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Joseph Kenny's Articles in Credit Cards

  • How To Eliminate Credit Card Debt
    Each year more and more people find themselves drowning in a pool of credit card debt. While it is comforting to some degree to be able to take solace in the fact that you’re not alone, most people would also prefer being able to eliminate the credit card debt all together. While it can seem almost impossible to pay down credit card debt once you have attained it, the good news is that there are in fact ways to make it quite possible to pay off your credit card debt and enjoy...
  • How To Support A Charity With Your Credit Card
    For people who are organized and careful, using a credit card can be a good way of managing debt and handling spending. And there are other advantages that can make credit card use even more appealing.

    Many credit cards can now be used to contribute to people's favourite charities. This means they can spend as usual, secure in the knowledge that they are also contributing to a good cause.

    How Charity Credit Cards Work

    The way charity credit cards work is simple. Ever...
  • Which Charity Credit Cards Are Worthy Of Your Support?
    Donating to good causes is a great way to help people who are less fortunate. People have always been able to help good causes by giving up their time or handing over cash. Now the process is even easier.

    Many charities now have branded credit cards that enable consumers to donate to the charity every time they spend. These charity credit cards are backed by major UK banks. The Royal Bank of Scotland, Halifax and the Cooperative Bank all support several charity credit card...
  • 0% Credit Cards: Are They Worth It?
    Credit card jumping has become a common practice. The term refers to the habit of moving debt balances from card to card to take advantage of preferential rates. But just how worthwhile is credit card jumping for consumers?

    UK consumers have staggering levels of debt. Consumer borrowing has grown by more than 50% in five years. It's no wonder that people are looking for new ways to ease the debt burden. Credit card jumping offers one possible solution.

    Money Saving Devi...
  • Single Rate Credit Cards: A Guide
    With so many credit card deals on the market, consumers can have a hard time deciding on the right deal for them. There are many rate options for new credit card customers. These include cards with a 0% interest rate for a fixed period, low balance transfer rates or introductory rates. However, there are also cards which feature a low standard interest rate.

    Who Should Get A Single Rate Credit Card?

    A single rate credit card can be a useful option for those who are look...
  • Choosing A Credit Card That Suits Your Repayment Habits
    When choosing a new credit card it's best to pick a card that suits your spending habits. However, this is not the most crucial factor. Even more important is to choose a credit card that matches your paying habits. This will ensure that you don't end up paying over the odds to repay your credit card debt. Consider these scenarios:

    Big Spender, Big Payer

    You put most of your spending on your credit card each month. Petrol, shopping, clothes, days out, drinks at the pub ...
  • How To Keep Your Credit Card Interest Rate At 0%
    We've all been tempted by 0% credit card interest rate offers. These offers are usually for short periods of three to 12 months and there are usually conditions attached. For example, the preferential rate may apply to balance transfers, but not to cash withdrawals. The low interest rate may not apply to credit card cheques or purchases either.

    People who are carrying a large debt will want to make the most of 0% interest rate offers. Here's how to keep your credit card in...
  • Are You A Credit Card Tart?
    Some people use the word tart as an insult; others as a bit of friendly banter. Either way, it's not the sort of term you associate with financial matters, especially not with credit cards. A credit card tart is someone who moves from credit card to credit card, taking advantage of the best offers. In the process, that person can save hundreds, and perhaps make money as well.

    Being a successful credit card tart takes a bit of knowledge and a lot of organisation. The knowle...
  • Introductory Rate Credit Cards: Some Popular Features
    Using introductory rate credit cards has become a popular way for UK borrowers to manage credit card debt. Introductory rate credit cards offer borrowers a preferential interest rate when they first sign up for a new card. There are three main ways in which this can happen. All of the ways offer significant advantages for credit card borrowers.

    0% Balance Transfers

    The one that is most appealing to consumers is the 0% balance transfer offer. This offers a nil rate of in...
  • How To Choose Your New Credit Card
    Choosing a new credit card is not just a personal choice. It's a lifestyle choice. There are hundreds of credit cards to choose from and savvy shoppers will want to choose credit cards that suit the way they spend and the things they want to do.

    Why Do You Need A Credit Card?

    First of all, consumers need to consider why they need a credit card. For example, some people may be using the credit card to improve their personal cash flow. They could do this by banking your s...
  • How To Find Good Balance Transfer Cards
    If you have a credit card you're likely to have debt, but you could save a small fortune on repayments by transferring the outstanding balance on one credit card to another credit card. Credit card balance transfers are an easy option for managing credit. Some people switch their balances from card to card to take advantage of each new offer. This is known as card jumping or rate surfing.

    Credit card balance transfer offers can also be used to reduce the interest paid on b...
  • Credit Cards Abroad – How To Save On Charges
    One of the huge advantages of credit cards, and one of the many reasons they continue to grow in popularity, is the easy access they offer when travelling abroad. Not only can they be used with ease to book hotels or pay for car rentals, but they can also be used at cash machines around the world for instant and safe access to local currencies. They are also far safer than carrying cash, which can be stolen no matter where in the world you are travelling, and more convenient ...
  • Credit Cards vs. Cold Hard Cash – The Benefits
    The security benefits of using credit cards have long been recognised. Even with the extra attention that is being placed on identity theft and credit card fraud these days, using your credit card is still one of the safest ways to pay for things available.

    All credit card companies will provide you with an emergency number to call if your card is lost or stolen and in the vast majority of cases, any loss that is incurred by your account will be fully refunded by the card ...
  • Credit Card Debt – Prevention Is Better Than Cure
    If you have credit cards, but have not yet let your spending get out of hand, then now is the time to take stock of your position and make some decisions about your financial future. Ask yourself what do you want those credit cards for? Do you just want them so that you have a source of payment in emergencies, to shop occasionally online, or when you travel abroad? Or do you plan on going on a shopping spree and spending the rest of the year struggling to clear the balance? M...
  • Common Credit Card Charges
    In recent years, the UK credit card industry has undergone absolutely massive changes. It is practically unrecognisable from the industry that was present even just a few short years ago. The competition that has flowed in from other countries, especially the United States, as well as from internet lenders and other institutions has meant that there are now more offers and more products than ever before.

    Some of these offers would have been unimaginable in the past. You do...
  • Credit Card Debt – Some Remedies
    If you have credit card debt, then don’t just bury your head in the sand and hope it all takes care of itself. If you do this, the problem will only get worse. While it can be difficult to face your debts, the earlier that you do so, that you accept them and accept that you have to deal with them, the easier it will be for you.

    There are certain basic steps you can take to cure your credit card debt and not all of them have to be painful or drastic.

    The first thing you ...
  • American Express – A Unique Type Of Credit Card
    American Express, or AMEX, is one of the most recognisable names in the financial world. What many customers who have MasterCard or Visa credit cards in their wallet are interested in, is what is the difference between these two companies and American Express. Well the difference is quite simple.

    MasterCard and Visa are both simply payment methods. They allow locations to accept payment using their system. They do not however, issue any credit cards of their own. For this ...
  • Visa vs Mastercard – Which Is The Best?
    The two leading credit card companies in the world today are the competitors Visa and MasterCard. They both operate along very similar lines. While Visa can claim to have almost a billion cards issued, MasterCard has over twenty five thousand banks issuing its cards and it is difficult to find any difference in the number of locations worldwide that accept the cards, which is now estimated at over twenty million.

    In fact, as far as most consumers are concerned, there is no...
  • Guaranteed Credit Cards – Use Them Wisely
    Credit cards are becoming increasingly vital in a wide range of situations. Have you ever tried to rent a car, or shop online without one? It’s not easy. In fact, with the growth of shopping online, more frequent international travel, and people paying for goods and services over the phone, it is almost vital for an increasing number of people to have access to credit cards.

    There are therefore, plenty of valid reasons why anybody would want a credit card these days. Gone ...
  • Cash Back Credit Cards – Reward Yourself
    As the competition in the UK lending market has become ever more intense, lenders and credit card providers have had to go to ever more lengths to attract customers to them. While there is a limit to how low they can go on interest rates, in fact many now go as low as zero per cent for well over six months, card providers can also seek to attract customers with loyalty and reward schemes. These basically reward you for every pound you spend on your credit card.

    Loyalty sch...
  • Credit Card Debt – First Steps To Resolution
    If you have let your credit card debt get out of hand, then do not panic. You are among a fast growing group of people who are falling victim to the UK’s ever increasing credit card debt mountain. As a nation, we are adding to our credit card debt at a truly alarming rate. With the number of people now in credit card debt approaching half of the population, this trend is only growing and growing.

    Luckily, there are a number of steps you can take to start getting your credi...
  • Credit Card Traps?
    For people with a spotty credit card history or bad credit, it can be difficult to get approved for a regular credit card. There are a number of credit card options that are aimed specifically at people who have bad credit and are trying to rebuilt it. There are also, unfortunately, a lot of folks out there who'll take advantage of the desperation to get a credit card. How do you tell which options are good ones and which are just taking advantage of a bad situation?

    Catal...
  • Credit Card Rights - What Rights Do You Have?
    So you've thought about getting a credit card, but all you've heard about from parents, friends, co-workers, and the like is that they are just trouble. Horror stories of over limit charges, finance charges, late fees, mysterious charges, telemarketers, and missing bills dance through your head like sugar plumb fairies in children on Christmas Eve. It’s important to know, going into your first, or even your fifth credit card experience, that as a credit card holder, you have ...
  • What Does A 'Universal Default Penalty' Clause Mean On My Credit Card?
    You apply for a credit card that has an advertised 10% APR. The card is approved and you spend money on it. Some months later you notice that the interest rate cannot possibly be 10% APR but is nearer 30% APR. You immediately claim you have been cheated; but the credit card provider counters that they have invoked the Universal Default Penalty Clause under your agreement with them. Bewildered you wonder what on earth a Universal Default Penalty clause could mean. And the answ...
  • Credit Card Faqs - What If I'm Turned Down?
    So, you’ve filled out the application and are waiting for your brand new, shiny credit card to arrive in the mail. But when the letter finally arrives, you’re not greeted with a new credit card, but a denial letter instead. What to do? Read the fact below and determine your next steps.

    1. What are some of the reasons that I can get turned down for a credit card?

    There are many reasons that people are turned down when they apply for credit cards. Every credit card compan...
  • Credit Card Goodies With Affinity Credit Cards
    Would you like to do something worthwhile with those cash back and reward points that you're earning on your rebate credit cards? Many major non-profit organizations would be delighted to help you do that. By making an affinity credit card your major credit card, you can donate hundreds of dollars to your favorite charity - just by using your credit card the way that you normally would.

    Affinity credit cards have been around since the 1980s, but they've really taken off in...
  • Credit Card Common Mistakes - The Top Ten
    In no particular order, the following are viewed as being the top 10 common credit card mistakes:

    1. Applying for a card and limit you cannot afford to repay

    Most people have bad debt management skills and are swept away with the fact that they have ‘x’ amount of pounds as their limit. They rarely consider paying the card and have “maxed” the card out in a few months. They then spend years trying to repay the card!

    2. Applying for too many cards

    Not content with h...
  • What Are Supplemental Credit Cardholders?
    Have you ever been faced with the worry that your son or daughter is off to college and you want to give them access to emergency cash without having to give them the actual cash – which they’ll likely spend beforehand – but knowing by the time you wire the money to them the emergency may well be over? If so, you may well want to know what supplemental credit cardholders are!

    In short, supplemental credit cardholders are persons who you authorize to use your credit card ac...
  • Adverse Credit Credit Cards
    As their very name suggests, adverse credit credit cards are an option available to those who have a bad credit history and, thus, credit rating.

    Why you may want to apply

    If you do happen to have a bad credit rating, then there is a strong likelihood that you’ll be successful when applying for one of these credit cards where you have been turned down when applying to the mainstream card issuers.

    Moreover, if you do have a bad credit rating, then applying for adverse...
  • Dealing With Credit Card Debt.
    Left unchecked, one of the worst feelings in the world is opening a credit card statement that you know you have no chance of making the minimum repayment, let alone paying off the entire balance. Times such as these are stressful and if ongoing can cause you serious personal and financial problems. As such, dealing with credit card debt is vital. Here are a few useful tips:

    Your Credit Limit

    Number 1 in any understanding of your card is that your credit limit is just t...
  • Using Your Credit Card For Foreign Purchases
    One of the major advertised benefits of applying for and having a credit card is the fact that they are accepted at millions of outlets all round the world. But, are there any major issues you need to be considering when using your credit for foreign purchases? The following are some that you may wish to consider:

    Lost, stolen and fraudulent use

    Certain credit card issuers have varying policies with respect to any lost, stolen or fraudulent use of you credit card for fo...
  • Credit Card Applications - Getting Accepted
    Although they can be painful at times, life today without the ease of a credit card is no longer a reality. So, if you think you want a credit card, here are some essential factors you’ll need to consider when applying for a credit card:

    Your Credit History

    One of the most essential elements to applying for a credit card is what you current credit history is.

    * If you have a bad credit history, then it is going to be much harder applying for a credit card.
    * If you ...
  • Credit Card Fraud Prevention
    Globally credit card fraud costs card issuers billions of dollars a year in fraudulent use of their cards. Some of this loss is passed back to retailers who failed to comply with the normal processing method for the card. Another part of the loss is insured. Nonetheless, as a cardholder you are potentially liable for any fraudulent use of your credit card. It is, therefore, imperative that you make yourself aware of what the current fraud scams are and how you can help to in ...
  • Credit Card Insurance - What Do They All Do?
    Most major credit card issuers now offer their members a variety of different free insurance programs. It is highly recommended that you review the insurance terms of your credit card agreement as in certain circumstances the credit card insurance offered by your card issuer may cover situation beyond those you may originally have thought.

    The major credit card insurance programs offered include:

    Purchase protection

    If you purchase a product on your credit card that ...
  • Closing Credit Card Accounts
    Most experts advise consumers to avoid having too many credit card accounts. When you decide to open a new card because it has better rates, it is important to make sure you properly close your existing credit card. There are a number of reasons why you should close existing accounts when opening a new credit card.

    Closing some of your cards will allow you to have control over them. When you have multiple cards, it is easy for some of them to get lost. If this happens, you...
  • Credit Cards For Bad Credit Applications
    If you have bad credit, you may be under the impression that you are not able to apply for a credit card. While it is true that you may be rejected from getting certain credit cards or loans, there are options available for those who have bad credit. Since a sizeable percentage of the population has bad credit, this has created a market which many banks and credit card companies have tapped into.

    Your credit report is a reflection of your credit history, and it is very imp...
  • Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fees
    In the last few years, many credit card companies have begun charging foreign fees for purchases made with credit cards outside of the United States. Many customers have become frustrated, wondering why the banks and credit card companies would charge such fees. While it is easy to say that these companies just want more money, the situation is much more complex than this.

    Many of the fees associated with credit cards are charged in order to pay for the costs involved with...
  • Credit Card Application Facts
    If you have never applied for a credit card before, there are things you will need to know about them. Credit cards can bring you a convenience which is unrivaled by using cash or checks. Despite this, using your credit card improperly and can lead to a financial hardship which is difficult to overcome. Many credit card companies will now allow you to apply for cards online. This has made it easy for people to compare credit card offers.

    The first thing you want to do is l...
  • Increased Credit Card Payments – Helping You Keep Up
    In the past, credit card payments have always been fair, a small percentage of the total balance owed. A new change has recently been proposed by the government that may change this. The monthly credit card payments that people are making may double within the next year. This will make things much harder for people who are already having a hard time making their existing payments.

    How Much You Will Now Need To Pay

    The credit card companies have made large profits by all...
  • Reduce The Costs Of Your Credit Cards
    Statistics show that the average American family owes over $8,000 in credit card debt. This is a large amount of money, especially when you consider the fact that most Americans make about $33,000 per year. The costs involved with using credit cards can be very large if you're not responsible when using them. In this article I will discuss steps you can take in order to reduce the costs of your credit cards.

    Keep The Credit Card APR Low

    The interest on credit cards tend...
  • Credit Card Faq - Credit Card Security And Authentication
    With the ever rising reports of credit card fraud, fraudulent use, internet phishing and identity theft, people are rightly concerned about credit card security. Fraudulent credit card use can be an annoyance at best, and seriously damage your credit at worst. It's only reasonable that people have questions about credit card security and authentication methods. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about credit card security.

    1. How does the ATM or store ter...
  • Credit Card Basics – Understanding Five Main Credit Card Terms
    Credit cards are easy, right? You have a credit limit. As long as your balance isn't as high as your credit limit, you can pay for things with your credit card. When you pay for something with your credit card, you don't have to pay for it until later. You pay interest on your credit card balance and as long as you don't go over your credit limit, everything's fine.

    Well, not quite. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about credit cards - and their answers...
  • Credit Card Applications FAQ
    Lots of folks have questions about credit cards but may feel shy about asking for fear of being seen as not savvy. Here's a list of frequently asked questions about applying for credit cards to bring you up to speed on what you need to know about the credit card application process.

    Can I apply for a credit card?

    In general, if you're 18 years of age or older (the age limit may be lower in some states) and are a U.S. citizen, you have the legal right to apply for a cred...
  • Credit Card Eligibility
    Have you wondered how credit card eligibility is determined?

    Curious whether you’re eligible for a credit card?

    It all has to do with your credit rating and credit score. Here we go with a quick tutorial on what constitutes credit-worthiness and how you can make sure that you are eligible for a credit card when you want one.

    Credit Reports and Credit Scores

    When you buy something on credit or have a credit card, the credit card company or store makes periodic rep...
  • Reward Or Cash Back Credit Cards – Maximising Your Returns
    If you are one of the lucky customers who pays off their entire credit card balance in full each month, then interest rates will not be of much importance to you. You pay no interest as you never carry any balance over from month to month. What may be of more interest to you is the loyalty or reward schemes that various credit cards offer and therefore you should be deciding on which card to choose based on this information.

    Pay an Annual Fee For Better Rewards?

    Some c...
  • Credit Card Comparisons – Choosing The Best Deal
    With debt at an all time high, many of us will be looking to either transfer our current credit card debt or apply for a new credit card with more benefits or lower interest rate. However, with a plethora of card offers out there, deciding which card, if any, is best for you can seem a little daunting

    What follows are some useful tips and advice that hopefully will help your decision making a little easier and clearer.

    Loyalty/bonus cards

    As people's circumstances va...

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