The following credit cards may be able to help build, rebuild or re-establish your credit if you make on-time payments with all of your creditors and maintain your account balances below the credit limits.
Site FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
How will you know if someone has stolen your identity?
should you throw them all away immediately? Not necessarily. Should you gleefully accept all those great offers and the individual perks and free gifts that come along with the cards? No. Instead, you should carefully consider each card and what it offers you long term. This way the card (or cards) you do sign on with will work for you, rather than become a burden to you financially.
Do I have a right to know whats in my report?
Yes, if you ask for it. The CRA must tell you everything in your report, including medical information, and in most cases, the sources of the information. The CRA also must give you a list of everyone who has requested your report within the past year?two years for employment related requests.
I'm trying to find a credit card where I can co-sign for a friend. She has a permanent job, but no credit history.
Any credit card that allows for a cosigner is a card your friend can consider applying for. When an application asks for a cosigner, it does not limit whether or not that cosigner is a friend. Both you and your friend need to remember that if you do cosign an account for her, both of you will then be responsible for keeping the account current. This means that if she stops paying, you will be expected to pay. However, if the account goes into default or accrues penalties for any reason, it will be recorded on both of your credit histories. Cosigning for your friend should be taken seriously and carefully thought through. You must be sure that you can afford to pay on the account if your friend does not. Since you will not have any control over how much she spends, you need to be prepared for the largest sum possible. In addition, any late fees or other penalties your friend accrues on the account will have to be paid by you once the creditor asks you to pay on the account. The cosigner rarely gets any kind of monthly statements, so you may not know there is a negative situation with the account until a creditor contacts you. You can sometimes get the lender to agree, in writing, to notify you if your friend begins to miss payments. This can notify you early if there is a problem. In each state, cosigners do have rights, so find out what your rights are as a cosigner before signing on the dotted line. You may be able to negotiate the terms of your liability on an account with the lender before cosigning. Explore this option ahead of time. Lastly, keep copies of all paperwork you sign in case these papers are needed in the future.
Avoid a Late Fee Punishment
Remember the times in your childhood when asking your parents for forgiveness calmed their anger and compelled them not to punish you. If it worked, it just might work once again, only this time with your credit card issuer. Being late on a credit card payment is now a ?punishable offence,? that will cost you at least $15. However, if you?ve been ?good? on your previous payments, you will most likely get a break from your credit card company. Usually, if you call and ask for ?forgiveness,? your card issuer will oblige. If your only excuse for being late on your payments is that you?ve never been late before, this will probably work as well, as most banks usually forgive first-time offenders.?
What is Consumers Liability for Unauthorized charges?
"If you have a problem with merchandise or services that you charged to a credit card, and you have made a good faith effort to work out the problem with the seller, you have the right to withhold from the card issuer payment for the merchandise or services. You can withhold payment up to the amount of credit outstanding for the purchase, plus any finance or related charges. If the card you used is a bank card, a travel and entertainment card, or another card not issued by the seller of the defective merchandise, you can withhold payment only if the purchase exceeded $50 and occurred in your home state or within 100 miles of your billing address. If these conditions do not apply to you, you may want to consider filing an action in small claims court -- an informal legal proceeding that can be used to settle disputes. While the maximum amounts that can be claimed or awarded differ from state to state, most small claims courts hear cases involving amounts ranging from $25 to $2,000. Some states have recently raised their limits to $5,000. Check Check your local telephone book under your municipal, county, or state government headings for small claims court listings. " * Shop around for credit card terms that are best for you. * Make sure you understand the terms of a credit card plan before you accept the card. Review the disclosures of terms and fees that must appear on credit-card offers you receive in the mail. * Pay bills promptly to keep finance charges as low as possible. * Keep copies of sales slips and promptly compare charges when your bills arrive. * Protect your credit cards and account numbers to prevent unauthorized use. Draw a line through blank spaces above the total when you sign receipts. Rip up or retain carbons. * Keep a list of your credit card numbers and the telephone numbers of each card issuer in a safe place in case your cards are lost or stolen.
Valuable Rewards
Discover Student Card offers cash back bonuses that give you a certain percentage of all you charge back to you. Both these offers, like many others out there, benefit you much more than the credit card that gives you a free hat or keychain just for filling out an application. (Well, you cannot really compare apples and oranges. Keychains and free hats are given out by every card issuers advertising right outside of schools. These are not Rewards; these are free incentives just for filling an application. That same Chase Student card will also give out useless rewards, but it also gives Valuable Rewards like OnePass Miles).
Why Does APR fluctuate?
some credit card plans allow the card issuer to change the annual percentage rate on your account when interest rates or other economic Indicators (called indexes) change. Because the rate change is linked to the performance of the index, which may rise or fall, these plans are commonly called "variable rate" plans. Rate changes raise or lower the amount of the finance charge you pay on your account. If the credit card you are considering has a variable rate feature, the card issuer must tell you that the rate may vary and how the rate is determined, including which index is used and what additional amount (the "margin") is added to the index to determine your new rate. You also must be told how much and how often your rate may change.
What is the difference between an additional card and co-signer card?
An additional card is a card you get on your personal credit account with another person?s name on it. This means that the person now has access to your credit account as if it is their own account and can charge as much as they want without your permission beforehand. In addition, this person is not held accountable by your creditor for making any payment on the account. This responsibility falls on you, the account holder. As a result, no matter how much this person charges on your card, you have to pay for it?even if the person promises to pay you back and doesn?t. A cosigner card is a credit card someone applies for and gets a cosigner to sign on. Essentially, it is the applicant?s credit account, but if they stop making payments, the cosigner is then responsible for the account. The history of the account goes on both person?s credit reports. The cosigner will have to make special arrangements with the creditor before cosigning to get monthly statements on the account or reports of late payments. Otherwise, the cosigner will not have access to the account information. If you do cosign on an account, remember that you assume equal liability.
My Credit Score is 602 which I guess is not very good. Is their a card that I might get with a lower interest rate?
The higher your credit score, the better credit card offers you will be eligible for and receive. This includes the credit cards with the lowest interest rates. In other words, the interest rate you receive is directly related to your credit score. The credit score scale ranges from 300 to 850. Most people have scores between 600 and 800. A score of 720 or higher gets you the most favorable interest rates. According to Myfico.com, someone with a credit score of 720 to 850 will have an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on their mortgage of 5.649 percent, while someone with a credit score of 675 to 699 will have an APR of 6.311 percent. This small difference can cost you much more than you think. Fortunately, there are many ways to raise your credit score. First, check your credit report at least once a year and correct any incorrect information you find on your credit report as quickly as possible. Second, have as few open credit card accounts as possible. For accounts you do have open, keep the balances as low as possible. And of course, make all of your payments on time. By following these guidelines, your credit score should rise each month and make you eligible for lower interest rate credit cards.
Shopping Around for the Right Card
When shopping for a credit card, you probably will want to look at other factors besides costs- such as whether the credit limit is high enough to meet your needs, how widely the card is accepted, and what services and features are available under the plan. You may be interested, for example, in "affinity cards" -- all-purpose credit cards that are sponsored by professional organizations, college alumni associations, and some members of the travel industry. Frequently, an affinity card issuer donates a portion of the annual fees or transaction charges to the sponsoring organization, or allows you to qualify for free travel or other bonuses.
