Managing Credit Cards While Living Overseas
May 28th, 2009
My wife and I moved from Seattle to Thailand for work late last year. Other than preparing myself for lots of spicy food, tropical weather, and a 12-hour time difference with clients on the East Coast, I also wanted to make sure I was prepared to properly handle my credit cards while living overseas.
I have always traveled internationally for work, and ever since my first trip abroad I quickly realized that credit cards were my lifeline. They could mean the difference between staying at the Hyatt, or sharing a hostel room with a talkative German named Franz.
That said, over the last seven months I have learned some valuable lessons – many the hard way- about managing my credit cards internationally. Hopefully some of these experiences will be of value to you wherever you happen to call home. More »
Posted By: Spencer Edwards | Comments (2)Credit Card Bill Heads to Obama’s Desk
May 21st, 2009Consumers rejoice! Congress swiftly passed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act yesterday, and it’s already headed to Obama for his final approval.
In fact, the President is expected to sign the bill into law by early next week, even if it does include a completely unrelated provision that allows individuals to bring concealed weapons into wildlife refuges and national parks. It’s funny how our government works sometimes, isn’t it? Of course, it doesn’t seem like even a controversial gun proposal is enough to stop such a popular piece of legislation from getting signed into law. Chances of anything thwarting the bill’s success at this point are slim to none. More »
Posted By: Joshua Heckathorn | Comments (1)Advanta to Dry Up Business Credit Cards
May 14th, 2009One of our favorite business credit card issuers, Advanta, has decided to cease lending to its business credit card holders. Whereas other credit card lenders are simply ceasing to lend to new customers, Advanta will also shut down all existing accounts for future use. So if you have an Advanta credit card, you’d better start looking for another way to pay for your business expenses. More »
Posted By: Elisabeth Chan | Comments (0)Credit Card Bill Headed to Senate
May 13th, 2009
Legislation that will forever change how credit issuers do business is swiftly moving through Congress with the strong support of President Obama and his administration. In fact, the House has already passed its version of the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights, and now the Senate is gearing up to vote on its own version later this week. We still don’t know exactly what will end up in the Senate’s final version of the bill, but you can bet it will be even more thorough and complex than what the House put together. More »
Posted By: Joshua Heckathorn | Comments (0)Fed Says Fewer Banks Tighten Credit
May 6th, 2009
Is the worst of the credit crunch behind us? According to an April study conducted by the Fed, which surveyed more than 75 domestic and foreign banks regarding their lending practices to businesses and consumers, there are some leading indicators that credit markets are beginning to loosen. More »
Posted By: Joshua Heckathorn | Comments (2)
