Friday 3 July 2015

Top Five Best Credit Cards in Canada


Overall 5 Best Credit Cards


  1. Scotiabank American Express Gold:-  4% cash back at gas and grocery and restaurants, 1% cash back everywhere else, 150 upfront bonus, no annual fee first year.
  2. MBNA World Elite.
  3. BMO World Elite.
  4. Scotiabank Momentum Visa Infinite.
  5. Capital One Aspire World.

Top Fixed Points Rewards Credit Cards

  1. Scotiabank American Express Gold
  2. MBNA World Elite
  3. BMO World Elite
  4. Capital One Aspire World
  5. TD First Class Visa Infinite

Top Cash Back Credit Cards

  1. Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite
  2. MBNA Smart Cash
  3. The Simplycash Preferred Card from American Express
  4. Capital One Aspire Cash 
  5. Chase Amazon.ca Visa

Top NO Annual Fee Credit Cards

  1. MBNA Smart Cash
  2. Blue Sky Credit Card from American Express
  3. The simply cash Card from American Express
  4. Scotia Scene Visa
  5. Chase Amazon.ca Visa

Top Credit Cards for Carrying a Balance

  1. MBNA Platinum Plus
  2. Scotia Value Visa
  3. MBNA smart Cash
  4. No fee Scotia Value Visa
  5. MBNA True Line
  6. TD Emerald Visa


                                      https://www.creditwalk.ca/best-credit-card-canada/

Question for readers: According to you, which one is the best credit card? and why?


Wednesday 1 July 2015

Identity Theft

Identity Theft is a type of stealing somebody's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that individual identity, typically as a technique to obtain access to assets or get credit and other advantages in that individual's name.

 The victim of the identity theft can endure unfavorable consequences in the event that they are considered in charge of culprit services. Identity theft happens when somebody uses another's personally identifying information, like their name, identifying number, credit card number, without their authorization to commit fraud or other crimes.
           https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_theft



Types of Identity Theft:

  • Criminal identity theft
  • Financial identity theft
  • Identity cloning
  • Medical identity theft
  • Child identity theft
The most common type is financial identity theft where someone wants to gain economical advantage in another person's name. This includes getting credits, loans, products and services, claiming to be another person.
Credit Card Fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft committed using a payment card, such as credit card or debit card, as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction.

Card fraud begins either with the theft of the physical card or with the bargain of information connected with the account, including the card account number or other data that would routinely and necessarily be accessible to a merchant during a genuine transaction.

Identity card theft can be divided into two broad categories: application fraud and account takeover.

Application Fraud takes place when a person uses stolen or fake documents to open an account in another person's name. With stolen information, they could open a credit card account or loan account in the victim's name, and then fully draw it.

Account takeover takes place when a person takes over another person's account, first by gathering personal information about the intended victim, and then contacting their card issuer while impersonating genuine card holder, and asking for mail to be redirected to a new address.
                           
                                           https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_fraud     


Monday 29 June 2015

Debt Management

Debt Management is necessary to improve credit score, to make a good credit history  or to make yourself free from Debt.


So, to make debt management a person needs to:

  • Review his/her personal financial statements
  • Analyze your budget, personal balance sheet, and personal cash flow statement
  • Established a self imposed credit limit
  • Look in personal balance sheet to find out any asset that can be used to pay down debts immediately
  • Avoid risky investments and trying to use money to pay credit card bills
  • Look in personal cash flow statement to determine where is the need to cut back on expenses in order to increase net cash flow
  • If an individual finds his/her self with an excessive debt balance that doesn't allow him to make the minimum monthly payment then he/she needs to spend as little as possible, find a way to increase income, get a debt consolidation loan or make debt management plan.



A Debt Management Plan is a formal agreement between a debtor and a creditor that addresses the terms of an outstanding debt. It is also known as personal finance process (consumer proposal) of individuals addressing high consumer debt. It helps in declining outstanding, unsecured debts over time to help the debtor regain control of finances. Creditors have up to 45 days to object and proposal can be made where debt is less than $250,000, not including your home mortgage. Once the consumer proposal terms have been met borrower then his/her name is removed from credit bureau report.

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_management_plan

If an individual is troubling in making debt payments then he/she has only the last option to file for bankruptcy when he/she becomes insolvent.
In bankruptcy a person property is given to a trustee.
A trustee will sell your assets and distribute the money obtained to your creditors.

Question: If an individual is troubling in making payments, then, except bankruptcy what are the other options he/she has to do?

Saturday 27 June 2015

Credit Reports and Scores

Credit Reports: Credit Reports are provided by credit bureaus that documents a person credit payment history and used by a lender to determining a loan applicant financial soundness.

Credit Reports provide the following information regarding individual:

  • Personal Information
  • A Consumer Statement
  • A summary of accounts
  • Individual's Account History
  • Bank information regarding any accounts that were closed for derogatory reasons
  • Public information regarding Bankruptcies, judgments and secure loans
  • The name of creditors who have made account inquiries
  • A list of creditor contacts

Credit Score:

A credit score is a rating that is used to anticipate how like you are to pay back a credit on time.
Credit score starts with the information about individual from his/her credit report.
A scientific equation - called a scoring model - is then used to create individuals credit score.

Creditors rely on credit score to help determine whether or not to extend a loan.
Credit score can affect the interest rate quoted on the loan you request.

Things due to which credit score is normally affected are:

  • Payment history
  • Credit utilization
  • Length of relationship with creditors
  • Types of credit established
  • Recent credit inquiries

Interpreting credit scores:

Credit scores ranges from 300 to 900
Score 600 or Higher is considered a good credit score

Tips to keep a good credit score:

  • Pay all your bills on time.
  • Only apply for the credit that you need.
  • Don't use too much credit that is available to you.
  • Order your credit report every year and dispute any errors you find.

Question: What are the other things a person needs to keep in mind to keep a good credit score?

Thursday 25 June 2015

Choosing a Credit Card

Regardless of whether you are considering a credit card interestingly, or in case you are a current visa user searching for better rates, you will have to make sense of your spending habits and how often you plan to utilize your card when you are looking for another card.

Credit Card Users: 

Kinds of credit card users:
  • Non Revolvers: These are the users who pay their credit card payments in full every month. Some basically utilize the card for business purposes, for example, travel.
  • Revolvers: These users have a tendency to carry a balance. They moved over unpaid purchases from one period to the next and have a tendency pay the minimum payments or a somewhat more. 
  • Combination Users: These users do a little of both. They carry a balance but it's paid off within couple of months.

Questions to ask when choosing a Credit Card:

  1. What's the interest rate? Is it fixed or variable? If variable, how is it calculated? Will different interest rates be charged for purchases, balance transfers and cash advances?
  2. Is there an annual fee? What other fees may be charged?
  3. What's the length of the grace period (if any)?
  4. What method determines the outstanding balance used to calculate the  finance charge?

While choosing credit cards, it is necessary to compare the credit cards of different companies with regards to:

  • Acceptance by merchants
  • Annual fee
  • Interest rate
  • Watch for Teaser rates
  • Maximum limit, and so on.
Question: What are the other things people needs to consider while choosing a credit card?
          

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Different Types of Credit Card

Types of Credit Cards:


  • Standard Credit Cards: Standard Master cards are the general purpose cards that have revolving credit lines. They are advertised to individuals over the age of 18 who meet or surpass the financial institution conditions regarding credit criteria. No deposits are required and the credit limit is set by the visa guarantor.

  • Reward Cards: Numerous credit cards have reward programs that can impact our spending. The advantages may come out in the form of cash, points or discounts. Points that are accumulated, can be used for free hotel stays, watching movies, air travel and so on. Reward Cards are good for individuals who pay their balances off consistently.

  • Secured Credit Cards: Secured credit cards are known as pay-as-you-go cards. After opening the account the card holder deposits a couple of hundreds to several thousand dollars, that decides the card holder credit line. These cards have an annual fee and higher annual interest rates. Mostly, people uses these cards to make small purchases that they can easily repay.

  • Specialty Credit Cards: These credit cards are offered through affiliations, partnerships, major brand retailers or service suppliers. Many specialty credit cards share a partnership between associations that support a social cause. A little partition of the buy goes towards the expected organization.