Unclaimed Property Blog

Consumers have often wondered what they did to earn high interest rates on their credit card. Below you can find out another reason for the increased rate and an explanation of “universal default”.

A growing number of credit card issuers are imposing high-risk interest rates on customers who miss any monthly payment — such as a utility bill, mortgage payment, bank loan or credit card bill.

Called “universal default,� the clause is used by about 45% of credit card issuers. The clause, generally spelled out in the fine print of the credit card agreement, says that if you are late on payments to anyone, the interest rate on your credit card could skyrocket while your credit score is damaged.

Regulatory guidelines on credit card minimum payments were made three years ago. Read on to find out how this will affect your credit card bill.

Most of the top 10 credit card issuers have raised their minimum payments the last quarter of 2005. The result is that your payments have increased even if you have not added to the card.

The higher minimum credit card payments are the result of guidelines issued in January 2003 by the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. Card issuers were to adopt higher minimums by the end of 2005, sooner if feasible.

It did not seem so long ago that the plastic credit card was new and innovative. Some creditors are looking to revamp it so that the consumer can spend less time at cash registers. Like anything new, it does bring forward questions about safety and spending habits.

Chase wants you to ‘Blink’, MasterCard wants you to ‘Tap and Go’ and American Express wants you to ExpressPay. What does all this mean for you?

It means that you can have incremental time saved when making purchases. The retailer may lose sales if the lines are too long or too slow. Proponents say it will save time for consumers and could make money for merchants.

Do you read the fine print when you are filing out finance forms? Here are some things you should know regarding the 0% financing for 12 or 24 months. It may be the bankers and not the consumers who are the winners in this game.

Retailers are taking a financial approach that’s proving popular. It is the offers of 0% financing for 12 or 24 months when shoppers buy big-ticket items like plasma televisions and washing machines. Even though such deals can lead to write offs as the customers drawn to them often have less discretionary income and are more likely to default; retailers feel they can live with the delinquencies. Yes, retailers are willing to do this because the delinquencies have less margin-killing than mark down merchandise.

Often you will see pop-ups on your screen regarding credit scores. You click on and you see FICO score, not credit score. What is this FICO? Is it a disease? Do I have it? Do I want to know if I have it?

It is not a disease. FICO is what the financial people refer to as your credit score. Guess they thought we would not figure that one out. FICO comes from a company that was started back in 1956 called Fair, Isaac Corporation. Fair Isaac was the creator of the credit scoring system. This system simply puts a number as your credit (FICO) score based on how good (or bad) you are at managing your debt.

Do you know when you can say no to giving out your Social Security number (SSN)? Do you know why you would not give it out to someone? Read on to find out these answers.

Put your Social Security number in a computer and poof; access to information such as your bank account, your phone number, where you work, where you live, etc.

Today, schools, phone companies, utilities, health clubs, insurance companies, video stores, just about everybody wants your Social Security number. Some of the more prevalent uses are to get your credit rating and determine whether you pay your bills, and to keep track of you through name and address changes.

Usually when one says they have debt this is taken as a negative. However, there could be more to this debt than meets the eye.

Not all debt is alike—and not all debt is bad. It’s very reasonable to carry a mortgage or a car loan. What is needed is that you pay attention to the cost of the debt. If you have a revolving debt on a credit card that’s charging you 18% per year, you’re in a bad situation. If your student loan is costing you 6% per year, that’s not as worrisome.