Finding Credit Cards Blog

I’ve got all my bills paid off (school and credit cards) and i was looking to cancel all the credit accounts and just open one account with a card that has good benefits for using it. Then i’m going to pay my insurance, phone, car and other expenditures with that card and just pay it off every month so i don’t have to pay interest, but i get benefits. Anyone know of any good cards?

Chase offers a reward card that you can alternate between getting cash back or miles/points. I personally like my Washington Mutual (formerly Providian) because they pay promptly on the anniversary date/month a rebate check. Not just credit into your account. Most only offer 1% (the 5% c’mons) are for only certain transactions AND the merchant has to be coded as that specific vendor, i.e. gasoline station, not a convenience store, etc……so you won’t really see that much difference between the two rebate amounts. Review at bankrate.com credit card section and punch in criteria you want. Yahoo Finance also has a credit card analysis page. (to me CASH is always better than points/credits for future purchases, like GM card because you have to BUY something to take advantage. what if you only want the money? Take the cash!!!)

Hello i would like to know if someone could let me know of any credit cards with a low interest rate on cash advance (withdrawing and such) and purchases for people with or without bad credit?

Thank you very much, any information will help my sister out.
~Scott
Oh and please can people only list places i can apply for in Australia, again thank you.

most of the credit cards for people with bad credit will carry some fees. If you have good credit you will probabaly not have to pay any fees at all. Because of the fees attached to bad credit cards the interest rate is usually pretty low, around 10% for some. Of course with good credit the interest is also pretty low with out the fees. You can view cards and compare them for both good or bad credit at http://creditcardwarehouseonline.com It will show interest rates and year fees if applicable.

My husband and I have around $20,000 in credit cards and I want to get them all on one to only have one payment. Do I get another credit card and put them all on there, get a personal loan, or is there something else out there that can help us? We have good credit, so I don’t want to ruin that. Please help!!

There are several options available to you in a situation like this.

1. Search the internet for credit cards with lower introductory rates for balance transfers up to the amount you need. Just make sure that you check what the interest rate will be after the promotional period.

2. If you’re a homeowner and have $20k of equity you can apply for a home equity loan which has a significantly better interest rate. (This is the best option.

3. Contact your bank and apply for a line of credit to consolidate the cards into the loan.

2&3 are the best of these options as you’ll get a better interest rate and you’ll have a real good chance of being approved because you’ll either use your house as collateral or your bank will see the opportunity to make money on a loan which helps them and at the same time will leave you feeling good about them so that way you won’t want to change banks.

Good luck!

I want to increase the limit 1000 dollars a month but I am trying to find a secured credit card that will allow me to continue to add money. After they give me the secured account I will use the money to get another secured card at another bank. Is that a good idea? I plan on saving $10,000 and making both of the cards that limit.

I think that is an excellent idea if you can do it. Yes most if not all of the secured credit cards you can add additional moneys up to a certain amount. That is up to the credit issuer (credit card company). What I would do also, is open up a secured loan at a bank, and borrow against that and then make payments on this account to show good credit payment history. You should have more than credit cards history, you should also have either a bank loan, car loan or a house loan, in the near future. Good luck you are well on your way to establishing good credit.

I have 5 credit cards with different limits and rates.I’m in the process of paying them all off, however I know you need to have balances on your cards for healthy credit. How many cards should have a balance and how many should be unused?
@Stephen, if i have no balances, then what’s the point of having credit cards to begin with? How else will I build credit history?

Check the terms of the accounts to see if/when they charge inactivity fees. Having zero balances on them all would not be bad for your credit score, but it’s better to show future creditors that you are making monthly payments and handling credit responsibly. Right now you’re making payments to several cards and it shows on your report. Once you pay one account off, the report will still show you are making payments to the others - which is good. Focus on paying off one account, then only use that card if it charges an inactivity fee after so many months - use it for something small you were going to buy anyway, like gasoline, and pay off the entire balance before the due date and only do this every so many months to avoid the inactivity fee.

To pay off debt, take a targeted approach. Prioritize your debts, make the minimum payments on all debts except #1 on your list. Once that debt is paid off, take what you were paying toward it and put it toward #2 on the list. There are a few approaches to prioritizing debts: lowest balance, highest interest rate, highest minimum monthly payment. Lowest balance will mean paying off one account the fastest. Highest interest will generally save you more money in the long run. Highest monthly payment will mean more money freed up for the next debt. Each of these are valid approaches. Below is an excel template that may help you determine the best way to pay off debt; you can run scenarios and see the account pay off dates and total amount paid for each scenario.

The best way to use a credit card is to keep the balance below 30% of the credit limit and pay off the entire balance each month. This builds your credit history and avoids interest charges. Once you are debt-free on all the cards, make a plan that works for you as to which card to use for what.

I need a business card for my company, how can I order one witgout a credit card or paypal. Preferbly, I’d like to order cards and get billed by mail.

most places don’t work like that. but there are also some stores who make business cards. so you might have to go there.

I know many credit cards can add on a 2-3% surcharge for using a credit card overseas but what rate do they charge for the currency conversion?

Do they take the market rate at the exact time of the transaction or do they use the market rate at the close of the business day?

Or do they use a rate determined each morning and posted on the sponsoring bank website - to which it’s better to check their rates before making a purchase.

It is based upon spot market the date of the transaction plus their procesing fee

When our company began we opened up credit cards for employee’s under our CEO’s credit line because the company did not have sufficient credit. Two years later, we are stumped as to how to obtain credit cards for the company using only the company’s credit. American Express tells us that no matter what we have to have a guarantee from an individual person backing our credit. Does anyone out there know how a company can get credit without that personal guarantee? Surely, Microsoft doesn’t use Bill Gates credit to obtain cards for it’s employees. Thanks for any and all help in advance!

Paying off debt you owe is always good.

we have a small business and want to start excepting credit cards as payment but don’t know where to start ?? do I call the bank or visa or master card ??

You need a merchant service account. There are many companies out there that can provide this for you. I would search google for "merchant services" this should give you a lot of choices. Be careful though! The merchant service industry makes there money trying to confuse their clients. There are different rates for swiping a card or punching the numbers in manually. If a customer uses a reward card you are going to pay a higher rate. You MUST shop these rates against at least three companies. Good Luck!

I am working on paying off my credit cards because I am planning to retire in 3 to 5 years. Is it ok to close out these paid up cards all at one time or does it matter?

Your score is based in part on the percentage of your available credit you have used. Closing paid off cards reduces the amount of credit you have available to you and will therefore lower your credit score some. But that may not matter if your other balances are low (and you are still using less than 10% of your remaining available credit) and you won’t be applying for a mortgage anytime soon.