Ask Creditnet: Minimum Payments and 0% Interest Credit Cards
January 25th, 2012
Dear Creditnet: I have a new rewards credit card that offers 0% interest for 12 months. My plan is to transfer all my existing credit card debt to this card so I can save on interest in 2012.
Do I have to make minimum payments at all during the first year, or can I just save up my money and make a one-time payment in full before the 0% interest promotion ends? More »
Posted By: Joshua Heckathorn | Comments (0)Card.io – Scan and Charge Credit Cards on Your Smartphone
January 23rd, 2012
Leaps in technology generally don’t obliterate older methods overnight. As you might imagine, there are often transitional developments which help to act as bridges from one generation of technology to another.
We’re currently seeing this take place in the auto industry as we work to move away from fossil fuels and into something more sustainable. Likewise, we’re seeing a huge transition take place in the credit card industry. Soon, NFC chips will most likely replace our current standard wallets. But until that shift actually occurs, we’ll continue to see technologies like Square and Card.io become transitional players in the industry. More »
Posted By: Nathan Nead | Comments (1)Credit Card Charge-Offs: Can They Be Removed from Credit Reports?
January 20th, 2012
In my last post regarding Charge-offs and Collections, I wrote about how a lot of consumers become confused when they pull their credit reports and find an overdue credit card account reporting twice. The same debt can’t be listed on your credit reports twice, right?
Wrong. In fact, most credit card accounts that have been charged off by the original creditor are not only reported as charge-offs, but they’re also reported as collections after they’re sold or transferred to a third-party collection agency. It’s a double whammy to your credit scores and a very frustrating situation to find yourself in. More »
Posted By: Joshua Heckathorn | Comments (0)How Charge-Offs and Collections for the Same Debt Appear on Credit Reports
January 18th, 2012
You have the dreaded double whammy on your credit reports—a charge-off and collection for the same old debt. But how did this happen?
Frankly, the whole process can be quite confusing to most consumers, which is why I’ve done my best to break it down into the following six simple steps. While your situation might be a little bit different, my experience has been that 90% of the time this is exactly how it all plays out. More »
Posted By: Joshua Heckathorn | Comments (0)Ask Creditnet: Is 0% Credit Utilization Better Than 10%?
January 16th, 2012
Dear Creditnet: I know that my credit utilization ratio makes up a large part of my FICO credit score. I’ve also read that it’s important to keep my ratio under 30%, or preferably at 10% or less.
My question is would it be better to keep my credit utilization ratio at 0% or 10%? If I pay my balance off every week and my credit utilization is reported at 0%, is that hurting my FICO scores? More »
Posted By: Joshua Heckathorn | Comments (0)
