Credit Card Rating and Card Types
you've had credit problems, you might have to settle for a card with a slightly higher rate. If you have poor credit or no credit, some banks will issue you a secured credit card. This means that you deposit money into a savings account that acts as collateral against your credit line.
The rate may be high, but a secured card offers you the convenience of a credit card while you work on rebuilding your credit. Secured cards are often the best option available to those with a bankruptcy in their past. Be sure to choose a secured card that pays you interest on your deposit!
On the other hand, if you have a very good credit score and would like a higher limit ($5,000 or more), check into applying for a gold card at the same interest rates but with a slightly higher annual fee. Most gold cards require that your annual income be at least $35,000, and platinum cards -- even higher!
With all of this money getting spread around, and lots more of it out there, it's no wonder why most of us are constantly receiving notice that we're "pre-approved" for an endless stream of credit cards. There's got to be a catch...
A word of caution about those "pre-approved" card offers you get in the mail: You may get an offer for a new credit-card account with a pre-approved credit limit just slightly higher than your balance on your current card. The fine print could reveal an extremely high interest rate and also state that, by accepting the offer, you agree to transfer the entire balance of your other credit-card account to the new, high-interest account. This is a trick, since you would never consciously choose to pay more interest each month. Read everything carefully so that you don't fall into this trap.
And before you toss this offer into the garbage, shred it so that no one can fish it out and try to impersonate you.
No matter what kind of card and plan you choose, you should have access to the following information under the federal Truth in Lending Act so that you can compare one loan to another:
Finance charges in dollars and as an annual percentage rate (APR)
Credit issuer or company providing the credit line
Size of the credit line
Length of the grace period, if any, before payment must be made
Minimum payment required
Annual fees, if applicable
Fees for credit insurance (if any), which pays off your loan if you die before the debt is fully repaid
Credit issuer or company providing the credit line
Size of the credit line
Length of the grace period, if any, before payment must be made
Minimum payment required
Annual fees, if applicable
Fees for credit insurance (if any), which pays off your loan if you die before the debt is fully repaid
Card Types
There are basically three types of credit cards:
Bank cards, issued by banks (for example, Visa, MasterCard and Discover Card)
Travel and entertainment (T&E) cards, such as American Express and Diners Club
House cards that are good only in one chain of stores (Sears is the biggest one of these, followed by the oil companies, phone companies and local department stores.) T&E cards and national house cards have the same terms and conditions wherever you apply.
You may also be familiar with what is known as an affinity card. This card -- typically a MasterCard or Visa -- carries the logo of an organization in addition to the lender's emblem. Usually, these cardholders derive some benefit from using the card -- maybe frequent-flyer miles or points toward merchandise. The organization solicits its members to get cards, with the idea of keeping the group's name in front of the cardholder. In addition to establishing brand loyalty, the organization receives some financial incentive (a fraction of the annual fee or the finance charge, or some small amount per transaction, or a combination of these) from the credit-card company.
No one card is right for everyone. Basically, the right card for you is one that's accepted where you shop and charges you the smallest amount of money for the services you use.
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