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Archive for September, 2009

30
Sep

Egg announces credit card change

Long-term customers have been encouraged to reapply for cashback. Egg has announced changes to its cashback credit card facilities for customers, to come into effect from November 1st.

A spokeswoman for the provider confirmed to the Guardian newspaper that those customers who previously earned a 0.1% cashback rate on their annual spending will now have the payments discontinued.

Those who wish to continue receiving cashback from the firm have now been encouraged to reapply for the Egg Money credit card, which offers a 1% reward rate.

Maximum yearly payments on this product are capped at £200, minus £12 in fees.

Talking to the newspaper, Egg representative Teresa La Thangue explained that only a very small number of cardholders would be affected by the change.

This is due to the fact that, of the 200,000 cardholders who could have earned the 0.1% rate, only those who built up at least £10 of cashback received the payments in the first place.

Ms La Thangue commented: “Most customers who had this facility didn’t earn enough to get cashback ? It Read more…

If you are a person who has accumulated several types of loans from time to time and struggling to pay different monthly installments for each loan then you need debt consolidation. This will help you repay all your loans by consolidating various loans into one and paying towards a single loan monthly. This can greatly reduce the confusion that occurs with multiple loans. Also, the cumulative rate of interest that you are paying for several loans may be more and you may not be aware of this fact unless you go for consolidating your debts.

How it works?

When you seek loan for debt consolidation, they will first collect all details about your debt, loan amount, rate of interest, loan duration, penalties, and delayed payments and so on. They will analyze your income from all sources and your asset value and determine your repayment ability. Then they will decide on the loan that has to be cleared first. They will suggest you if you can go for debt consolidation.

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A debt consolidation program is one of the best financial solutions to credit card debt problems. However, many people have the wrong mindset. They thought that by enrolling themselves to this program, they will definitely be debt free soon. In reality, there are a lot of people who have failed in this program and they have to suffer from deeper debts. Why is that so? This is because they never bother to change their spending habits! Below are 3 essential tips you need to follow in order to dig yourself out from debt issues.

  • First thing first, once you are in a debt consolidation program, you must avoid using your credit cards. Never look for excuses to swipe the cards. If you are a disciplined person, you should keep the cards at home and stop creating new outstanding for your cards. On the other hand, if you have low self discipline, you are reminded to close your credit card accounts right away.

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I’ve often scoffed at the notion that guys pushing buttons on computers to send large sums of money around the world and back takes talent. The bromide bandied about by Wall Street banks to the effect that that if compensation limits were imposed on them, that their their so-called ‘talent’ would go elsewhere is an insult to a person’s intelligence.

As Nassim Nicholas Taleb testified before Congress in the clip shown below, the Banking Industry has lost every dollar they’ve ever made in history and then some, and their only real talent is paying themselves bonuses. Enjoy the clip:

Just about everyone has a credit card that they use-nearly 80% of Americans has at least one. Over 50% of the population in the US has at least two credit cards, and there are millions of people with many more credit lines open than that. Every demographic, from college students to senior citizens, is reporting wider use of credit cards. Because of these facts, it’s important to understand the impact credit cards have on your credit report and how to use these cards effectively without causing credit problems for yourself.

-Opening a New Credit Card Does Ding Your Credit: A lot of consumers think that if they don’t use their new credit card, it won’t have an impact on their credit score, but the impact to your credit score comes when your new credit card is issued, not when it’s first used. The average credit score is reduced by about 5 points with each new credit card. Don’t b

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It’s tough to find a job these days. In 2000, the Labor Department began keeping statistics on the ratio of unemployed workers to permanent job openings. This July, that ratio hit a record of six to one — representing the 14.5 million official unemployment count to 2.4 million permanent full-time jobs open (in the 2001 recession, the ratio was about two to one). With the open position ratio at three times the previous record, it makes me wonder why the Fed thinks the recession is over.

This is scary for workers. The New York Times interviewed 51-year-old Milwaukee resident, Debbie Kransky who lost her medical billing job in February. Since this was her second job loss in two years and the job she lost in February lasted only a month, her last unemployment check — $340 — is her final one. She has run through her $10,000 life savings.

Kransky — who lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment — is understandably worried.

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When attempting to protect your household’s future ability to keep and maintain good credit, choosing to use a debt consolidation service is a very wise decision. Unlike other types of debt relief programs, you do not have to directly contact or negotiate with the creditors. The balances that are owed are not reduced and there is no modification of contracts.

Instead, all of the past due obligations are bundled together and paid off. This will immediately eliminate any recurring fees that were charged in association with the past due balances. This will also clear your credit report of any future missed or late payments that may have resulted.

Bankruptcy is never a good option to choose. It can stain a credit record for years to come and inhibit the ability to get credit cards, some homes or apartments, and even employment on occasion. Using a consolidation service can help avoid this nightmare.

After all of your past due obligations have been paid off by the debt consolidation service, the total paid is then issued as a loan that you repay on a monthly basis. T

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It’s not often that you get to interview a man like Howard Lindzon. Not only is he a successful hedge fund manager for Knight’s Bridge Capital Partners and a successful player in venture capital, but he is also the creator of the highly popular Twitter-based stock market discussion platform, Stocktwits.com.

Among those in financial circles, Lindzon is best known for his start-up deal making prowess: He is the man behind WallStrip, which was acquired in 2007 by CBS for an undisclosed amount (but estimated to be around $5 million). He is also the author of the book The Wall Strip Edge, an easy read which provides practical investing strategies. This candid Canadian has a track record of success, so we spoke with him about the future of social media, start-ups, and of course the stock market.

DailyFinance: Why are you partial to investing in social networking?

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