Author: dontspendmore

Almost every website that focuses on credit cards review has emphasized how crucial it is to compare the features of different credit cards before you settle for just one of the rest.

But for a person who is not much credit card savvy, doing a credit cards review can seem to be a huge task that is not only undecipherable but also a difficult nut to crack. So, for the benefit of such credit card users, today’s post is directed at tips to help you get your credit cards reviews right.

Select a wish list of criteria

The first step to getting your credit cards reviews right is selecting one or a few criteria, based on which you will be comparing the credit cards that are available. According to their personal requirements, each credit card user has a specific set of criteria that he/she is interested in. Some of the usual criteria used for credit cards reviews by users are the interest rates, APR rates, bonuses, and the like. The interest rates are probably used more frequently by all categories of users, be it students, business people, or the general public.

You can use other criteria like the best card for getting travel miles, gas cash reward cards, cards that offer the minimum maintenance charges, cards that give the biggest amount on cash back rewards etc.

What criteria credit cards review sites use?

The general public or the credit card consumers are interested in getting credit cards review done by professional people, so that they can trust the verdict that is given. There are a lot of websites online that do reviews of credit cards.

But not all of them are run by professional financial experts. If you are looking for credible reviews, then you should use the websites that are managed and overseen by financial experts or credit card review experts.

At DontSpendMore.com, we have compiled a huge selection of credit cards, in case you want to use it as a comparison point.

These websites usually categorize the credit cards reviews according to user preferences. They categorize the reviews under many different sections like:

1) Credit cards meant for specific groups of people: Student credit cards, business credit cards, etc.

2) Credit cards meant for specific categories of credit scores: Good credit, bad credit, no credit, etc.

3) Credit cards that offer rewards and bonuses

4) Credit cards that offer low interest rates

5) Credit cards with low balance transfer rates

6) Credit cards with instant approval

7) Secured credit cards

8) Credit cards without foreign transaction fee

9) Credit cards that are best for going green. These include credit cards that are completely bio-degradable after exposure to landfill conditions.

Remember, whatever are your criteria for comparing credit cards, you always have professional credit cards reviews to help you do that in the most professional manner. Just ensure that you combine your own research with the review results to be doubly sure of getting the best card for your needs.

The process of choosing a credit card can often be very cumbersome and confusing. With so many options available and so much financial jargon and legalese thrown your way, even the most financially-savvy individual could easily become overwhelmed. This is where reviews of credit cards come in handy.

Choosing credit cards based on reviews of credit cards

If you choose your credit card based on reviews of credit cards, then you would be doing yourself a favor.

Quite a few number of people who choose a credit card are unknowingly using reviews of credit cards. They tend to ask around and consult the opinion of their family members, their colleagues or friends, or look it up on the Web.

How to best use credit card reviews?

There are many websites online that focus on reviews of credit cards and write exclusively on this topic. At DontSpendMore.com, we have compiled a list of several credit cards that you may want to consider while evaluating your options.

Using these online reviews of credit cards facilitates the research process and enables you to get a better overall picture.

Do your own research after reading reviews

You have to do your own research after you read the reviews of credit cards so that you get the best credit cards suited to your needs. Once you have the top 10 credit cards that are recommended by all the review websites, check each of them to match your needs. For example, if you are looking for a credit card with lowest APR or highest rewards, find such a credit card from the top ten cards that were recommended by the review sites.

It is important to check reviews of credit cards before you select one of them. Doing this can help you get the best credit cards and the best offers and you won’t have to repent your choice later on.

Plastic cards or credit cards were designed for convenience. If it was not for the extreme convenience and expediency offered by credit cards for shopping, cash withdrawal and cash advances, no one would bother to pay exorbitant interest rates for getting these cards issued.

The fact that people are ready to pay interest rates that are often sky-rocketing, just in order to possess and use a credit card is in itself a proof of the fact that people cannot even imagine their lives without a credit card.

Too convenient for comfort?

But sometimes when things get too convenient, it could turn in to a situation which is described best as ‘too convenient for comfort’. When you can conveniently shop around the entire month even without having a single penny in your bank account and then pay for all those transactions when you get a bill on a particular date of each month, it becomes too easy to overlook errors on the billing statements.

Are you taking the convenience for granted and failing to check if everything is alright with your bill? Errors in monthly bill statements are not uncommon and the faster you catch these errors the better for you. All credit card companies and banks have a fixed date or fixed number of days from the date of issue of bill to notify of errors in the statements and get them fixed.

What is a credit cards list of transactions and why do you need one?

In US, statistics reveal that an average person could carry up to four (or even five) credit cards. So this also denotes that most of the credit card owners are very credit savvy due to their extensive usage of credit cards. To help track expenditures and facilitate budgeting many consumers prefer to maintain a list of credit card transactions, either in the form of a log book or an electronic record of all transactions.

This credit cards list of transactions is a huge help when you have to verify your monthly bills each month to find any errors that may have cropped up. As you already know, the transactions happen throughout the month and it is not possible for anyone to keep a perfect mental record of all the transaction dates and amounts.

In case you have to quickly check your statement for any errors before the expiration of the time window, you have to have an easy reference to use and a credit cards list of transactions can be of immense help to you here.

I love the financial freedom that credit cards offer me. But do you know one thing that I do not like about credit cards? It is the statement of bills that the credit card company keeps sending me each month, without fail. It is not that I do not like to pay my bills or do not intend to pay back the dues that I owe the credit card company. It is just that I have a habit of meticulously going through the bill details to do a monthly statement review of credit cards I own.

This is not a waste of time, as many of you may be already thinking by now. Believe me, it is better to keep a check on your bill details and in fact I highly recommend every credit card user to do a monthly statement review of credit cards, without fail.

What is the need for monthly statement review of credit cards?

Usually the bill details are all fine and there are no problems at all. But that does not mean that your bill is going to be totally error-free every single time. There are high chances of finding charges on your credit card statement that have not been made by you or some interest was deducted which you are not accounted for etc.

What are the points to look for in monthly statement review of credit cards

Go through all the charges and confirm if they really belong to you or not

Always go through the credit card charges and check the dates of the purchases and all other transaction details mentioned in there. Many credit card users also maintain a list of all purchases and transactions that they conduct on their credit cards. If you too have some such list, compare the list details with the bill details to make sure everything is okay and matching perfectly.

Verify all payments

The next most important thing that you need to verify after the bill details is the outstanding balance mentioned on your statement. Check if the payments that you have completed have been taken in to account or not. Check the value of the outstanding dues and also look for mention of payment date and amount.

Check for any extra fees

Next thing to look for in your monthly statement review of credit cards is extra fees or charges. Sometimes extra fees like late payment fees, foreign transaction fees or some such charges may be seen on credit card bills. Make sure that these fees actually apply to you and also check the amount you are being charged as fees.

Doing a monthly statement review of credit cards should not be avoided or ignored. Some people think of such things as a huge waste of time and effort and even make excuses that they have many other important things to do. Remember that if your statement has an error in it and you fail to notice it and notify the credit card company before a certain time limit, the errors will not be rectified and you may have to pay for such an oversight.

Everyone who uses a credit card agrees and swears by the convenience they provide. These plastic cards have made life so much easier. You do not have to worry about carrying cash and forgetting to carry enough cash. No worries about your cash getting stolen as well. But have you ever wondered about how it must feel to be on the other side of this convenience? I am speaking about the merchants who accept your credit cards when you pay for your purchases done from their shops.

Does it cost to accept credit cards?

We, as consumers of credit cards have no charges applied for each individual use of the credit card when we shop. We have to pay an annual fee towards maintenance but not for every transaction that is performed against the credit card. But merchants are supposed to pay a fee each time that they use your credit card to pay for the purchases.

This cost is called as the credit card discount rate and is denoted as a percentage. This includes a certain fixed percentage for each dollar that is processed during transactions and also an additional fixed transaction fee.

Varying credit card discount rate for different transactions

The credit card discount rate can vary widely with different kinds of transactions done to process the payment from the credit card.

For example there are different ways in which a payment could be processed by using a credit card:

1) Swiping it through the terminal or credit card reader;

2) Manual keying in of credit card number with billing address and lastly;

3) Manual keying of credit card number without billing address. Here authorization key is provided manually by forced authorization.

Who receives the credit card discount fees?

The credit card discount fees that are charged to the merchant are divided amongst the processor of the transaction, the bank to which the transaction is processed, the merchant service provider and the card associations involved in the process. The actual or effective credit card discount rate that is charged to the merchant varies with each transaction according to type of transaction and also according to downgrades, assessments and per item charges.

Credit card discount rate is applied to the merchants for providing consumers with a convenience of conducting cashless purchases.

Credit cards are an indispensable financial tool for most of us. Many of us cannot even imagine how the world managed to get its shopping and other financial needs accomplished before there were credit cards.

Credit cards are no doubt a matter of great convenience, but it is the interest rates on credit cards that inconvenience us. There are different brands and types of credit cards that vary widely from 0% interest rates to extremely high rates.

How are interest rates on credit cards computed?

The usual system of charging interest on credit cards is pretty simple. The bank or the credit card company assigns a particular grace period to every credit card consumer. This grace period denotes the period of time that is available to the credit card user to pay the credit card bills for that month in total.

If the user fails to pay any or all of the credit card bill amount within the grace period, the company then applies interest rates on credit cards according to the terms and conditions that were mentioned in the credit application.

An interesting point to note about the interest rates on credit cards is that it could be either fixed or variable.

Fixed interest rates on credit cards

Fixed interest rates on credit cards remain the same and do not fluctuate often once the credit card has been issued. This type of interest rates on credit cards is most convenient for credit card users because there is no element of surprise involved. They know very well what to expect and how much interest rates the balance that they carry on their cards will attract.

Variable interest rates on credit cards

Variable means changing and this type of interest rates keep changing over time, generally in response to a market index. The reason for the changes being that variable interest rates on credit cards are actually based on another kind of interest known as the prime rate. Variable interest rates are in reality prime rate plus another amount specified in the terms.

What is prime rate?

Prime rate is the rate of interest that is charged by banks when they extend credit to their most credit worthy consumers. Prime rate can also be understood as the best deal on interest rates that a credit worthy individual can manage to get.

Understanding everything about interest rates on credit cards helps you choose a credit card that will be more suited to your needs and economically more viable.

Savvy consumers in general have the tendency to compare, review and analyze the pros and cons of any product before they purchase. Nowadays, the craze for reviews and consumer opinions have sky rocketed so high that one out of every fifty websites is a review site.

Credit cards are also subject to these general consumer trends and most of the credit savvy consumers like to check the credit card ratings before they can make a decision about applying for a new credit card.

What are credit card ratings?

Credit card ratings are nothing but ratings or points assigned to credit cards by the people who review the pros and cons of the cards. It goes without saying that credit card ratings are very important in deciding the popularity or notoriety of a credit card.

Credit card consumers are now becoming more and more aware of the significance of credit card ratings and this awareness has directly fuelled the mushrooming of numerous credit review sites all over the internet.

Criteria used for credit card ratings

There are many different criteria that are used by credit card review websites. Some of the credit card ratings are based on APR rates of interest. Those with the highest rates of interest get low credit card ratings while the ones with the lowest APR or 0% APR get the best ratings.

Again there is another criterion that is popularly used to rate credit cards: “The rewards feature”. More the number of rewards that the credit card provides to the user, the better is the rating given for that card by the credit card reviewer.

Similarly, there is yet another criterion — approval rates. Some credit cards are very difficult to get approval for, while others are relatively easier. Obviously the ones with easier approval or instant approval get higher ratings and vice versa.

Credit card ratings could also be based on the category / group of consumers that the credit cards are targeted to. Like there could be ratings for student credit cards, business credit cards, bad credit credit cards, no credit credit cards, and other similar classifications.

Whatever the standards, there is one important thing that every consumer must be aware of before depending on these credit card ratings for credit card applications. Not all the credit card ratings can be relied upon. There are certain sites that rate the cards solely upon the commission that they get from making a successful sale. The reviews offered by such sites will no doubt be biased and less targeted to benefit the consumer.

Credit card ratings are an excellent way to get a quick and clear idea about top-performing credit cards in the category that you are searching for.

Secured credit cards are a boon to credit card holders in many ways. If you already have a good credit score and are eligible to get credit cards issued as you wish, then you have nothing to worry. But not everyone enjoys a good credit score.

There are instances where the credit score is too poor to be eligible for a regular credit card. Also sometimes credit card users need to build their credit scores quickly in order to get a regular credit card issued. In all these situations, secured credit cards can double up as a very handy tool.

How do secured credit cards work?

Well, secured credit cards work just like any other secured loan. For example, when you apply for a loan from a bank, they always scrutinize your application to see what kind of asset you could provide as collateral or security. The worth of the collateral or security that you can provide will often determine the amount of loan that the bank will ultimately extend to you. This is just a strategy adopted by the bank to minimize the risk on the loan amount. In the event that you fail to pay back the loan amount and its interest, the bank always has your collateral to sell and can still get the money back.

Secured credit cards also work in a similar manner. When a bank or credit card company does not find your credit score to be as reliable as they would like it to be, they prefer minimizing the risk on the credit by asking for a security (collateral). This security is usually in the form of a bank account with a fixed deposit. It goes without saying that the amount of money in the fixed deposit is directly going to influence the credit limit provided by the secured credit cards issued against it.

Facts to know before applying for secured credit cards

There are certain criteria to be met before your application for secured credit cards gets approved. If you have filed for bankruptcy in the recent past, you will not be eligible for getting a secure credit card.

Just because you have poor credit score and there are no other options for you except using secured credit cards does not mean that you should agree to pay sky high interest rates for using them. There are many options within the category of secure cards as well, and you just need to compare them in detail to get a good deal.

The best use of secured credit cards is as tools to build your credit score. Making timely payments on the credit card bills and not using more than 20% of the credit limit available on the cards is the best way to get maximum advantage from them.

As the proverb goes, there is a silver lining to every cloud. Even if you are restricted to using secured credit cards because of your poor credit score, you can always look at the brighter side and use them to build a good credit score by making timely payments.