Best Way To Simplify Your Finances With An Online Bank Account
For many people, they look at their bank account and their credit card as separate parts of their financial profile. They don’t have to be. Most banks offer some kind of credit card service. While it might not be heavily advertised, it can be one of the best credit cards for many users.
First, most smaller banks are more likely to have a credit card that offers cash back rewards. For many people, these are better than more complicated loyalty point schemes. Others are frustrated by the constant devaluation of loyalty point programs. The last thing they want is for their money to be loosing value rather than earning interest.
Another reason people should consider a credit card with their bank is the simplicity of access. With one login, customers can look at both their bank balance and their credit card statement. Payments are simplified as the transaction occurs within a single institution. In most cases, the transaction should occur instantly, rather than in several days as it would between two separate institutions.
Customers should look for the following features when considering whether or not to obtain a credit card from their bank. How much flexibility is there in the automatic payment system? For example, some systems try to force users to pay their entire balance, rather than their balance due as of their last statement. Others default to the minimum payment or steer the user to paying the balance shortly after the statement closes rather than at the due date. Ideally, you should be able to tell the system to automatically pay the entire balance, at the time of the statement, on the due date. In this way, you are maximizing the interest on your money while avoiding paying interest on your credit card.
A truly great system would even allow you to be notified you when your credit card balance approaches or exceeds your bank balance or any other given threshold. Since banks have little incentive to prevent themselves from earning lucrative credit card interest, this is hardly one of the most common features out there.
If there is one disadvantage to having your credit card with the same company that you do you banking with, it is that it maybe too easy to ignore better offers out there. People fall into a comfort zone with their bank, and they do not want to switch. If you are passing up much better reward cards, or cards with lower interest rates because you enjoy having your accounts in one place, you are sacrificing money for convenience. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that trade off, you just need to be aware of what you are paying for this convenience.
Being aware of the advantages and disadvantages of obtaining a credit card where you do your banking will allow you to make the best possible decision on where you take your business.
Beware of These Balance Transfer Credit Card Issues
Open your mailbox and you’re bound to see at least one or two applications for new credit cards. And if you look at these applications carefully, you’ll see that most of them come with one special offer: They won’t charge you any interest — for a set period of time — if you transfer over the balance from one of your other credit cards.
Usually, credit card issuers will offer you anywhere from six to eighteen billing cycles of no interest on any balance transfers (citi currently has a 21 month balance transfer offer). And at first glance, it makes financial sense to transfer the balance from a credit card with a high interest rate to one where you won’t have to pay any interest at all on that debt for several months.
But there are times when using even the best balance transfer credit cards can be a bad idea. You can actually run into some serious financial traps if you don’t monitor your balance transfers carefully.
Read the Fine Print: Many credit cards that offer an introductory offer of zero percent interest on balance transfers come with high purchase interest rates. If you fail to pay off your balance transfer before the zero-percent introductory offer expires, the debt you transferred might be tagged with that high interest rate.
If this happens, you can watch that debt start to rise awfully fast again.
The key, then, is to read the fine print carefully before making any balance transfers. Don’t transfer your balances if you aren’t sure that you’ll be able to pay them off before the introductory-rate period ends.
Don’t Give up Your Perks: When you transfer your balance from one card to another, you’ll often close the first credit card account. This is fine if you’re closing out a so-so to below-average card. But what if the card you’re abandoning actually boasts a strong rewards program or offers cash-back bonuses at the end of every month? You might not want to close that card down.
It’s OK to transfer the balance from that perk-filled card. Just don’t make the mistake of automatically shutting that account just because you’ve moved your debts from it.
Don’t Keep Too Many Cards Open: Of course, there is a caveat here. Your three-digit credit score — one of the most important numbers in your life — can suffer if you have too many credit card accounts open. If you’re a serial balance transferer, you might actually forget how many cards you have open, especially if you don’t automatically close your cards after you transfer their balances to another.
If you do insist on transferring your balance from card to card, do keep track of how many accounts you have open. You don’t want to leave behind a trail of open, and unused, credit card accounts. Your credit score will suffer.
It’s Time to Deal with the Debt: If you find yourself constantly transferring your credit card debt to new cards, it might be time to take a long look at your spending habits. Moving your debt from one card to another is not a solution to dealing with large credit card balances. It’s just a stopgap measure. There might come a time when the zero-percent offers stop coming in. Then you’ll be stuck with a huge amount of credit card debt at high interest rates.
Instead of continually moving your credit card debt around, take the steps necessary to stop your overspending ways. Take a close look at your finances and try to determine why you continue to spend more than you can afford. If you’re honest with yourself, and if you stop relying on balance transfers, you might be able to change your negative spending habits and eliminate that credit card debt.
Get out of business debt by taking help of debt settlement program
If you’re in debt, it feels as if you’ll never be able to get out of it. If your business incurs debt, there are a lot of ways you can overcome the situation and go for debt settlement. Settling your business debt is the best way to get out of debt mess. Debt settlement is anytime better than filling bankruptcy and you can also improve your credit score if your creditors show your debt as paid in full instead on settled. Take a look at how you can settle your business debt and lead a debt free life.
Professional debt settlement to get out of debt
If you’ve incurred debt in your business, it is advisable that you get help as fast as possible. If you are late in settling your debt, your debt will keep piling up and you’ll not be able to pay off your debt fast. Check out the ways you can settle your business debt :
1. Getting enrolled in a settlement program : If you have a large amount to settle, you must take help of a professional debt settlement option. These people will help you settle your debt and also pay off your debt fast. The representative of the company will ask you to open up an account with their company. You have to make the debt payment to the company and the amount will get deposited in that account. When the amount increases in the account, then the representative will distribute the amount amongst the creditors.
2. The creditors are notified : When you enroll yourself in a debt settlement company, the representative of the company notifies your creditors about it. The creditors may stop harassing you about the payment when they come to know about your debt settlement program. Getting enrolled in a settlement company has many advantages. You stop paying your creditors and deposit the amount in the company’s account. Other cash-flow such as bad leases, pending litigation, etc. is also stopped. The creditors may also stop calling you seeing that you are making the attempt to pay off debt.
3. Negotiations with creditors : The representative of the company negotiates with your creditors to reduce the outstanding balance which is the principal and the interest rate. The representative may also negotiate with your creditors to reduce the rate of interest which all the more reduces your outstanding balance. Usually the debt settlement programs reduce the outstanding balance by 40-60%. According to the new debt reforms, the upfront fee that’s charged at the beginning of the program is cancelled and the settlement companies charge their after they are able to settle your fees.
4. Disbursing the debt amount : When the settlement is reached and the representative is successful in reducing your outstanding balance, the representative distributes the settled amount amongst the creditors. You deposit the amount you’re able to pay in the account that is set up by the company, every month. When the amount reaches a certain level, the representative disburses the amount. This way you get out of debt in a matter or 4 to 6 years.
When you’re searching for the best settlement company, check well with the Better Business Bureau. Check for the accreditations and ranking. You must also see if the company is non-profit. There are certain certificates given to the companies that are non-profit. Just be sure about the company’s activities so that you don’t fall into any scams. If the company is government undertaking, you must enroll in that company.
The Merits of Online Banking
This is a guest post by Jason D. Steele, who has been recommending the best credit cards for www.askmrcreditcard.com since 2008. He also hosts his personal blog, Steele Street where he writes about Travel, Aviation, and Consumer Issues. Today, he is going to tell us why he likes online banking versus a traditional brick and mortar bank.
Online banking was once a novelty. I signed up for an internet only bank back in the mid nineties. I stuck with them up until they were bought by a large brick and mortar bank about 10 years ago. The result of their acquisition was that they added all the same rules and fees that the big bank had. It was at that time that I concluded that the best choice for my banking needs was an Internet only bank. At that time, my research showed they were the only ones that had low to no fees. Despite the fact that I lived nowhere near the bank’s namesake, I chose First Internet Bank of Indiana.
How Are The Hoosiers?
The fact that I have been with them for 10 years ought to tell you that I am satisfied with their services. Here are the basics. I get free checking when I maintain a $500 a month balance average daily balance. If my average balance dips below $500, I get hit with a $10 fee, but that has never happened. I get unlimited free electronic bill pay. They will also send me unlimited free, postage paid, deposit envelopes. Finally, they will reimburse me for up to $6.00 in ATM fees, so you can just laugh at the surcharge notice at most ATMs. With only minimal effort, it is also easy to find ATMs at local credit unions that don’t have a surcharge.
Readers of my blog at AskMrCreditCard know that I only use cash as a last resort anyways, so it is rather unlikely I would accrue a lot of ATM fees anyways.
They are currently offering .75% APY on this interest savings account, so I do earn nominal interest.
Why Am I So Loyal?
I have been known to trade credit card accounts fairly easily as the market for rewards fluctuates. Why have I not changed banks in ten years? There are a few reasons. First, they have good customer service. I can reach an operator in seconds, 24 hours a day. The operator is not reading from a script in some far off land, but is based in Indiana and is actually listening to you and trying to solve your problems. That said, problems have been rare, but I couldn’t deal with any bank for my daily needs unless I had absolute confidence in their ability to respond to a problem. Maybe it is because they are not a huge, mega-bank, but it just seems a lot easier to deal with them than the customer service representatives I encounter at large airlines, utilities, and other banks.
The next best thing is that their website is simple and user friendly. Remember how impossible some of the older cell phones and VCRs were to use and program? That is exactly what you do not want out of web banking portal. Features are great, but usability is the best feature of all.
Furthermore, their banking portal has changed little in the last 10 years. The last thing I need is to worry about learning a new interface every few years when all I want to do is make deposits and pay my bills.
In Conclusion
I can only surmise that smaller is sometimes better when it comes to banking. Clearly, not having a branch on every street corner allows some banks to offer great service with no fees and even fee rebates. While out of state based banks may not be for everyone, banking for free online, by mail, and with ATMs has been a huge time saver for myself and family for a long time.
Tips for Choosing the Best Business Credit Card
The following post is by Joel from CreditCardChaser.com, a personal finance blog helping people find the best credit cards.
When I looked into obtaining a business credit card, I could not believe the choices that were available to me! The fact that there are so many out there makes it a somewhat daunting task to choose just one. There are some things, though, that I found could make the search a little easier.
Who Should Get a Business Credit Card?
-People who are trying to start up a business and need extra funds for necessities
-People who need to have a quick and convenient method of payment
-A business person who needs to add more order and simplicity into their work life
Benefits of Business Credit Cards
The business credit card enables the everyday businessperson to have an immediate list of all their recent purchases. You can even look at your credit card statement and see the dates on which you paid for certain items. To have this type of information at your fingertips is absolutely priceless!
Paying with a business credit card offers a convenient alternative to the personal check. This is especially true if more than one employee has the authorization to purchase materials. It will be much easier for a manager to keep track of exactly how much money is being spent and who is doing the spending.
Finding the Perfect Business Credit Card for Your Needs
You must be careful when trying to choose a business credit card. It is my recommendation that you look carefully at the credit card company that you plan to do business with. Make sure that they have a record of honesty and trustworthiness.
One way to find out if they are reputable is to ask around. Talk to other people that have done business with the company. Have they had any problems in the past? Are they happy with the customer service that they received?
You may also want to look into customer reviews and testimonials. I have found this to be a great way to get an idea of the values of the company you are looking into. Start by viewing the websites of your chosen companies much like you would search around and compare car insurance companies or home loan companies. Make sure to look at the fine print. My jaw has dropped more than once when I receive a credit card statement bombarded by hidden fees!
Once you narrow down your list a little bit it will be beneficial to call the business credit card company and speak to a customer service representative. That way you will be able to ask them all of your questions firsthand.
Points to Ask a Potential Creditor About
1. Interest rates – Look for a company that offers a grace period of 0% interest rates. Just make sure that after the initial time period is up the interest rates will not skyrocket. If you cannot find a card with this type of offer, you can always get one with an introductory offer and then switch to another card with 0% interest after that time is up.
2. Credit limit – Make sure you are getting the highest credit limit possible. You can never be positive as to what things will cost. There will always be unexpected expenses that come up. You want to make sure you have enough money on your card to cover these things.
3. Rewards – Try to look for a card that offers a reward program. You may want a card that offers free air miles, car rentals, or even gas points. Think about what type of travel you will be doing in the line of business. Some business credit cards even offer the option to get cash back! Who couldn’t use that?
4. Annual fees – Get a business credit card without annual fees if possible. It is my own personal experience that these fees are not necessary and can be very costly. You can find a good card without this added expense if you really look around.
Do not let the companies that you interview bully you into making a decision right there on the phone. Write down all the information you get from the many companies you have questioned and consult the Better Business Bureau if necessary. This important choice should not be rushed.
Getting the best business credit card may not be the easiest process but by looking around and doing your research, it is possible. You can save yourself a lot of money and many headaches if you find a card that is tailored to your needs on the first try. Make the transition from a transitional credit card to a business credit card today!
A Guide To Credit Card Grace Periods
The following post is by Kevin from CreditShout, a personal finance blog helping people save money with credit cards.
Keeping up on your credit card payments is important for both your financial stability and your credit health. In a perfect world, you could pay off your balance each month and never accrue interest, much less late fees, on your card. Unfortunately, everyone falls behind sometimes. When those times occur, it’s important to understand the basics of a credit card grace period, and what it can do for you.
What is a Grace Period?
Credit card grace periods are the time periods in which you won’t be charged interest on a balance. In other words, if you use your credit card, you know that the balance will collect interest that you will also be required to pay back along with the original amount. This can add up, making your purchases much more expensive in the long run.
The grace period allows for a set number of days before that interest begins to add up. The grace period begins counting with each of your billing cycles, so it’s important to keep in mind that, for example, a 30-day grace period will not give you 30 days from the date of the charge, but rather 30 days into your billing cycle, before interest begins to accrue. If you pay the original amount back before that time period is passed, then you won’t owe any interest on it. The Discover More Card which is a fairly popular cash back credit card has a 25 day grace period, where as Chase Sapphire has a 21 day grade period on purchases.
Reducing Fees = Saving Money
Obviously, taking advantage of the grace period is a great way to save yourself quite a bit of money over the long run. Even the best of credit cards typically have fairly high interest rates when compared to other types of loans on the market, and carrying a balance – and subsequently owing interest on it – can add up to a lot spent each year on interest alone.
Even better, it can vastly improve your credit score and how you look to lenders if you consistently pay your account off and don’t carry a balance. Best of all, paying each month without letting interest add up virtually ensures that your amount due won’t ever get out of hand.
Read the Fine Print
Details on the grace period, including how long it is and any other rules, such as the amount you have to pay off each time for it to take effect, will vary depending on your credit card agreement. A very short grace period would put a lot of pressure on the consumer to pay quickly and wouldn’t be realistic or useful, but the good news is that, since 2009, a law was passed into effect that states, if a credit card offers a grace period at all, it must be at least 21 days.
Read your disclosure paperwork carefully to ensure that you’re taking advantage of the terms of your particular contract, since the grace period is an excellent tool for those who are looking to save money on credit card bills as well as rebuild their credit standing.
Rebuilding Credit After Foreclosure
The following post is by Kevin from CreditShout, a personal finance site dedicated to helping people save money with credit cards.
Foreclosure is devastating not just because of the loss of your house, but also because of the damage to your credit. AS such, just like you would after a bankruptcy, you need to rebuild your credit after foreclosure. In fact, in many ways, foreclosure is very similar to bankruptcy as both stay on your credit report for up to 10 years and drag your FICO score down during this time period.
How to Rebuild Credit
The only real way to rebuild credit is with time. If you already have a credit card or other types of debts, you are well on your way towards rebuilding credit. The key is simply to pay each and every one of your debts on time every time. Over time, these creditors will report your on time payments, boosting the payment history section of your credit report. The payment history section accounts for 35 percent of your score, so this component is essential to rebuilding credit. If you use a cash back credit card or gas credit card, never ever carry a balance – the amount you end up paying in interest will essentially nullify any rewards that you earn.
Paying down debts can also dramatically raise your credit score, as your debt-to-credit utilization (or the amount of available credit you have actually used) makes up 30 percent of your score. It is likely you probably racked up significant debt in the months leading up to your foreclosure while you tried to make your house payments. Be aggressive about paying this down and get your balances to 30 percent or less of your available credit.
Secured Cards
If you do not have a credit card or other debts, you need to get one. With the foreclosure on your record, a secured credit card may be your only option. This is a card wherein you put down collateral in the form of a cash deposit. Your credit line is usually equal to the amount of cash that you used to guarantee the card.
Secured credit cards charge fees and have a high interest rate, so don’t carry a balance- instead, make sure the card holder reports to the three major credit bureaus and begin making small purchases that you pay off in full each month. Slowly, this will allow you to build up a record of on time payments.
Other Bills
It is also essential to pay any and all other bills on time. Paying your rent is crucial, but also think of utility bills, cell phone bills and other such related items. It may be hard for you to find a landlord who is willing to rent to you with the foreclosure on your record, and you may also have to put down larger deposits with utility companies. As such, building up a cash cushion to pre-pay rent and put down those deposits is important when you know you will be foreclosed on.
How Long Will it Take to Rebuild Your Credit?
Rebuilding credit is a slow process and there is no magic trick to getting things back on track. The more aggressively you pay down your debt and the more reliable you are with making payments on time, the faster your credit will begin to improve.
If you want to buy a new home, you may also wish to consider programs such as FHA or VA backed loans if you are eligible. Under FHA guidelines and rules, as long as your most recent foreclosure or bankruptcy is at least two years old, you may be eligible to qualify for a new mortgage. The interest rates for an FHA loan after foreclosure may be significantly less than going through a private lender. A larger down payment will help here as well, as it can make you a better bet as a borrower if you put down more cash.
Discover Bank CD Rates
Current Discover Bank CD Rates
Updated As of February 16, 2010:
| Rate Chart | As of 02/16/10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Term | Interest Rate | APY** |
| 3 Months | 0.75% | 0.75% |
| 6 Months | 1.00% | 1.00% |
| 9 Months | 1.09% | 1.10% |
| 12 Months | 1.69% | 1.70% |
| 18 Months | 1.78% | 1.80% |
| 24 Months | 2.13% | 2.15% |
| 30 Months | 2.18% | 2.20% |
| 3 Years | 2.47% | 2.50% |
| 4 Years | 2.62% | 2.65% |
| 5 Years | 3.15% | 3.20% |
| 7 Years | 3.34% | 3.40% |
| 10 Years | 3.63% | 3.70% |
Discover Bank is much more well known for the Discover Card credit card, but the Discover Bank CD rates are attractive. Discover Bank offers certificates of deposit accounts with terms from 3 months to 10 years. Its bank CD rates are worthy of reviewing.
This review of the Discover Bank CD rates is aimed at helping you find the best certificate of deposit term length at Discover Bank. It will also explain some of the important things you need to know about the Discover Bank certificates of deposits.
Current Discover Bank CD Rates
As mentioned above, Discover Bank CDs come in terms as short as 3 month CDs to 10 year CDs. The current Discover Bank CD Rates are as follows:
As of: December 30, 2008
| Term | Interest Rate | APY1 |
|---|---|---|
| 3 months | 1.49% | 1.50% |
| 6 months | 1.99% | 2.00% |
| 9 months | 2.28% | 2.30% |
| 1 year | 2.72% | 2.75% |
| 1½ years | 2.72% | 2.75% |
| 2 years | 3.06% | 3.10% |
| 2½ years | 3.11% | 3.15% |
| 3 years | 3.40% | 3.45% |
| 4 years | 3.69% | 3.75% |
| 5 years | 3.93% | 4.00% |
| 7 years | 4.17% | 4.25% |
| 10 years | 4.17% | 4.25% |
Best CD Rates
If you are looking for the best CD rates being offered by Discover Bank, the 4.00% 5 year CD looks to be the most attractive rate. However, if you are looking for a shorter term CD, if I had to choose one of the above, I would choose the Discover Bank 2 year CD with 3.10 % APY CD interest rate.
Are Discover Bank Certificates of Deposits FDIC Insured?
Yes, Discover Bank CDs are FDIC insured up to the FDIC limits. I would never deposit money in any CDs that are not FDIC insured.
Discover Bank CD Minimum Deposit Requirements
Discover Bank CD Accounts require a minimum deposit of $2500 to purchase a certificate of deposit. I typically like banks that require less of a minimum deposit. You can find banks with $500 minimum deposit requirements.
I hope that you found this Discover Bank CD rates review to be helpful. If you have any questions about the Discover certificates of deposits or about Discover Bank generally, please leave them in the comments below.
Ally Bank Rates November 2009
Ally Bank has just released its November 2009 bank rates. We here are Online Banks Blog are always happy with the Ally Bank Rates and the Ally Bank Rates for November 6, 2009 are equally attractive.
Ally Bank CD Rates
3 Month – 1.10%
6 Month – 1.45%
9 Month – 1.50%
12 Month – 1.95%
18 Month – 1.94%
2 Year – 2.20%
3 Year – 2.55%
4 Year – 2.75%
5 Year – 3.10%
All of the Ally Bank CD rates are better than the nationwide average CD rates. If you are looking for a 5 year CD, the 3.10% is a really good CD rate.
Ally Bank No Penalty CD Rates
9 Month – 1.49%
Ally Bank Savings Rates
The Ally Bank savings rate for November 2009 is 1.55%. Ally continues to have one of the highest savings rates in the nation.
Because bank rates change frequently, always check out the current Ally Bank Online website to find its latest bank rates. If you want to visit the Ally Bank site, click that link.
Chase Bank Overdraft Protection
The Chase Bank overdraft protection program is undergoing a huge change. Overdraft protection has been both a curse and a boon for many Chase debit card users. While it is nice to not get turned down for a transaction because of insufficient funds in one account when you have money in another account at the same bank, these overdraft protections have come with a high fee. Now, Chase Bank is changing its Chase overdraft protection to be more consumer friendly.
Chase has announced two major changes to overdraft protection. The biggest change is the overdrafts in the amount of $5 or less will no longer be charged a fee. This is a great change. There is nothing more frustrating than overdraft on one purchase and then have a whole bunch of tiny purchases rack up overdraft fees.
The second change to that Chase Bank is making is that Chase debit card holders will not be automatically be opted in to the Chase overdraft protection. Instead, debit card holders will have to proactively sign up for overdraft protection. This will help to make sure that people will only be allowed to withdrawal more money from their Chase checking account if they want to. Otherwise, their purchase will be declined.
These changes to the Chase Bank overdraft policies are very interesting. There is a lot of scrutiny right now about banking practices. I think that Chase Online Banking is trying to get ahead of the coming regulatory curve. What do you think of these Chase Bank overdraft protection changes?
