Have a Credit Question?

Yes. Paypal and many other online payment companies have the option of automatic payment. Here’s how to do it:

• Log in to your PayPal account.
• Click PayPal Credit
• Click Make a Payment
• Click Automatic Payments
• Set the desired amount to be paid each month
• Select payment method
• Click Continue
• Review payment details and click Agree and Schedule Payments

A charge card is a credit card that has no preset spending limit, though you need to pay your balance in full every month. American Express is the most popular company that offer charge cards. This means that you can spend as much as you want since you don’t have a preset spending limit. However, the balance needs to be paid in full every month, or else you will be charged a very high interest rate.

A secured card is a card which requires that users provide a security deposit so that the person seeking to obtain a secured card can create a trustworthy relationship with the company. This is good for someone who has no credit history yet, or someone that wants to rebuild their damaged credit.

Unsecured credit cards are the most common credit cards and they are utilized by people who already have credit. They are generally not secured by collateral.

APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the interest charged for a balance that is not paid in full before the due date. The interest charge will be show on the next month’s statement.

A secured credit card is the easiest type of card to get approved for, and this is especially good for you if you’re new to credit or have a low credit score. A person that has a good credit score should be able to get approved for other great unsecured cards. An unsecured card usually means that you don’t have to give a deposit when getting approved for the card and you generally get a larger line of credit.

Yes. If the account that you are added to as an authorized user is in good standing, and it’s an old account with on-time payments and no high utilization it will positively impact your credit score. However, if the account has any negatives or high utilization it will negatively impact your score.

By paying your credit card balance in full each month before or on the due date you will avoid paying interest.

Despite an elevated credit score, Chase will usually decline an applicant if credit history doesn’t reveal other cards or credit lines of his/her own. One tip to help overcome this hurdle is an established relationship with Chase, such as a savings and checking account.

AmEx collects the SSN of the authorized user, but doesn’t collect the authorized user’s individual address, nor does this card issuer backdate the authorized user’s history.

AmEx will approve newbies with no more than an authorized user account on their credit report, but only for their lower end cards. Additionally, the authorized user account must have a good history of at least 6 months, and a low utilization rate.

Discover usually allows authorized users who don’t have their own cards qualify for their low end cards.

Capital One is a yes all across the board: the issuer collects the SSN and the address of the authorized user and backdates.

It’s fairly easy to qualify for a low-end Capital One card with a high credit score from an authorized user account, even when the authorized user has no individually owned cards.

It’s difficult to qualify for a Citi Card based solely on an authorized user account. But if the authorized user has at least one individually owned credit card as well, this makes a big difference. It can even help qualify for Citi’s higher end cards. This is the case even if the authorized user’s individual card is fairly new.

Barclaycard collects the authorized user’s SSN, and address. They also backdate authorized user accounts.

Use your credit cards in a predictable manner that’s in line with your income and spending limit. Do not suddenly make any uncharacteristic purchases or changes to your spending pattern. For example, if your credit line limit is $5,000 don’t charge $4,000 immediately upon being approved for a card. Radical charges such as these signal a red flag. Chances are that the credit card company will place a hold on your card and either ask for proof of income or permanently terminate your card. Use cards carefully and gradually build up credit with the company. If you’re planning a very large transaction its best to call your credit card company ahead of time and clear it with them.

Never lend your credit card to others. Unfortunately, people perceive borrowed credit card charges less responsibly than a regular loan. However, lending your credit card essentially means that you’re giving someone a loan. If you aren’t paid back for this ‘loan’, you won’t be able to dispute charges on the credit card that easily. Saying that someone else used your card will not be accepted by the credit card company. The cardholder is the one responsible for the charges.

Each card is different. It is always worth taking the time to call the credit card company and requesting that they waive the annual fee for you. Some credit card companies will waive the fee if a certain amount is transacted within the full year.Some credit card companies offer to utilize the reward points for the annual fee payment. Others will offer to downgrade the card to one that doesn’t have an annual fee. However, there are no guarantees that this will happen. If you want to avoid an annual fee, there are plenty of cards that don’t have one.

Usually, credit cards have a grace period, a time before the bill’s due date, when no interest is charged. After that, the calculation of interest depends on the APR. A card that has a 14.99% APR means that for every $100 debt, you’ll pay $15 annually. This amount is divided per day, and then added to the monthly statement. It’s worth noting that interest may wipe out the value of the reward points.

The best way to accumulate rewards points depends on how often you use your cards. The larger the amounts you spend the more reward points you will earn. But if you don’t have too many expenses that you can pay with credit cards, the best method is to take advantage of credit card company offers for bonus reward points for opening new cards. Sensibly opening new credit card accounts that have good offers can help you earn maximum reward points with minimal spending. However, it is not advisable to open more that 4-5 accounts per year.

A closed card adversely affects your credit. Therefore, a card without an annual fee isn’t worth closing. A card that has an annual fee should be downgraded to a card that has no annual fee. This is not considered a closed card and doesn’t adversely affect your credit. What you should not do is close cards in order to reapply for offers. The age of a card brings up credit score tremendously, so be especially mindful about keeping your oldest cards without annual fees open.

A foreign transaction fee is a separate fee charged for using your credit card abroad. If your card was issued in the US, and it was used in Europe, you will pay around a 3% ($3.00) Foreign Transaction Fee. Many cards nowadays don’t charge a foreign transaction fee, and experts predict that it will be eliminated completely as the world becomes more global.

Yes. Different cards offer different rewards. Most cards offer between 1— 1.5% per dollar spent. Many credit card companies offer double or triple reward points in different categories. Sometimes, you’ll get a notice in the mail about these offers. Other times, a card may offer more rewards in a specific category of your choice. In that case, you’ll have to select your choice of category from a list of categories. Call your credit card company for details.

A cash advance is when you use an ATM to withdraw cash from your credit card account. This is never advisable. Fees are applied,and the interest is assessed immediately, unlike purchases which begin accruing interest only at the next billing cycle if not paid in full. If you have an emergency and need to do a cash advance, you will usually need a PIN number. Sometimes you can go into the bank with a photo ID and you may not need a PIN.

A charge card is a card that must be paid in full at the end of each month. It usually carries a larger credit line, and is often geared towards business purchases. However, you may find some charge cards for personal use. American Express offers personal and business charge card.

A business credit card is designed specifically for commercial use. It is important to clarify two reward points regarding a business card:

• The approval of credit and the liability of such cards is on the person applying for the card — not the entity utilizing the card.
• Some banks (amongst them Chase, Amex, Bank of America) don’t report business cards to your personal credit report as long as payment is timely, and the balance vs. limit ratio is good. When they report the delinquent activity may vary, with some banks reporting the delinquency after 30 days, and others after 60 or 90 days.

There are some banks (amongst them Capital and Discover) which do routinely report your business card’s activities to your personal report.

A business credit card is designed specifically for commercial use. Companies use these cards to pay for large ticket items as well as set expenses. The best business credit cards allow you to accumulate personal frequent flyer miles while spending company money; just check with your company to ensure that they are ok with it.

Businesses pay a processing fee to the credit card company for each transaction. American Express (Amex)is perceived as having the highest fees; therefore, some businesses refuse to accept Amex. Another reason may be that Amex has stringent policies for approving merchants to accept Amex charges, thus not all merchants are qualified to accept Amex cards.

Larger online shopping outlets have strong assurances and encryption (that scramble your credit card numbers) in place that protect you from identity theft. However, with smaller outlets it is better not to divulge your credit card number, especially over the phone. Other than this, there isn’t a lot you can do to protect your credit card information.

Having a good credit and a large credit card limit can benefit pretty much everyone. If you accumulate reward points wisely, you can make thousands of dollars in reward points. However, people who know that they are likely to miss payments and ruin their credit, should stay away from credit cards and opt for a debit card instead.

What to look for before applying for a card depends on the potential usage and the objective of the card. As a rule of thumb, look for the card that offers the best bonus reward points and the least fees.

This depends on how strong your credit is. New credit and credit inquiries affect credit scores. Each time you apply for a credit card, the card issuer pulls a copy of your credit report, and this inquiry ends up on your credit report, temporarily lowering your credit score. A single inquiry every few years will not hurt your score, but it's better to avoid inquiries if you don’t really need them. Opening too many accounts within a short period of time is generally viewed as a sign that the person may desperately need credit, and that's considered a big negative. As a general rule do not apply for more than three cards within a six month time frame.

Credit card companies offer lucrative reward points to its cardholders to entice consumers to use their card for purchases. Credit card companies profit by betting on the consumer to leave open balances and then charging them interest. They also profit by charging a few percent to the merchant when the card is used.

Miles and rewards are almost the same thing. Miles are a type of rewards points specific to airlines. Rewards points include any kind of point account system given by companies as a reward for doing business with them. These can be used towards hotels, rental car companies, department stores, etc. For the consumer, the key is to keep track of what you have with whom and to know which points can be turned into miles.

For the same reason that certain shirts, cars and electronics are worth more than others. Each type of reward point is worth what you can get for it, in terms of supply and demand. Some programs offer better deals than others because they have their own calculations on what is good for their company. You may also notice that the value of reward points may fluctuate, just as value in many other markets fluctuate as well.

You can use them toward payment for airline tickets or other purchases, or you can sell them for cash. You will find nothing in the legal code of the credit card company that prohibits the sale of rewards points or miles. The airlines, however, forbid the sale of miles and if they find out you have sold them they may close your account.