Credit Card Connection

July 31, 2008

Credit card debt negotiation

Filed under: Credit Card Debt — @ 11:28 pm

Credit card debt negotiation
Credit card debt negotiation

Credit card debt is really a menace and a lot of people are facing it around the globe. Credit card debt consolidation and bank loans are well known as ways of reducing and eliminating credit card debt. In all this confusion, credit card debt negotiation almost gets forgotten.

Well, credit card debt negotiation starts right from your credit accounts where you have the most hard-hitting credit card debt. This means credit card debt negotiation has to be taken up with your current credit providers. Before you misinterpret it, let me clarify that we are not talking about chucking off a portion of your debt through credit card debt negotiation. We are talking primarily about using credit card debt negotiations for getting the APR on your current credit cards reduced to some lower figure. So, credit card debt negotiation is about talking to your current credit card suppliers for informing them about your intention to clear off your credit card debt and using your skills (credit card debt negotiation skills) to agree a lower APR rate with them. Basically, credit card debt negotiation is about asking your current credit card suppliers for help/assistance in clearing off your credit card debt. If credit card debt negotiation is successful, it will save you not only money (due to reduction in APR) but also the hassle that is associated with looking for a new credit card (to transfer balance).

However, if the credit card debt negotiation, with your current credit card supplier, doesn?t yield the desired results, you will have to look for other credit suppliers who can help you in consolidating your debt. Again, you will need your negotiation skills (rather credit card debt negotiation skills) to get a good deal from them. If your credit card debt negotiations work out well, you might be able to get a really low standard APR or you might get a longer term on 0% APR (or you might get both). These are really the most important things and your credit card debt negotiations should concentrate more on these than anything else. The other thing to include on your credit card debt negotiation would be the credit limit and other benefits. Here, you are basically trying out the possibility of getting a better credit card as part of your credit card debt negotiation. For people with really bad credit rating, getting an unsecured bank loan or getting another credit card (for balance transfer) is really difficult. For them, getting an unsecured bank loan or credit card is what you would term as credit card debt negotiation.

So, don?t hesitate in going for credit card debt negotiation. It is surely an option available for all.

July 30, 2008

Credit card debt consolidation loan

Filed under: Credit Card Debt — @ 2:14 pm

Credit card debt consolidation loan
Credit card debt consolidation loan

Credit card debt consolidation is regarded as the first step towards getting rid of credit card debt. Credit card debt consolidation loan is one of the ways of consolidating credit card debt. Besides, credit card debt consolidation loan, you can also go for balance transfer to another credit card. In fact, due to the publicity by credit card suppliers, balance transfers seem to be more talked about than credit card debt consolidation loan. Some people kind of forget about credit card debt consolidation loan being available as a method of credit card debt consolidation. However, credit card debt consolidation loan too is important to consider when going for credit card debt consolidation.

So what do we mean by credit card debt consolidation loan?

Put simply, credit card debt consolidation loan is a low interest loan that you apply for with a bank or financial institution in order to clear off your high interest credit card debt. So credit card debt consolidation loan too is based on same principle as balance transfers i.e. moving from one or more high interest debts to a low interest one. The credit card debt consolidation loan has to be paid back in monthly instalments and as per the terms and conditions agreed between you and the dispenser of credit card debt consolidation loan.

Credit card debt consolidation loan, in general terms, is an unsecured loan i.e. doesn?t require you to pledge any security. However, if you have a really bad credit history and you want go for credit card debt settlement using credit card debt consolidation loan, the credit card debt consolidation loan will take the form of a secured credit card debt consolidation loan. This type of credit card debt consolidation loan requires you to pledge a security e.g. the home owned by you or something else that has a value which is comparable to your credit card debt consolidation loan amount. So, worse the credit rating, the more difficult it is to get a credit card debt consolidation loan.

Though balance transfers and credit card debt consolidation loans have the same objective behind them, the credit card debt consolidation loans are sometimes considered better because you end up closing most of your credit card accounts which have been the main culprit in landing you in this difficult situation. However, balance transfers have their own advantages which are not available with credit card debt consolidation loans. Choosing between credit card debt consolidation loan and balance transfer is really a matter of personal choice.

July 29, 2008

Southwest airline credit card

Filed under: Credit Card — @ 11:46 pm

Southwest airline credit card
Southwest airline credit card

Southwest airline credit cards are a good example of co-branded credit cards. Southwest airlines and Chase have teamed up to bring the southwest airline credit cards to you. At the time of writing this article, there are two popular southwest airline cards which are also collectively called as southwest airlines rapid rewards Visa cards. One of these southwest airline credit cards is for personal use (this is called Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Signature Card) and the other southwest airline credit card is for business use. Both these southwest airline credit cards are aimed at getting you a roundtrip award faster.

There are a number of ways in which you can earn reward points using Southwest airline credit cards. Southwest airline credit cards have two kinds of reward points i.e. there are two denominations in which you can earn reward points - rapid reward credits and rapid reward dollars. The rapid reward credits are a much higher reward denomination as compared to the reward dollars (e.g. at the time of writing this article, 1200 reward dollars is equal to 1 rapid reward credit).

So how do you earn and redeem the reward points on your southwest airline credit card?

You get bonus reward credits after your first purchase on your southwest airline credit card. These purchases needn?t be on southwest airlines products/services, these can be just any purchases made using the southwest airline credit card. You earn reward dollars for any expenditures you make using your southwest airline credit card. There are additional reward dollars, when you use your southwest airline credit card on southwest airlines (i.e. when you use your southwest airline credit card to spend on southwest airlines products/services). By additional we mean, the reward dollars are more as compared to those earned on other, non-southwest airline, purchases. As you keep collecting reward dollars, you keep moving closer to getting a round trip award. Generally, the roundtrip awards are based on rapid reward credits. So, you can convert the reward dollars, earned on your southwest airline credit card, into rapid reward credits; and convert rapid reward credits into your roundtrip award. Another way of earning rapid rewards credit on southwest airline credit cards is through balance transfers.

Southwest airline credit cards are surely a good option for people who travel frequently by air using southwest airlines. Since the network of southwest airlines is pretty widespread, you will find that you are able to get southwest airlines flight to most places you want to travel to and hence get an opportunity to use your south west airline credit card to earn reward points (or reward dollars, as they call them).

July 28, 2008

Credit card debt consolidation

Filed under: Credit Card Debt — @ 1:16 pm

Credit card debt consolidation
What is ?Credit card debt consolidation??

?Credit card debt consolidation? is a phrase that you must have come across many times. There are hundreds of sites with advice on credit card debt consolidation. Every now and then your favourite newspaper will also contain an article or advise on credit card debt consolidation. TV channels host discussions on credit card debt consolidation. Moreover, there are numerous consultants and companies that provide professional advice on credit card debt consolidation. So what is this ?Credit card debt consolidation? that everyone is talking about? Why is it such an important topic?

?Credit card debt consolidation? refers to consolidation of the debt on various credit cards into a single credit card (or a couple of credit cards). Generally, you move from a higher APR credit card to a lower APR one. You might ask ?why?? If you look into how the vicious circle of credit card debt works, you will immediately understand the logic behind that. Credit card debt grows in 2 ways. One is due to addition of new debt on account of fresh spends on your credit card and the second is due to addition of interest charges to the existing credit card debt. The first one is due to your use of credit card but the second one is due to interest charges which are calculated on the basis of the interest rate or the APR applicable to your credit card. So a lower APR rate means that your credit card debt will grow at a slower pace and hence switching over to a card with lower APR makes perfect sense.

The process of credit card debt consolidation is also referred to as balance transfer process (you transfer the balance or debt from one credit card to another).The credit card debt consolidation (or balance transfer) offers are made even more attractive by the credit card suppliers by associating various benefits with them. The simple logic behind offering these benefits is the fact that such a customer would be defecting from one of their competitors. The biggest benefit offered by these credit card suppliers is 0% interest on balance transfers (or credit card debt consolidation). This 0% APR is generally applicable for a short period of time i.e. 3-6 months, after which the standard APR is applicable. Other credit card debt consolidation offers include things like interest free purchase for a short period, reward points, etc. These credit card debt consolidation offers make the exercise of credit card debt consolidation even more logical and meaningful.

Credit card debt consolidation seems to be a good way of tackling the problem of credit card debt and that is the reason why there is so much of discussion on the topic of Credit card debt consolidation.

July 27, 2008

Credit card debt

Filed under: Credit Card Debt — @ 9:54 pm

Credit card debt
A problem called ?Credit Card Debt ?

Credit cards are no more a luxury, they are almost a necessity. So, you would imagine a lot of people going for credit cards. In fact, a lot of people posses more than one credit cards. So, the credit card industry is growing by leaps and bounds. However, the credit card industry and credit card holders are posed with a big problem called ?Credit Card Debt?. In order to understand what ?credit card debt? actually means, we need to understand the workflow associated with the use of credit cards as such.

Credit cards, as the name suggests, are cards on which you can get credit i.e. make borrowings (your credit card debt). Your credit card is a representative of the credit account that you hold with the credit card supplier. Whatever payments you make using your credit card are actually your borrowings that contribute towards your credit card debt. Your total credit card debt is the total amount you owe credit card supplier. You must settle your credit card debt on a monthly basis. So, you receive a monthly statement or your credit card bill which shows your total credit card debt. You must pay off your credit card debt by the payment due date failing which you will incur late fee and interest charges. However, you have the option of making a partial (minimum) payment too, in which case you don?t incur late fee but just the interest charges on your credit card debt. If you don?t pay off your credit card debt in full, the interest charges too get added to it. So your credit card debt keeps on increasing, more so because the interest rates on credit card debt are generally higher than the interest rates on other kind of loans/borrowings. Further, the interest charges add on to your credit card debt each month to form the new balance or the new credit card debt amount. If you continue making partial payments (or no