Search results for credit
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Posted
Oct 22 2008, 05:13 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What's in our wallet? We can assure you it's not the American Express Black Card. We hadn't even heard of this ultra-exclusive card -- known officially as the Centurion -- until we stumbled upon a personal Web site dedicated to unveiling its secrets. Some guy not in the employ of Amex spends his time singing the praises of a piece of metal (it's not plastic)? We just had to read on, if only to see how the other half lives.
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Posted
Dec 03 2008, 05:03 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Brainy Smurf" was pretty well gloating when MoneyMateKate announced that Citibank is upping her credit card interest rate. "I kinda selfishly thought to myself, 'Wow, sucks to be her,'" he wrote at Pants in a Can. Then he got his own letter from Citi. As of today, his APR is jumping from 9.96% to at least 16.99% (and 29.99% if a payment is late). What's up? He pays in full every month and he's never late. And didn't Citigroup just get a huge government bailout?
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Posted
Feb 06 2008, 11:06 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A nasty upper respiratory virus recently laid me low. During this time I discovered, to my chagrin, how easy it is to overspend with a debit card when you're not feeling good.
I'm about to blame illness for yet another personal-finance gaffe: the Big Bill-Pay Snafu.
It turned out to be correctable, but it was a boneheaded error. Here's hoping you will learn from my mistake.
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Posted
Aug 12 2009, 11:49 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A Wall Street Journal story discloses what may be a surprising fact: Credit card companies can cancel your card without giving you advance notice.
The story relates how a lawyer tried to use her American Express card to pay for a spa treatment and was surprised to learn that her card was no good. The same thing happened to a man who wanted to pay for a sushi meal with his HSBC Cash or Fly Platinum MasterCard. (Both said they have very good credit.)
Many people have encountered similar denials as credit card companies -- facing rising delinquencies and new federal regulations -- "reassess risk" and cancel accounts, the story said.
Bing: Best credit cards
We have to wonder: Has this happened to you? Is it embarrassing, or do you calmly reach in your purse or wallet for a backup? Shouldn't the card companies be required to give you warning?
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Posted
Dec 31 2007, 05:32 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Just before Christmas, an Associated Press article reported that Americans are losing the battle with credit-card debt. We're falling behind on payments, and defaults and delinquencies are increasing rapidly.
The subprime mortgage mess is partly to blame, economists say. But they also cite "America's long-standing attitude that debt -- even high-interest credit card debt -- is not a big deal."
Howard Dvorkin, the founder of a Florida credit counseling service, put it this way: "The desire of consumers to want, want, want, spend, spend, spend -- it's the fabric of our nation."
Dvorkin's words irritated the heck out of me. Unfortunately, they happen to be true.
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Posted
Jan 14 2009, 03:50 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Have a credit card you haven't used in the last year or so? It might be canceled.
Numerous credit card companies are cutting costs by closing accounts due to inactivity, and they're doing it without warning.
Can this ding your credit score? The simple answer is: Yep.
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Posted
Sep 21 2009, 04:33 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Ann Minch, the California woman who took her fight over a credit card rate increase to YouTube, apparently has extracted the concession she sought from Bank of America.
In a new video posted Saturday, she said Bank of America had agreed to return the interest rate on her $5,943.34 balance, which had been hiked to 30%, to 12.99%. The bank's first offer was 16.99%, which she said she rejected.
She said she was contacted by Jeff Crawford, senior vice president of existing credit card accounts, who was polite. He didn't mention either her video or her "taxpayers' revolt" -- which she says is not over.
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Posted
Aug 27 2009, 05:01 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
You know what people always say when they complain that the credit card company slashed their credit limit: I've never missed a payment or been late.
Quite likely, a new study shows, they aren't lying.
The study by FICO, originators of the FICO credit score, found that of the 33 million people whose credit limits were reduced between October and April, 24 million had no new marks against them in their credit reports that would prompt a card issuer to tighten the reins.
Also, reports Pamela Yip of The Dallas Morning News, "Those cardholders generally had low balances, didn't use up a lot of their available credit, had very few -- if any -- reports of missed payments, and had a long credit history."
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Posted
Oct 13 2008, 08:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you want to buy a General Motors vehicle with GMAC financing, you'd better have your financial ducks in a row. GMAC Financial Services announced today that it's temporarily limiting contracts to people with at least a 700 credit score.
"The credit markets are tightening up everywhere and this is just a reflection of that,'' GM spokesman John McDonald told Bloomberg.com. "Dealers have a number of options for customers, including GMAC and non-captive financing, to be able to finance vehicles.''
Whether this will have a widespread impact on GM car sales is debatable. It appears that when the economy is unpredictable, smart people aren't looking for new debt.
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Posted
Apr 14 2008, 04:35 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Do you automatically think that "budget" is the name of a rental-car company? Chances are you have a problem with spending. A post by Ron at The Wisdom Journal identifies 24 signs to look for to determine if you're a mega-consumer. He said he was inspired to write the post after his kids noticed that someone they know has four yard sales a year and asked, "How much stuff do they have?" Another sign: "You cannot fit anything else in your garage -- and you don't even have your car in there."
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