accepting the accuracy of the information that has been provided.

Responsible families have certainly had a shock that they do not want to experience again. Bad credit loans can ease the pain perhaps being used to pay off credit card balances with punitive rates of interest or to do some essential repair to the house or the car, or perhaps pay tuition fees for someone in the family. As long as complacency becomes a thing of the past, and the use of any remaining credit card is with a view to paying outstanding monthly balances in full when the statement arrives, the path to a brighter future may come even from bad credit loans.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Atiqul_Haque

Credit Card Debt Reduction Assistance: Tips On Lowering Your Debt

Although credit cards can give you a lot of financial freedom and are great for emergencies, if not managed properly, they can also land you in a lot of credit card debt. The average American owes about $6,500 on their credit cards with many people owing well over $10,000. If you are under high credit card debt and are just managing to pay the minimum balance on your cards each month, with the new credit card laws that have increased the minimum payments considerably, you may just find yourself in immediate need of debt help. Below, we'll show you how.

Credit Card Minimum Monthly Payments Are Going Up!

The government’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave guidelines to all major credit card companies that they had to increase the minimum balance payable on their credit cards. Companies were given three years to increase their rates gradually. However, no one did anything for three years and now, with the deadline running out in mid 2006, most credit card companies have suddenly increased their rates for credit card minimum balance payments. So what does this mean for those who are under credit card debt?

It means that people need to be more aware about their credit card debt and try and get out of debt more seriously than ever before. With minimum payments increasing drastically, your credit card debt will continue to rise if not paid off as soon as possible.

Tips For Debt Management

To help you do just that, here are some credit card debt reduction tips:

• Cut up all your credit cards (barring one for emergencies) immediately. This way you will not use your credit cards and will thus not keep increasing your outstanding balances.
• Keep track of all your expenses on a weekly basis and try and cut down all those costs that are not absolutely essential.
• Budget some minimum amount each week that will go towards debt reduction. Once you budget this amount, make sure you send the check to your credit card company each week. Don’t wait till the end of the month. This way you can lower your interest payments significantly.
• Look around for offers where you can transfer your credit card balance to another loan with a lower interest rate. You may also be able to find zero interest balance transfer offers, where you won’t have to pay any interest for the first 8-12 months.
• Make your payments on time, even if it is only the minimum balance due. Late payments have a nasty way of increasing your interest payments and you will also have to bear increasingly high late payment fees. Even ONE late payment can cause your credit score to drop by 30-100 points!
• Keep credit card accounts you have paid off open, just do not use them (assuming the annual fees are not outrageous)! Your credit score reflects total available credit vs. outstanding balances. The more your available unused credit, the better.

If you are unable to handle your credit card debt management on your own, you should think about getting debt reduction assistance or some kind of debt help. A debt reduction counselor will be able to work with you and create a payment plan which will help you to get rid of your credit card debt in the least time possible. Just do your homework here – make sure you are not going with someone who will make your credit situation worse.

You can also use our free personal budgeting software to help set aside money to pay off your credit card debt. The sooner you are free of debt, the sooner you can regain control of your financial life.

Credit Card Payment Assistance

If you are encountering issues using a Credit Card on Battle.net, review the troubleshooting steps below.

Clear Cache/Temporary Internet Files

We recommend that you first clear the cache and all temporary internet files on your internet browser before attempting to add the card into our system. You may consider using another web browser if the issue persists. For exact steps on clearing these files, see your browser's support documentation.

Verification Code Use

For Visa, Master Card, and Discover, the credit card verification code is generally the last set of digits in the numeric string located in the signature field on the back of your card. An American Express card's verification number is four digits long and is printed on the front of the card.


This verification code is only present on more recent cards. If you have an older card, it is possible that you do not have one of these codes. In this case, call the credit card company directly to have a new code issued to you.

Pre-Paid Cards and Virtual Credit Cards

Because of address verification problems, pre-paid credit cards and virtual credit cards may not be accepted by our authorization system. If you are attempting to use a payment type of this nature and it is not being accepted by our system, you may wish to consider purchasing a 60 Day pre-paid Game Card from a local retailer.

Supported Regions

Any credit card used must be from within the supported North American region (the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand). Any credit card with a billing address residing outside of this region will be rejected from our system, regardless of your current geographical location. In addition, the billing address of the credit card should match that of the Battle.net account.

How to Verify PayPal account Without Credit Card

This post will for all Indian residents who regularly use PayPal for sending or receiving money.

For adding funds in your PayPal account & lifting limits you would need a credit card. But as we all know not everyone is interested in having a credit card or some people are ineligible to be issued a credit card. A credit card can only be issued to a person above 18years of age and earning regular income.

First why not use Virtual Credit Card (VCC)…

Many people to use a Virtual Credit Card (VCC). But I don’t recommend it because the purpose of the PayPal verification is to validate your personnel information. Their goal is to verify the information given by you is correct. VCC’s cheat the system and do so in such a way that compromises the entire network. So even if you were able to verify using VCC, there is constant risk that PayPal might detect it and freeze your account. That’s why I don’t recommend using a Virtual Credit Card (VCC).

Use E-wallet by ICICI Bank

E-wallet is a VISA card issued by ICICI bank. It works exactly like a normal credit card and it is accepted on all online stores(including PayPal). It would be issued under your name. You will also get regular online statements for it.

It is different from a normal debit/credit as:

1. you won’t get a physical card.
2. you have to fill it before doing any transaction via B2 Internet Banking. It works like a prepaid debit VISA card

How to Get an E-wallet

E-wallet service is a Part of ICICI b2 saving account. For getting E-wallet service you have to Apply for a B2 account.

Eligibility and charges: Its a free service without any charges and is available to all Indian residents. b2 account is also a zero balance account, so do not worry about minimum balance.

Verifying PayPal with E-wallet

1. After your b2 account is activated (it takes 10-15 days) and you have moved money into this account via NEFT or Cheque deposit, login into your account. In summary tab, Under E-wallet Section click on “Allocate Funds”.

   

2. Now Click on “Fill now” and follow other onscreen directions. If it asks you to enter few grid values from security card and you won’t know what to do, probably you haven’t received your security card yet, please wait for few more days. security card will be sent to you via postal mail.

   

3. Please remember to fill your E-wallet with Higher amount like Rs2,500/-. Doing Transactions with international merchants in foreign currency need some extra balance. Don’t worry after completing verification you can withdraw this amount.
4. Logon to you PayPal Account and go to Add your Card form to-do list. Now enter your E-wallet card number and other details. All this details can be found in your b2 saving account. check in Card > E-wallet
5. Wait for 2-3days and check statement of your E-wallet for 4-digit PayPal code. Statement can be found in Card > E-wallet section > View statement

   

6. Now login to your PayPal account and enter that four digit code! After you have successfully confirmed your card, PayPal will refund you that $1.95 USD.

Congrats, now you are a verified PayPal member and you have done that without using any unfair means.

Which Type Of Credit Card You Need To Choose

All credit cards are not the same, some will be more suitable for you depending on how you not make repayments, and you're spending habits. It is very important to find the right credit card for your circumstances, to avoid paying excessive interest every month.

Credit cards are popular because they offer flexible use and payment terms, they are very convenient. Especially when you don't have sufficient cash in your wallet. Unfortunately, they can also lead very quickly to a heavy personal debt, if not used correctly. That is why is essential to find the correct credit card to suit you.

In an ideal world, you will own a credit card because convenience and ease of use that it gives. You would pay the entire balance in full at the end of the month. That way, avoiding high interest payments accrued on the card, on any balance outstanding. You get the convenience of the use of a credit card in shops and restaurants, online and by phone, without the expense of interest on late payment fees.

That of course is all in an ideal world. In reality, most people pay off part of their balance every month and often just the minimum payment requirement. For people who take this route, one good option is to consider the so-called, rewards card.

With a rewards card, the user earns points every time the card is used, that way earning back a percentage of their spending from the credit card company.
There are also times when you need to spread out the payments on perhaps a more high cost item, in this case a zero percent card would be the best choice for these circumstances. These cards give you a much longer period that is free of interest, allowing you time to get money together to pay off your bigger item purchases.

You quite possibly already have several cards with reasonably large balance amounts. You will find the card companies are probably charging you are very high rate of interest. Therefore, you should consider switching to a zero percent balance transfer card. Thus avoiding the high interest rates of your the cards. You do need to take into consideration any costs involved, such as transfer fees they may be charged by these card companies. These fees may be as high as 3%, on any balance transfer you make.

If you use this card for balance transfers, you should not use it for purchases. The reason is that all payments you make go to paying off your zero percent balance. There will not be any money paid off anything you buy until after the zero percent balance has been paid off in full. This means you could be paying a high interest rate and any purchases you made on the card.

So keep in mind that the zero percent usually refers to balance transfers, a normal or even higher interest rates may be charged on any purchases you make. You need to read the small print when you apply the card to make sure you know what the situation is with purchase interest.

Although it is inconvenient, it is certainly in your interest to read through all the boring small print on the back of the application, or in the information sent to you with the card. This way it should be clear to you what the situation is with regards to interest rates, and any possible hidden fees.

Unfortunately, many credit card companies are experts at concealing aspects of interest and fees within a cleverly worded legal small print. If you are unsure call or e-mail, the company they are legally obliged to clearly explain any details that concern you.

The Office of Fair Trading has taken action to try to ensure that credit card companies make their fees and interest rates clear. In any agreement or correspondence, any problems with unclear jargon can be reported to them.

It is also up to you to do your own investigation, comparing fees and interest from several card companies to find the best and most suitable deal your situation.
The Office of Fair Trading is about to launch a new website that will have clear and concise comparisons between leading credit card suppliers. Enabling the public to make easy and simple comparisons to find the best card for their needs.

Canadians Trimming Credit Card Debts

Growth in non-mortgage debt is down 30 per cent this year over last year, mostly because Canadians are paying off their credit cards, the latest report from Equifax Canada shows.

Canadians are still taking on more debt, but at a much slower pace than they were last year, said Nadim Abdo, vice-president, Consulting and Analytical Services, Equifax Canada.

“Instead of opening up new loans or credit cards, they’re using their existing credit,” Abdo said.

It appears they’re also being smart with their money, transferring high-interest credit card balances to lines of credit, which typically have much lower rates of interest, Abdo said.

“People are still buying things with their credit cards, but then they’re transferring those balances to lines of credit and paying the balance off over time,” Abdo said.

Scott Hannah, president of the Credit Counselling Society, said the average indebtedness of the people seeking help from his organization this year is down about five to 10 per cent this year over last year, but the number of people seeking help is up about eight to 10 per cent.

The average person seeking help from the Credit Counselling Society has about $23,000 in credit card debt and is only able to make minimum payments, Hannah said.

Credit card debt has been going down for the past seven quarters, and dropped 3.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 over last year, Equifax found. While credit card balances are dropping, bank loans and lines of credit are growing, albeit more slowly than in the past. Bank instalment loans grew 3.4 per cent, while lines of credit, which typically have larger balances than credit cards, grew 0.5 per cent.

Michael Atkinson, Vancity’s director of sustainable wealth management, said he didn’t have the statistics to show whether consumers were paying off credit cards with lines of credit, but that if they are, lines of credit still require discipline to be paid off.

Credit Card Settlement: Merchants Question Benefit

There's one thing plenty of people agree on about the new $7.25 billion settlement reached between big banks and retailers on credit card swipe fees: They don't like it.

"People on both sides of the issue are disappointed," says Anisha Sekar, VP of credit and debit products for NerdWallet, a website that helps consumers decide which credit card program is best for them.

Under the proposed deal—which, if approved by a judge, would be the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history--merchants would be free to tell customers at checkout how much extra they're paying to use a given credit card than if they'd paid by cash. Merchants also would have the option of imposing a surcharge on credit card purchases, which would help them recoup some of the hefty fees they pay to banks for credit card transactions.

The Wall St. Journal reports that for many retailers, those fees represent the third-biggest cost of doing business, right after rent and payroll. A merchant's average fee, says the Journal, is 1.5 percent to 3 percent of each credit card transaction.

Defenders of the settlement reached last week say that under it, merchants' costs would be reduced; and further, that consumers would get more information to help them make better decisions about which card to use (or whether to use a card at all, and instead to pay cash).

Jeffrey Shinder, an attorney who represents some 145,000 convenience stores through the National Association of Convenience Stores (NAC), questions how much of a benefit consumers might get.

"If this goes through intact," he says, "you should ask yourself: Are merchants really going to surcharge? I have my doubts."

A merchant's appearing to single out credit card customers for a special charge he calls "a PR nightmare in a tight economy." Moreover, he says, state law in New York, California, Texas and seven other states prohibits such surcharges. These states together, he says, account for 42 percent of transaction volume. So, the settlement's terms "won't affect half the country."

"All of which is to say," says Shinder, "that I don't think there's going to be much impact. It's why this is not a landmark settlement. It's not going to benefit consumer welfare."

It could, however, be a huge pain in the neck for merchants. Doug Kantor, counsel for NAC, foresees widespread confusion and frustration: "At the end of the day, merchants will throw up their hands and say, 'I can't do it,'" he predicts.

NerdWallet's Sekar likes some elements of the settlement.

She points to its collective bargaining provision, under which merchants can band together to negotiate lower fees from banks. It's a "major step forward," she thinks, in bringing downward pressure on fees, and thus downward pressure, potentially, on what consumers have to pay.

"In the long term, it might be effective in lowering rates," she says. "As of now, each individual small business person has little influence. But a group of independent drug stores, say, can hash out fees with Visa."

As for fairness of forcing Mastercard and Visa buyers to pay a surcharge, she likens the situation to airline passengers' having to pay more for checked luggage. When bag fees first were introduced, she says, "There was this visceral reaction from consumers—'how unfair.'" Now, she says, travelers like her who never check a bag love the fees. Reason: They no longer have to pay for a service they don't want or need.

Monmouth Police Investigate Credit Card Fraud

Monmouth police are investigating more than 10 cases of credit card fraud that occurred this week. Police began receiving reports Monday, but the incidents occurred as early as Saturday, said Deputy Chief Joe Switzer.

At least two banks were involved. The card numbers have been used in different cities in Illinois, as well as Georgia, Swtizer said.

“Periodic or sporadic fraudulent credit card activities come from someone getting ahold of someone else’s number,” he said. “This goes beyond that, and we are uncertain how that information was attained because of the large amount of victims we have had.

“The number of reports that have come in is unusual for the incidents in the last several days. ... We are currently tracking down how that information was released.”

Pam Morath of Monmouth found her account was compromised while in Peoria with her husband Bruce on Saturday. As she attempted to pay with a debit-credit card, it wouldn’t register. It had been flagged.

Credit Card Fraud Accused Wanted To Get Rich Overnight

The investigators of the American Express credit card fraud case are baffled by the details the probe had thrown up. According to the investigators, the accused Akshita Attri, 27, Akshay Mishra, Rahil Arora and Joginder Singh were in the grip of get-rich-overnight
syndrome.

The spurt in white-collar crimes has been worrying sociologists and police. Psychologists say there is more to it than a mere case of fraud.

Dr Brahm Sindhu, senior psychologist and head of the District Mental Health Programme, said, “The psychology of the Gen-X that has grown to in their 20’s, are more often influenced by the video games they played for years. In these games, committing crimes such as bank robbery and murder are a fun. Cyber crimes are also the result of this. While working on internet, the youngsters take it as if they are not being watched and committing cyber crime becomes just another computer game for them. During consultation, I tell them that taking escalator for becoming rich can be dangerous as after sharp rise there comes a sharp fall in such cases and therefore take stairs preferably.”

The police said all the accused are educated and belong to rich families. Main accused Akshita is the daughter of a retired senior government official while her sibling sister has migrated to Canada.

She, earlier too, had worked in reputed companies such as Kingfisher and Dell, drawing high salaries.

Akshay, an engineer, worked with Dell and had been in live-in relationship with the main accused. According to Akshita, it was Akshay who had lured her into the fraud. Akshita purchased many consumer durables and luxury items using the credit card details of a UK citizen.

Akshita told HT: “Akshay had been doing this for long and I found it very tempting. He said no one would come to know and asked me to get card details of customers during my stint in CRM Synergies Digital Private Limited. I had access to a lot of credit card details as I worked as customer care executive.”

Inspector Suresh Kumar said, “The parents of Rahil Arora have reached the city from Amritsar. They are unaware of their son’s involvement in the crime.”

Akshita, later, deserted her former live-in partner and started living with Rahil Arora. They were planning to get married soon. Rahil said, “I did not know what Akshita was doing. She once got me a Samsung Galaxy Note, but I paid for it. I had travelled with her to places such as Goa and Jaipur and she foot the bills. She said she was getting good salary.”

The police are probing whether more persons are involved in the crime. The other two accused Joginder Singh and Akshay Mishra are absconding.

US credit card deal

Visa Inc, MasterCard Inc and banks that issue credit cards have agreed to a $7.25-billion settlement with US retailers in a lawsuit over the fixing of credit and debit card fees in what could be the largest antitrust settlement in US history.

The settlement, if approved by a judge, will resolve dozens of lawsuits filed by retailers in 2005. The card companies and banks will also allow stores to start charging customers extra for using certain credit cards in an effort to steer them towards cheaper forms of payment.

Swipe fees charges to cover processing credit and debit payments are set by the card companies and deducted from the transaction by the banks that issue the cards, essentially passing on the cost to merchants, the lawsuits said.

The proposed settlement involves a payment to a class of stores of $6 billion from Visa, MasterCard and more than a dozen of the country’s largest banks who issue the companies’ cards. The card companies have also agreed to reduce swipe fees by the equivalent of 10 basis points for eight months for a total consideration to stores valued at about $1.2 billion, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs.

The deal calls for merchants to be allowed to negotiate collectively over the swipe fees, also known as interchange fees.

Merchants will also be required to disclose information about card fees to customers, and credit card surcharges will be subject to a cap, according to the settlement papers. Surcharge rules will not affect the 10 states that currently prohibit that practice, which include California, New York and Texas.

An additional $525 million will be paid to stores suing individually, according to the documents.

PayPal buys credit card startup to improve mobile app

EBay-owned online financial transactions titan PayPal on Tuesday announced that it has bought a San Francisco startup focused on using smartphone cameras to take credit card payments.

PayPal has worked with Card.io to fold its technology into its own mobile application and decided to buy the company, according to PayPal vice president of global product Hill Ferguson.

French Credit Card Allows Wikileaks Donations

Wikileaks is back in the donation-accepting business and hopes to raise EUR1 million thanks to French credit card system Carte Bleue. The organisation claims to have been financially crippled after a lengthy fight against VISA and Mastercard’s banking blockade.

To circumvent the impasse, Julian Assange’s crew has launched a new payment gateway via French credit card system, Carte Bleue. While is it linked with the VISA and MasterCard systems globally, the financial heavyweights are contractually barred from directly cutting off merchants through the Carte Bleue system. Wikileaks has warned that arrangement may not last long.

A European Commission preliminary investigation into the blockade was started in July 2011. A Commission decision on whether to pursue the financial services companies involved in the blockade is expected before the end of August.