Can someone explain the important points of a credit card...in simple terms? I've never had one and have limited credit history. But i need cash now (i'll be able to pay it back later)
I have no clue where to begin




Can someone explain the important points of a credit card...in simple terms? I've never had one and have limited credit history. But i need cash now (i'll be able to pay it back later)
I have no clue where to begin
Charge Cards Versus Debit Cards Versus Credit Cards - Pros and Cons
Nothing, the credit card companies can't make you spend money, but watch out for monthly or yearly fees when you sign up. Most cards don't have it, but be sure to read the details.





yes APR is the annual percentage interest rate charged on the credit card's oustandiing balance.
Remember there may be up to three different interest rates on your credit card. An interest rate for cash advance, and interest rate for transfer balances, and a third interest rate for your purchases.
You can guess the one that pays them the most is the one that gets paid last with your payments. So always pay off your card every single month. Use it as a cash flow tool, NOT as a means of credit per se.





also, with the economy and the banks being the way they are these days ...
from Investopedia ...
(snip)What Does Subprime Credit Card Mean?
A type of credit card issued to people with substandard credit scores or limited credit histories. These cards will typically carry much higher interest rates than credit cards granted to prime borrowers; they also come with extra fees and lower credit limits.
Subprime credit cards are issued by both major issuers and smaller financial institutions that focus only on subprime lending. (snip)
in other words, your limited credit history and limited ability to prove your income (as opposed to an employee who can show the bank a weekly paycheck stub) will probably force you into a Subprime credit card. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but you'll want to pay particular attention to high interest rates and fee structures. The banks now anticipate that a high percentage of Subprime credit card holders being delinquent or going bankrupt, and will attempt to 'cover their losses' resulting from deadbeat Subprime credit card holders by 'overcharging' other Subprime credit card holders to make up for it !
This is analogous to car insurance companies automatically overcharging male drivers under 25 as 'assigned risk' customers, on the basis that this group of drivers in general has more accidents (even though any individual male driver under 25 may have several years of accident free driving history). If you don't receive a regular paycheck, and you don't have several years worth of good credit history / IRS reported income history, you are likely to be automatically lumped into the Subprime group.





^^^ not for independent contractor dancers it doesn't. But in response to the subprime mortgage mess, regulatory agencies imposed new rules on banks in regard to determining the creditworthiness of future borrowers. These new rules involved income verification for would-be borrowers and also a sort of 'stress test' i.e. could the would-be borrower still afford to make payments on time if X or Y or Z happened (which ultimately relates to the amount of assets and verifiable income the would-be borrower can show versus the amount of ongoing expenses that would-be borrower must cover, the 'job security' of the would-be borrower etc.).
Dancers really caught the short straw in this regard, since they are typically independent contractor self-employed persons with unpredictable incomes to begin with, since they typically don't have fully documented dancing earnings and income tax payment histories, and since banks know that the passage of a new anti-strip club ordinance could cut their earnings in half / put them out of a job at the drop of the proverbial hat.





^^^ interest rates, fee structure, fine print
They will never tell you that.They will want you to be a proud user of their card.
Sub-prime has characteristics like:
- Greater than 10% interest rate (which is crazy anyhow!)
- Things like "universal default."
- An annual fee (charge cards not included)
- Greater than $15 late fees, etc.
- Low limit like $500 or so.





Yup - with the most insidious aspect being penalty interest rates triggerable by 'universal default'. The typical scenario goes like this ... a new subprime credit card account gets opened with a 13% interest rate ... with fine print stating that a 13% interest rate is 'normal' but that a penalty interest rate of 20%-25%+ can be put into effect if the cardholder violates the terms of the credit card agreement. One of those terms can be 'universal default' i.e. the credit card company can interpret ANY failure of the cardholder to honor the terms of any reportable debt as a violation of the credit card agreement. Thus if the cardholder is late paying their utility bill, and the utility company reports the late payments to Experian etc., the credit card bank spots the late payment report and immediately jacks the interest rate charged to this credit card holder from 13% to 25% (despite the fact that the card holder has never been late making a credit card payment).





actually, you may want to act quickly before this initiative becomes a reality ...
(snip)WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Thursday he is determined to get a credit-card law that eliminates the tricky fine print, sudden rate increases and late fees that give millions of American consumers headaches.
Both the House and the Senate are pursuing bills to give consumers greater protections as an expansion of new rules slated to take effect next year. Obama said his economic advisers will examine the various proposals and work with Congress and the industry, but he made clear he wants to sign a bill into law.
"I trust that those in the industry who want to act responsibly will engage with us in a constructive fashion, and that we're going to get this done in short order," Obama said, delivering a pointed message to leading executives of credit-card issuing companies after a closed-door White House meeting.
At issue is how to protect consumers, particularly in a deep recession, while not imposing the kind of rules that could make it harder for banks to offer credit or put credit out of reach for many borrowers."(snip)
The problem issue of course is that if banks become prohibited from imposing 'penalty' interest rates on subprime credit card holders who go into default, they will either have to make good their losses by jacking rates on 'prime' credit card holders (people with very good credit histories, high provable incomes) to pay for subprime default losses and risk losing the 'prime' borrowers as customers ... OR ... the banks will stop approving new 'subprime' credit card accounts to limit future losses.




if you get a credit card.... what happens if you decided you don't want it anymore? Are thier penalties?? Will that make your credit worse? can you easily cancel it? What happens if you keep it and don't use it for months???
1st, If you are in a pinch and "need" the money right now, this is probably the worst time to go shopping for credit. Do you have other options?
Check your credit score. If you have a credit score below 690-700, then you will likely be getting a subprime credit card. If at all possible, try to go with a reputable bank or credit union, avoid those credit banks like Capitol One. If you can work with a stable local bank or credit union, you will get the best deal (and an honest answer about your realistic credit worthiness).
I had a Capitol One Card shortly after my divorce, and that sucker kept coming back to haunt me for years after I canceled my account. I'd send in my final payment and the next month got a bill for another $29 finance charge on my final balance.This went on for 3 months, until I finally talked to someone who told me that I needed to send a notarized letter canceling my account with the balance due on that account. I'm sure it was a fraudulent practice, and I should have called someone in consumer protection to follow up, but instead I sent in a check for $100 with my notarized letter, instructing them to mail back any over payment. They sent me a check for $4. (they left me a bad rating on my credit report due to that last few months bull shit I went through)
Credit cards are a little like doing drugs, sometimes it is really hard to quit (if not impossible) without legal intervention. You may just consider not getting a credit card until you don't need one.
Promote yourself and earn more money! This is a business that is owned by strippers for strippers. Let's make that money!




oh crap, i applied for a credit card...thinking it just meant that they would tell me if i could get one or not, then they said they were sending on through the mail.
do i still have to go through with it??? I don't think i want it anymore after getting responses. I WISH I WASN'T SO FINANCIALLY RETARDED!!
It's fine. Just send a letter canceling the card after you receive it. Once you receive the card you will need to activate it online or over the phone. If you don't activate the card and you send a cancellation notice, it should be like the card never existed. Make sure you check your credit report a month or two after just to make sure. You can do that for free at: annualcreditreport.com
There are three major credit reporting agencies, and I like to check one every four months just to stay on the safe side. You can check each agency once a year, so if the first one looks good then relax for another four months. They will try to sell you stuff like credit monitoring and ID theft protection. You don't have to buy that stuff to get your reports, just select "no" on every offer and after a few pages you'll get your report emailed to you and you can view it on their site.
The interesting part is looking at the very bottom of the last page and see who else is looking at your credit. There's usually a huge list of banks and credit card companies that are pulling up your credit several times a year. It's kind of creepy, actually, knowing all these strangers are looking at your credit report w/o your knowledge.
Promote yourself and earn more money! This is a business that is owned by strippers for strippers. Let's make that money!
You're not financially retarded, lol! It's not like you can take a class in high school called personal financial planning, or something. It is actually pretty sophisticated to ask about credit options, then seek out the best deals. Hell, the people selling these credit products sometimes don't know what it is they are selling. They only know to read the script on their desks.![]()
Promote yourself and earn more money! This is a business that is owned by strippers for strippers. Let's make that money!





Go to
You can get a truly free credit report form the the three reporting agencies once a year. I get one every four months instead of getting all three at once.
Having a credit card will improve your score if you make payments on time. Get one with no annual fee and always pay the full balance when due and you will have no interest payments.
Be careful don't apply for many cards and cancel them. The number of accounts you ever had stays on your report and that will hurt your score.
Credit cards are a ticking time bomb of one is not careful. It is easy to get into debt at rates above 20%
What I really want to know is how exactly secured credit cards work, as opposed to unsecured. I know that most credit cards are unsecured, but my ex fucked up my credit really badly and I'm trying to repay it. But I can't really find a clear answer on the secured credit cards. I know that you basically have to produce the money up front, and however much you give them will be your credit limit. And then they put that money into an account where it gathers interest. But then it gets fuzzy. Several places online said that basically you spend up to your credit limit and it gets taken out of that account instead of billing you...but that doesn't make sense, cause it would be just like a prepaid card. I figured that actually, what happens is the money sits in an account, drawing interest, and everything else proceeds as normal. You pay the bills as they come and that money in the account has nothing to do with it, unless you stop paying the card off and then hey, they already have your money. But is that correct, or did I screw up somewhere?





Secured credit cards are just another form of a debit card. The fees from the secured card issuers are just not worth it. So, get a debit card from your bank and be done with it.
HTH
Z
PS, I know of at least one bank that even has a "cash back on qualifying purchases" deal on their debit card. That's being real desperate for depositis. But, they fouled up their business, no reason I shouldn't take advantage of them.
please please please from experience be careful with a credit card especially if your using it because you dont have money
good tip only use a credit card on things that you would have cash to pay for
i made the mistake of gettin a credit card when i needed money and didnt have any and ended up maxing out 2 and now im still paying them back to years later after i cut them up
just be careful and make sure your on time with your payments and try to pay double what your minimum is or pay it off as u go
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