Credit and Debit Cards: Choosing Dilemma

Filed Under (Abbey credit card) by admin on 13-05-2010

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As soon as you decide to get the card you face some questions – what card finally to select? They arise because between both types we have more differences rather than commonness.

In fact on the surface cards are very similar. Cards are made of plastic, have some magnet or chip protection, shining bank logos and share the very size.

And probably that is all about their commonness. The first essential distinction lies in the logic of payments. The core sense of credit payment means, that in order to cover spending, money is “taken” from the future. Thus your credit is extended every time when you make “a purchase”. And all your debt events are listed – so you need to make periodical payments for account prolongation. Paying system of debit type is merely another. Your bank will just transfer money from your account wherever you wish.
The fraud protection is really significant matter. Credit cardholder can receive return with no more than 50$ of any stolen sum – and only if he or she doesn’t forget to report the fact quickly. The best cardholders may be given a possibility to decrease the rate on this sum. Bad cardholders may receive no more than 50$.
As for debit cards – you can also receive 50$ of fraud protection – especially if you report the event during first 2 days. Moreover, you can be responsible for even some hundreds of dollars.

As for payments duration credit cards give you a chance to postpone payments, moving them closer to the end of paying period. But keep in mind that one hand gives while the second takes away – so the bank may suppress you with new higher interest rate. Оn the contrary, debit cards are the control tools of “real” money which is located at your account. This means that making payments has nothing common with extending debt. You just spend it – and without any credit urgency.
Take into consideration one important similarity of all credit cards: due to Fair Credit Billing Act all the credit cardholders – especially the U.S. citizens - have the right to restrain payments in case of poor quality of sold goods. This is called the “buffer zone” – it exists between your account and merchant’s hands. So – you can even get the recourse. As for debit card purchases money leaves your account immediately.
So, which card should be chosen is the matter of serious thinking – and in this article I tried to help you. What you certainly have to conceive is the fact that any card – being managed dowdily – may bring you difficulties with fraud. And this is the pure truth; any kind of cards can one day show their hidden limitations.
In this case I guess that better variant for you is to apply for a debit card in order to easily buy. Else – if you prefer the idea of delayed payment – then you need the credit one. Just listen to yourself.

Debt Reduction – Three Simple Strategies To Reduce Your Credit Card Debt

Filed Under (Abbey credit card) by admin on 22-03-2010

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There are many Americans today literally drowning in debt and one of the reasons for this is the relative ease of credit in the form of readily available credit cards. This problem has become so large that even the USA as a whole is addicted to debt and the US as a nation is a debtor nation to many major countries. Thus bad debt should be reduced in your personal finances so that you can start thinking of more profitable ways to employ your monthly income.

This article will highlight three simple but effective strategies to help you reduce your household debt and hopefully put you in better shape to start using the extra money saved from interest payments to make more money for your household via investment.

Firstly, you can consider using a debit card and stop using your credit card. What is the difference you may ask? A debit card is good only for the amount of money that you have in your bank account and will prevent you from splurging on the big ticket item that you saw in the shop front the other day. It also will help you cultivate the habit of spending the money that you currently have and not exceed your means.

Another variation on this idea is to pay for purchases with cash as this will mentally prevent you from spending on credit and losing your rational ability to manage your finances. We all know that sometimes a credit card generates in us this urge to spend and especially when we are under stress, we end up spending more than we should. Using cash or a debit card would help to counter such influences.

Secondly, make it a habit to pay all your credit card bills on time at the end of the month. We all have the habit of procrastination and so the best policy is to pay all your credit card and other bills in full at the end of the month. Did you know that the credit card companies and the banks make lots of money from consumers who do not pay their credit card bills on time based from the interest payable?

Thirdly, we should take some time monthly to examine our credit card bills and then take a highlighter to consider wasteful expenditure and then take efforts to cut down such expenditure. Some usually suspects include a cell phone plan that could be renegotiated so as to save money monthly. Some membership fees can also be cancelled if you are not going to your gym or country club as frequently as you wanted to.

In conclusion, we all love to make more money, but if your monthly credit card bills and interest payments start eating into the amount of money that you make, you will not be able to enjoy the increased income that you are earning. Spend some time considering the above mentioned three simple things that you can do each month and you might start seeing more cash in your bank account that you can use for other things.

Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author’s information with live links only.)