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The Best Credit Cards for Holiday Shopping: Decoding Purchase, Return, Warranty and Price Protection

by Anisha Sekar

For all the excitement of Black Friday shopping, you might well be filled with regret come Monday. But the right credit card can protect you against ill-considered purchases, too-short warranties or even damage or theft.

Many American Express, Discover MasterCard and Visa cards offer differing levels of assurances and guarantees:



Return protection: If you aren’t able to return a purchase, your card may cover the cost of the item.
Purchase protection: If your purchase is stolen or damaged for a covered reason, you could be reimbursed the cost of the item.
Warranty extension: Your purchase’s warranty can be extended for up to a year.

In addition, Discover, MasterCard and some Visa cards have:

Price protection: If you find a lower price for the same item, you may recover the difference.

But not all protection levels are equal. Some cut you off at half the coverage of other policies; others restrict eligibility to the most posh of cards. Still other programs require you to jump through hoops before you even think of taking advantage of the benefit. But with a little late-night reading of terms and conditions, you can find which cards to use for different purchases. Here are NerdWallet’s best credit cards to ensure longevity and satisfaction this Black Friday.
Best cards for guarding your purchases

Best for buyer’s remorse: Discover

Discover offers the most comprehensive return protection, insuring you up to $500 per item if the merchant doesn’t take it back. Your return period is 90 days, 50% longer than MasterCard’s. They even accept software returns, which no other network does. However, they do require that you submit written documentation from the store manager on letterhead stating his refusal to accept the item, along with the receipt and your credit card statement. American Express only insures you up to $300 per item, but does not require a note from the manager.

Best for software: American Express or Discover

Software is eligible for American Express’ purchase protection and warranty extension and Discover’s return protection, unlike Visa or MasterCard.

Best for Sunday-morning-rain-is-falling: Visa

Visa’s purchase protection explicitly covers damage due to “windstorms, lightning, hail, rain, sleet, or snow,” and while American Express and Discover don’t exclude these events, neither do they outright include them. MasterCard doesn’t cover damage due to liquids or lightning. None offer coverage for natural disasters or acts of God, such as hurricanes or earthquakes.

Best for formal wear: Discover

Visa and American Express’ return protection policies don’t cover formal wear, but MasterCard and Discover’s do. Discover covers up to $500, twice MasterCard’s limit. What’s more, MasterCard’s return protection requires that the store offer some sort of return policy on the item, and many retailers have a no-exchanges rule for formal wear.

Best non-credit card: American Express Bluebird

Very few non-credit cards offer purchase protection. The Visa prepaid cards do, but they tend to be costly. The most affordable is the American Express Bluebird, a new, almost-no-fee prepaid debit card. If you load the card via a bank account or at Walmart, and either use direct deposit or don’t withdraw from an ATM, you can essentially use the card fee-free but still take advantage of Amex’s solid purchase protection.
Worst cards for worry-free shopping

Worst for holiday decorations: Visa

Visa excludes seasonal items, like holiday decorations, from both its return and price protection.

Worst for books: American Express

Amex does not offer return protection on books.

Most cumbersome return protection: MasterCard

Both MasterCard and Discover require that you get a signed statement from a store manager on the store’s letterhead documenting his refusal to accept a return. But on top of that, MasterCard requires that the store have a return policy of at least 10 days.

Worst warranty protection: MasterCard

MasterCard’s warranty extension is void if either the original warranty or extended warranty (if you purchase it) are over one year in duration. By contrast, Discover allows you 36 months of original or purchased warranty (though the original warranty and Discover’s extension cannot exceed 48 months), Visa allows three years and American Express five.


http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-benefits/purchase-return-warranty-price-protection/

The Difference Between Credit Cards and Charge Cards
Both include fees and offer rewards, but one can severely hurt your credit score.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2015/02/02/the-difference-between-credit-cards-and-charge-cards

A new study found young adults are more responsible credit card users than middle-age borrowers.

If you tend to max out your credit cards, but always pay your bills in full, a charge card might be a better option for you.
By Lindsay Konsko Feb. 2, 2015 | 8:45 a.m. EST + More

When it comes to paying with plastic, credit cards aren’t the only game in town. If you’d like to build your credit score while reducing the risk of getting in debt, you might want to consider a charge card.

While similar in some ways, charge cards and credit cards each offer unique features. Here’s what you need to know.

Credit Cards vs. Charge Cards: Similarities

In general, credit cards and charge cards function alike. Both operate on a line of unsecured credit that’s been extended to you by the card’s issuer. Essentially, you’re taking out a short-term loan from the issuer every time you swipe, and you’re expected to repay this loan by the end of the month.

Note: This is how charge cards and credit cards differ from debit cards, which simply withdraw money from your checking account when used. Debit cards don’t run on a line of credit at all, and therefore won’t help you build your credit history.

Charge cards and credit cards are also comparable when it comes to rewards. Depending on which one you choose, you could be earning points, miles or cash back on every dollar you spend with your card.

Both types of card assess similar fees. These might include annual fees, late fees or foreign transaction fees, depending on the card you select.

Credit Cards vs. Charge Cards: Differences

Finding the main differences between credit cards and charge cards requires a little digging below the surface. While not very noticeable day-to-day, there are two key distinctions.

First, credit cards typically come with a preset spending limit. The cap depends on the type of card and your personal financial situation. Your credit line might rise over time, but there’s always a limit to the charges you can put on the card.

Charge cards don’t come with a predetermined limit. Although the issuer might put some boundaries on your spending with the card, this isn’t set when you’re approved. For folks who do a lot of charging, this provides flexibility.

But here’s where the other important difference comes in: You can’t roll your balance from month to month with a charge card like you can with a credit card. Charge cards require customers to pay in full every month or face a fee. As a result, you’ll never have to worry about paying interest on your balance.

In contrast, with a credit card, you only have to pay the minimum balance to keep your account in good standing. If you’re short on cash one month, you can choose to pay off the remainder of your charges the next – with interest, of course.

How a Charge Card Impacts Your Credit Score

Aside from forcing you to budget, there’s another implication behind charge cards’ lack of a preset spending limit: Your credit score will be affected differently.

Thirty percent of your score is determined by how much you owe, and a factor that heavily influences this is your credit utilization ratio. This is the amount of credit you have in use on your credit card compared with your overall credit limit; if this ratio creeps above 30 percent, you should expect your score to suffer.

But remember, charge cards lack a conventional credit limit. Consequently, the algorithm used by FICO, a company whose credit scores are most widely used, looks at them differently.

“With respect to the credit utilization ratio, charge cards are excluded from the calculation,’’ says Ethan Dornhelm, principal scientist at FICO.

This means the amount you’re spending with a charge card won’t have nearly as much impact on your FICO score as it would with a credit card. For people who run a high balance each month, this is convenient. They won’t have to constantly worry that a high credit utilization ratio is banging up their credit.

However, charge cards will affect your FICO score in other ways. These include payment history (35 percent of your score) and length of credit history (15 percent of your score). By getting a charge card as soon as you can and making on-time payments every month, you’ll build a solid credit profile.

The same goes for credit cards. Just keep in mind that you’ll also have to watch your credit utilization ratio carefully.

The bottom line: If you always pay your credit card in full at the end of the month and find it burdensome to have to worry about bumping up against a credit limit, a charge card might be for you. But if you like the option to roll a balance from month to month, a credit card is a better choice. Both are a good choice for building your FICO credit score, but in slightly different ways.
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Other services to get FREE Scores, etc.

Credit Concierge is another ad-supported site that is specific to credit card education, rewards and applications. Signing up for their free credit score and report is a breeze (standard personal information, and a couple of questions to verify identity) and both the credit score and report comes from TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus.

Under the credit report tab, all information about you, your credit accounts and your creditor contacts can be found. Make sure to check this information for accuracy, and report any errors to the major credit bureau. Incorrect information in any capacity can lead to declined loan and credit account applications, so check, double check, then triple check.

https://concierge.comparecards.com/


Quizzle.com is an ad-supported site that offers a free credit score based on your Equifax credit report, called a VantageScore credit score, updated once every 6 months. You also get a free copy of your Equifax credit score once every six months. Twice a year is less often than other services and makes it harder to track credit improvement, but hey it’s still free. The score scale is also 300-850.



CreditKarma.com is an ad-supported site that offers you the ability to check your credit score based on your TransUnion credit report, updated every week for free. The score range is the same as FICO, from 300-850. They offer insights into improving your credit score, and you can also opt-in to free daily credit monitoring.




Cheap Equifax FICO from myFICO

Alternatively, if you want an official FICO score on the cheap, you can sign up for a month of ScoreWatch at MyFICO.com for $4.95. You’ll get an instant free Equifax credit report and Equifax FICO credit score. You’ll need a credit card. You must call 1.888.577.5978 to cancel within that first month, although you may be able to do it online as well. My recommendation is to get your credit report and credit score, print or save to PDF, and then cancel immediately afterward on the same day so that you won’t forget later. Hours (PDT) M-F 6am-6pm, Sat 7am-4pm, Sun Closed.




Credit Sesame is an ad-supported site that offers you a free credit score based on your Experian credit report. Updates once a month. Range is from 300-850.

You will need to provide your personal information and Social Security number to some of these companies, naturally, so be comfortable with that. None of these methods by themselves will affect your credit score as you are requesting them for yourself.

www.annualcreditreport.com -- Free Annual Report

Get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting company.


Ensure that the information on all of your credit reports is correct and up to date.

however:

Your free annual credit report does not include credit scores

Monitoring your credit reports regularly is an important part of being in control of your finances. Learn more about why monitoring matters, identity theft and ways to improve your credit score on AnnualCreditReport.com

Installment loans

I have seen this on even my credit report which effects the overall score:

Lack of recent installment loan information

Current credit activity is necessary for accurately assessing a Consumer's future credit risk. Consumers who have not used this type of credit recently have limited information available that demonstrates their ability to manage credit.


>Note: Student loans does count as an Installment Loan. FICO takes into account how many months you are paying as agreed and on time.


The following list of all possible reason codes show how many aspects of your credit report are used in a FICO score. Your reason codes would be taken from this list:

 
     Amount owed on accounts is too high 
     Delinquency on accounts 
     Too few bank revolving accounts 
     Too many bank or national revolving accounts 
     Too many accounts with balances 
     Consumer finance accounts 
     Account payment history is too new to rate 
     Too many inquiries in last 12 months 
     Too many accounts opened in last 12 months 
     Proportion of balances to credit limits is too high 
     Amount owed on revolving accounts is too high 
     Length of revolving credit history is too short 
     Time since delinquent is too recent or unknown 
     Length of credit history is too short 
     Lack of recent bank revolving account information 
     No recent non-mortgage balance information 
     Number of accounts with delinquency 
     Too few accounts currently paid as agreed 
     Time since derogatory public record or collection 
     Amount past due on accounts 
     Serious delinquency, derogatory public record or collection 
     Too many bank or national revolving accounts with balances 
     No recent revolving balances 
     Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high 
     Lack of recent installment loan information 
     Date of last inquiry too recent 
     Time since last account opening is too short 
     Number of revolving accounts 
     Number of bank revolving or revolving accounts 
     Number of established accounts 
     No recent bankcard balances 
     Too few accounts with recent payment information. 
 

FICO break-down




Importance of categories varies per person

Your FICO credit score is calculated based on these five categories. For some groups, the importance of these categories may vary; for example, people who have not been using credit long will be factored differently than those with a longer credit history.

The importance of any one factor in your credit score calculation depends on the overall information in your credit report. For some people, one factor may have a larger impact that it would for someone with a much different credit history. In addition, as the information in your credit report changes, so does the importance of any factor in determining your FICO® Score.

Therefore, it’s impossible to measure the exact impact of a single factor in how your credit score is calculated without looking at your entire report. Even the levels of importance shown in the FICO Score chart are for the general population, and will be different for different credit profiles.

Payment history (35%)

The first thing any lender wants to know is whether you've paid past credit accounts on time. This is one of the most important factors in a FICO® Score.

How is credit score calculated from payment history?


Amounts owed (30%)

Having credit accounts and owing money on them does not necessarily mean you are a high-risk borrower with a low FICO® Score.

How is credit score calculated from amount owed?


Length of credit history (15%)

In general, a longer credit history will increase your FICO® Score. However, even people who haven't been using credit long may have a high FICO Score, depending on how the rest of the credit report looks.

Your FICO Score takes into account:

how long your credit accounts have been established, including the age of your oldest account, the age of your newest account and an average age of all your accounts
how long specific credit accounts have been established
how long it has been since you used certain accounts

Community forums: Calculating Average Account Age


Types of credit in use (10%)

The score will consider your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgage loans.

How is credit score calculated from types of credit in use?


New credit (10%)

Research shows that opening several credit accounts in a short period of time represents a greater risk - especially for people who don't have a long credit history.

How is credit score calculated from new credit?

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

How to Get Better Black Friday Deals

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2014/11/17/how-to-get-better-black-friday-deals

Signing up for rewards programs before you hit the stores on Black Friday can lead to extra savings and exclusive offers.
By Matthew Ong Nov. 17, 2014 | 8:55 a.m. EST + More

Membership cards have nothing to do with camping out early or pushing your way through the crowds, but they can be secret weapons when it comes to conquering the chaos of Black Friday.

To snag some of the best deals around this Nov. 28, you’ll want to sign up for a few rewards programs before you hit the stores.

How Rewards Programs Work

Through rewards programs, customers can earn money while they shop; stores give shoppers points, gift certificates, gift cards or coupons based on the amount they spend or the items they purchase. Basically, the programs reward customers for patronizing a specific store and offer an incentive to return in the future.

The rewards at some stores are attached to credit card accounts, but other retailers offer them for free. With the latter, you simply sign up, swipe your membership card each time you make a purchase, watch your rewards stack up and redeem them. Membership can be beneficial all year long, but it can be especially helpful on the big kickoff of the holiday shopping season: Black Friday.

Black Friday Deals for Rewards Members

What could having a rewards membership get you on Black Friday? A lot, actually.

For starters, being a member can give you an edge on your nonmember shopping competition. Last year at Toys R Us, Rewards R Us program members received access to some Black Friday deals the Wednesday before the shopping holiday. Offers included 50 to 60 percent off select toys.

Similarly, at Sears and Kmart last year, Shop Your Way members were granted access to a special selection of early online-only sales. And a number of retailers, including Rite Aid and Walgreens, gave their rewards members better deals and lower prices than other shoppers received.

At Rite Aid, only Wellness+ members had access to most of the best prices and deals. Those without a membership card couldn’t score the savings. The same was true at fellow drugstore Walgreens, where it was necessary to have a Balance Rewards membership to get the deals. So, if you wanted 50 percent off children’s toys or Home Elements holiday gift wrap for only 99 cents, you had to have a rewards card. From early exclusives to deep discounts, look for similar rewards perks from these retailers this year as well.

Other retailers have revealed some benefits for rewards members on Black Friday 2014. Online giant Amazon, for example, recently announced that Amazon Prime members will have access to the site’s Lightning Deals, which are time-sensitive discounts on specific items, 30 minutes before nonmembers. This early access feature also applies to Lightning Deals available on days other than Black Friday.

How to Prepare for Black Friday

If you want to cash in on rewards program savings, study this year’s Black Friday ads to see which stores are offering discounts to their loyal customers. Companies usually advertise these opportunities by denoting offers somewhere in the ad or next to a product.

If you spot an opportunity to benefit from such a program and you’re not already a rewards member, consider signing up for the store’s program before Black Friday. That way, you’ll be ready to save as soon as the offers become available.

However, before signing up for any program, check for fees or strings attached. Amazon Prime, for instance, is a paid membership, not a free rewards program, and costs $99 annually.

If you’re considering a more typical retail store membership that's completely free, you can benefit from it on Black Friday – and, if you so choose, never use it again.

8 Common Credit Card Mistakes Shoppers Make During the Holidays
Avoid these credit card blunders when shopping this season.

By Gregory Go Nov. 12, 2014 | 9:05 a.m. EST + More

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2014/11/12/8-common-credit-card-mistakes-shoppers-make-during-the-holidays

It's 4 p.m. on New Year's Day, and reality is sinking in. You have to work tomorrow. It's cold out. Your diet was supposed to start this morning. And your holiday credit card bill will arrive soon.

Some post-holiday letdown might be inevitable, but there are ways to keep your credit cards from contributing to that gloom. Prevention starts around Thanksgiving – when you avoid these holiday credit goofs.

1. Overspend.

It's the ribbon-bedecked elephant in the room, so let's get it out of the way first. A 2014 Accenture survey found that most people make a budget for holiday gift buying, and nearly half go right ahead and spend more anyway. Credit makes that so easy to do.

This year, be realistic when setting your budget, then take it seriously. Keep your gift spending tally in writing or on your phone, not in your head. If you don't think you can avoid charging purchases that you'll regret in the new year, go retro and buy your gifts with cash or a debit card.

2. Buy gifts that come with recurring payments you didn't budget for.

Teens want smartphones and other tech devices that often come with contracts. And that's fine, if you budget the whole cost of the plan into your gift. Don't tally a $200 phone as a $200 gift if your credit card is going to get charged $60 every month for service over the next two years – that's really a $1,640 gift.

3. Charge gifts for your spouse.

Unless you are the only one who ever glances at the credit card bill, do not put that lovely diamond necklace or that set of golf clubs on your joint card. Nothing spoils the good feeling of a gift more than receiving a bill for it. Set aside cash for spousal gifts on the sly throughout the year, use a private PayPal account or just drop the spy versus spy routine and choose something nice together.

Whatever you do, don't be tempted to take a cash advance or use one of those checks that comes with your credit card bill to obscure your spending. Credit cards charge interest rates on advances that are 1 to 7 percent higher than your regular rate, according to CreditCards.com – and they charge a fee on top of that. A better idea, if you must use a credit card for your spouse's gift, would be to buy a store gift card at the grocery store (your spouse will just think you're buying ingredients for Thanksgiving), and then use that to pay for the item.

4. Forget to make your December payment.

In the rush of holiday parties and planning, it's easy to let mail pile up. And if you pay by mail, service can be delayed this time of year by the influx of cards and packages. Send your December payment early so you can tick one to-do item off your list – or face penalties and interest on top of the cost of gifts come January.

5. Pay your bill without looking at it.

This is particularly important now that so many people are doing their holiday shopping in November. When the bill comes, you must read every line – even if it arrives just as you're busy getting the Christmas tree or wrapping gifts. Leave it until later, and you may miss overcharges, charges for items that never arrived, charges by credit card thieves or other problems.

6. Fail to safeguard your cards during the holiday rush.

There are a number of ways your credit cards are more vulnerable to identity thieves during the holidays: they're in and out of your wallet more, you're moving through crowded stores where thieves have easy pickings, you're carrying a lot of packages that might lead you to drop your card and you may be shopping online at sites you're not familiar with. You may be more likely to apply for a store card to get a discount, which means you'll be sharing your Social Security number and other information right there in public. You may be traveling, always a vulnerable time for theft.

Protect yourself by paying attention to how many credit cards you are carrying, reporting a missing card immediately, keeping your cards close to your body, watching out for snoopers with smartphone cameras when you scan your card or fill out an application, and checking your account regularly for suspicious charges – even online in between statements.

Last year, Target experienced a major data breach during holiday shopping, making millions of customers vulnerable to fraud and identity theft. There may be nothing you can do to prevent such a heist, but if it happens this year at a store where you've shopped, you can help nip any fraud in the bud by being vigilant. Check your card activity daily, and follow any instructions that the compromised store sends you by email.

7. Forget about store cards or other cards you don't use regularly.

You may get your MasterCard bill in January and feel you did just fine on your spending – until the first bill arrives for that new store card you applied for. Track all your spending as you go; don't rely on your credit card statements to keep track for you.

8. Overlook credit card-based discounts.

More and more, card companies are offering their customers coupon codes right on the statement or other opportunities to save money on things you might have purchased anyway. All the major card companies now have websites where members can sign up for special offers, like a $10 discount off a $70 purchase at a certain store. Taking a few minutes to review these offers can result in big savings.

Credit monitoring services: Pros, cons and how to pick one

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/pros-cons-credit-monitoring-services-1282.php

What Credit Score Do You Need To Get Approved For A Credit Card?

By David Weliver August 1, 2014 Posted in: Credit & Debt, Featured




Being declined for a new credit card is frustrating. You can improve your chances of getting approved for a credit card by applying to cards that are suited for your credit score. Here we explain what kinds of credit scores are needed to get popular credit cards today.

What credit score do you need to get approved for a credit card?If you’re looking to be approved for a credit card, you’ll need to have a credit score that meets the bank’s minimum criteria.

This is why we hammer home this advice here on Money Under 30: Know your credit score.

Keeping track of your credit score can alert you to problems in your credit report and show you how timely payments is paying off as your score goes up. You can also compare your score to national averages so you know how good a job you’re doing managing credit.

Fine.

But other than understanding your credit score, what good is it?

After all, if you walk into a bank for a loan or apply for a credit card online—you have no idea what credit score is required to get approved. So if you know your score is 665 and that’s about average, that doesn’t help you if the credit card you’re applying for requires a 670 credit score.

One of the things I try to do as a financial blogger is shed light on areas of finance that you wouldn’t know about if this stuff isn’t your job. Most people go about life, see a credit card ad with Alec Baldwin or Samuel L. Jackson (who pitch for the Capital One Venture and Quicksilver cards, respectively) and apply because of the ad.

I sit around running spreadsheets comparing rewards redemption rates or how much a 0% balance transfer with a 4 percent fee will save you over a card with a 10.99 percent regular APR over 18 months. (Answer: $110.27 per $1,000 transferred).

The same is true for credit scores required for credit card approval. All you care about is getting a good card. I care about who the bank will give that card to and who it won’t.

To be approved for a credit card, you'll need a good enough credit score.

Most Cards Require Pretty Good Credit

Let’s be clear about that. A lot of people who apply for credit cards are denied. And if you get denied too many times in a year, that can actually hurt your credit further. To help you avoid that, let’s look at what cards you can get with various credit scores. You can also browse the credit card section of this Website and see the average and lowest approved credit score for 100s of popular cards, giving you a good idea of your chance of approval.

If you’re applying for a new credit card, you can lump yourself into one of four groups:

Superstar credit (780+)
Good credit (700+)
Average credit ( 600+)
Poor credit (Under 600)

Superstar Credit: 780+

Reaching this credit level is hard to do at a young age because it requires between five and ten years of on-time payments and usually takes a mix of credit accounts such as credit cards, student loans, and a mortgage. Even if you’ve responsibly used credit for up to five years, you may still be declined for many cards simply because the banks want customers who have an even longer track record of timely payments.

Obviously, if you’re in this range, you have your pick of any of the best credit cards, and you can expect most credit cards from major banks like American Express, Chase, and Citi to be reserved for people in this group.

Good Credit: 700+

To have very good credit, your credit scores are at least 700. You’ve been using credit for a least a couple of years. In most cases, you’ll get approved for most credit cards provided you aren’t overextended with too much debt or too many credit card accounts.

You can take advantage of a great cards like:

Discover it, combining cash back rewards with long 0 percent intro APRs
Capital One Venture, one of the best overall cards for earning travel rewards.

Average Credit: 600-700

If you’ve just started to use credit or are recovering from a missed payment or two, you’ll probably have a lesser credit score in the 600s. This means you’ll have trouble getting approved for many credit cards.

Not knowing this, you may try to apply for several cards and get declined which, in turn, will hurt your credit score further. If you’re in this group, you want to know which credit cards will offer you the best chance of approval and apply for those cards first. You may be able to get approved for some of the leading cards, but it’s iffy.

Capital One, however, is a major card issuer that has some cards well-suited for this group. You can review these cards here, but pay attention to the minimum and average approved credit scores.

On another site I run I keep updated pages on the best credit cards for people with a 650-699 credit score and the best cards for people with a 600-649 credit score. Check them out for recommendations.

Bad Credit: Under 600

If you’re in the last group and have bad credit because you’ve missed payments, had collection accounts or a foreclosure, you need to take special steps to get approved for a credit card. If you’re in this situation, you should only apply for a credit card in an effort to begin rebuilding credit (NOT to spend money you don’t have!)

Usually, this means applying for a secured credit card.

A secured credit card requires a security deposit before you can begin making charges. That security deposit acts as your credit limit. Although that may sound like a debit card or prepaid card, the secured credit card will report your payment history to the credit bureaus, which debit and prepaid cards do not do. After a year or so of using a secured card, you may be able to upgrade to an unsecured account and get your deposit back.

When a Good Credit Score Is Not Enough

Often times you can check your credit score, find out it’s not bad, and still be denied for a credit card. This is especially true if your credit score isn’t in the mid 700s or better.

What gives?

Banks’ approval criteria for each card changes all the time. But common reasons you may be denied a credit card even if you have a good credit score include:

Too much debt (or high credit balances even if you pay them off)
Too much available credit
Too short of a credit history
Recent late payments, charge-offs, or other negative items

If your credit score is in the high 600s, you may still get approved for some of the leading card offers, but this is where you have to be careful. You’re more likely to be approved if you have a year or two of on-time payments and very little credit card debt. If your score is lower than 700 because you’ve missed payments or have a lot of revolving debt, your approval chances are lower.

Before your apply for a credit card, check both your credit score and credit report. Don’t apply for new credit if you have recent late payments or big balances on your existing credit cards. Even if you pay your cards in full each month, that big balance from the month you went on vacation could look like debt to a bank’s computers.

Read more at http://www.moneyunder30.com/credit-score-needed-to-get-approved-for-credit-card#puDri3ZctCC8g8ht.99

Credit Monitoring Services:

www.myfico.com <--- if you use them you'll have to call to cancel this service!!!


good ones to pick from:

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/creditcheck_monitoring_main?akredirect=true


(AMEX, this is a good one)

https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/credit-report-monitoring/home.do


Shopping for a credit monitoring service

Credit monitoring services typically are offered through banks or credit unions, by credit bureaus or directly from companies that provide the services. Experts recommend to thoroughly check out the provider before signing up for any credit monitoring service and offer the following tips for finding a reputable service provider.

Check to see if the company checks your credit reports from all three credit bureaus. Some only allow you access to just one, and many times information that is included on one credit report does not appear on the other.
Look at how long the company has been in business and what kind of security expertise it has -- and be wary of companies that say very little about its background on its website, O'Farrell says. "Do your homework on the company. It's an unusual industry, and there are a lot of shady characters and opportunists."
Steer clear of companies that make over-the-top promises. Grant warns: "Watch out for claims that they will prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft -- that's something that should send up a red flag since no legitimate company will make that claim."
Check with the Better Business Bureau and your state attorney general to see if any complaints have been filed against the credit monitoring service provider, the Federal Trade Commission advises.
Shop around, but consider going with a brand name you know or an institution where you already do business, suggests Mike Schenk, senior economist for the Credit Union National Association. "It's always a good idea to go to someone you trust -- if you've had a relationship with a financial institution for a while and feel they operate in your best interest and the fees they charge are fair and transparent, that would be a good place to start," Schenk says.



When Credit Monitoring Doesn’t Make Sense

There are times when credit monitoring services, especially the expensive kind, just don’t make sense. You can get a free annual credit report, and that’s enough for most of us. Here are situations in which it doesn’t make sense to pay for credit monitoring:

You want to prevent fraud. The truth of the matter is that credit monitoring services don’t actually prevent ID theft. These services can help you immediately catch some forms of ID theft – the ones that involve a thief opening up a credit account using your name and Social Security number. But these services don’t do a single thing to prevent theft from happening. The best way to do that is to freeze your credit, and that’s only a good solution some of the time!
You just need your credit report. There are a few good reasons to keep tabs on your credit score, but if you just want to check your credit report a few times a year (which you should do!) credit monitoring services aren’t worth your time or money. You can check your credit report for free once per year at each of the three major credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Why pay for something you can get for free?
You don’t have the cash to spare. Speaking of getting things for free, you may even be able to check your credit score (not just your report!) for free with some new services like Credit Sesame. Credit monitoring services cost $10-$15 a month on average, according to Fox Business. If this is more than mere pocket change in your budget, regular, paid credit monitoring probably doesn’t make sense.

When Credit Monitoring is Wise

On the other hand, sometimes credit monitoring services do make sense. Whether you get an updated credit score every month or every three months, here are situations in which you might want to pay for credit monitoring:

You’ve been a victim of ID theft. Victims of identity theft are legally entitled to free copies of their credit reports after filing a fraud alert, according to the FTC. However, if you’re afraid that your personal information is still floating around out there, you may want to look into a credit monitoring service that specializes in alerting you to new credit accounts open in your name. Again, these services can’t prevent further fraud, but they can help you notice problems right away and take care of them as soon as possible.
You’re building or rebuilding credit. If you’re just starting to build your credit, or are rebuilding after a financial disaster, credit score monitoring might make sense. In this case, you can check out your score each month to ensure that it’s going up as it should be. One option here is to check out a service like MyFICO.com’s Score Watch, which can forecast what certain financial decisions will do to your credit score, and which choices will raise your score the fastest.
You’re getting ready for a major purchase. If you’re preparing to buy a home – the largest purchase most of us will ever make – or another large credit-based purchase, consider monitoring your credit score for a few months before hand. Again, a service that lets you see which actions to take to quickly improve your score can be helpful here. And while you’re in the home buying process, you’ll be able to catch any credit score red flags before they cause problems with your potential lenders.

Paying to monitor your credit score, like most financial decisions, makes sense in some cases but not in others. Your goal should be to use these services when they make the most sense for you, but not to let fear drive you to spend money when you don’t need to!

FICO's 5 factors: The components of a FICO credit score
Payment history and debt total are important, but not the score's only parts

By Jeremy M. Simon

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/help/5-parts-components-fico-credit-score-6000.php

In the land of credit scores, FICO is king. The bulk of banks in the United States use FICO scores to decide whether to offer credit to potential borrowers and at what interest rate. FICO has a major global presence, as well: According to the company's testimony before a House Financial Services subcommittee, FICO scores are used in about 10 billion decisions worldwide each year.
Credit Card Help
Credit score elements discussed in this Credit Card Help story

Payment history
Debt amounts
Length of credit history
New credit
Credit mix

More inside Credit Card Help

7 credit card basics
Credit card debt: 8 keys
10 things to know about ID theft
Data breach protection: 10 tips

So how does FICO come up with its widely used score?

While the inner workings of the FICO scoring system are a closely guarded secret, the company is open about the general components of a FICO credit score. Using the information in a borrower's credit report, FICO breaks that information into categories. Those five components each get different weights. "FICO scores give the most attention to how you have paid back lenders in the past and how much you are using of the credit available to you, as shown on your credit report. Those two factors contribute roughly two-thirds of a typical person's FICO score," says FICO spokesman Craig Watts.

Here's a breakdown of the five elements of the FICO score:

1. Payment history: 35 percent of the total credit score is based on a borrower's payment history, making the repayment of past debt the most important factor in calculating credit scores. According to FICO, past long-term behavior is used to forecast future long-term behavior.

FICO keeps an eye on both revolving loans -- such as credit cards -- and installment loans, such as mortgages or student loans. Although the weight of each loan varies between individuals, FICO indicates that defaulting on a larger installment loan like a mortgage will damage a credit score more severely than defaulting on a smaller revolving loan. One of the best ways for borrowers to improve their credit score as a whole is by making consistent, timely payments.

2. Credit utilization: 30 percent of the total credit score is based on a borrower's credit utilization -- that is, the percentage of available credit that has been borrowed.

Since FICO views borrowers who habitually max out credit cards -- or who get very close to their credit limits -- as people who cannot handle debt responsibly, a borrower should maintain low credit card balances. FICO says people with the best scores tend to average about 7 percent credit utilization ratio, but that 10 to 20 percent usage is OK. That rule of thumb applies to each individual credit card as well as the overall level of debt.

As you see, the first two factors make up nearly two-thirds of your score. So if you pay your bills on time and don't carry big balances, you're two-thirds of the way toward a good credit score. The final credit score pieces can move you from a good score to a great one. "The remaining one-third of your score is determined by how long you have managed credit, to what degree you have pursued new credit recently and the variety of credit types you have successfully handled," Watts says.

3. Length of credit history: 15 percent of the total credit score is based on the length of time each account has been open and the length of time since the account's most recent action.

As a result, it is impossible for a person who is new to credit to have a perfect credit score. A longer credit history provides more information and offers a better picture of long-term financial behavior. Therefore, to improve their credit scores, individuals without a history should begin using credit, and those with credit should maintain longstanding accounts.

4 and 5. New credit and credit mix: Each comprise 10 percent of the total credit score.

Borrowers, even those new to credit, should avoid opening too many credit lines at the same time, since such behavior could suggest they are in financial trouble and need significant access to lots of credit. FICO suggests that borrowers only take on additional credit when they must have it or when it makes sense financially.

Credit mix, meanwhile, is somewhat of a vague category, but experts say that repaying a variety of debt indicates the borrower can handle all sorts of credit. According to FICO, historical data indicates that borrowers with a good mix of revolving credit and installment loans generally represent less risk for lenders.

Knowing the various weights given to components of a FICO credit score give borrowers a better idea where to focus their attention. "So to get a good score you mostly need a credit history with no reported late payments, as well as low reported balances currently on any credit cards," Watts says.

HOW TO: From BK7 discharge to 700 in 24 months or less!

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Bankruptcy/HOW-TO-From-BK7-discharge-to-700-in-24-months-or-less/td-p/1384075

?05-03-2012 03:02 PM - edited ?02-19-2014 04:42 PM

If you're going to follow THIS guide, please DO NOT get a SECURED/STORE card. This guide is designed with patience in mind, and pays off over time. Every single person (there have been hundreds) who has followed this plan to the letter has a 700ish score INSIDE 24 months. Most people who take it upon themselves to "cheat" or do one of those-"but I thought it would help"-things wind up stuck with low scores, low limits or worse. This guide works, just be patient and give it a chance.



UPDATE: On 7/15-ish I adjusted this guide to remove the Orchard Bank References... they were out of date now that HSBC no longer offers the Orchard Card. - Now that I'm using CreditOne in it's place, there may be confusion between CreditOne and CapitalOne. Please read carefully so you don't accidentally make a mistake. - Cheers! -SM



Hey all, I wrote this for a friend who went through a BK recently... it outlines the steps I took.... I'm @ 18 months post BK in 3 days and expect that when my Zero + 9% balances report this month I'll be somewhere between 675 and 685, roughly 15pts away from my 700 goal with 6 months to go.



Any how, it's written as "you" and for someone living in NV (OneNevada CU reference), but this method really does work quite well:





ETA: Posters note: I am sure there are other ways to do this, and differing opinions about secured cards, balances, etc. I'm not saying that this is the ONLY way to rebuild after BK7, what I'm saying is that this plan WORKS.



**********************



Steps to rebuild after BK - Goal: 700 FICO 24 months or less after BK.



Pre-Step 1. Sign up for a Scorewatch subscription from MyFico.com so you can track your progress (http://www.myfico.com/Products/Products.aspx) It's the middle one, and is $14.95/mo. Do NOT pull your second SCORE POWER report until month 6. Set this up on your debit card until you get your Orchard Card (see below). Note: The score analyzer on MyFico doesn't seem to work if you have a BK, but it's fun to play with. You can pull a fresh, full score power every 6 months if you like.



If you want, once you have Score Power, you could check your FICO on your TU report as well, but don't monitor it, just pull it once.



There are NO other sites that you can pay for that will give you a true FICO score. They all sell FAKOs and are even more worthless than FICOs.



Fixing your credit report (in other words, making sure that all IIB accounts report as IIB):



1. Pull a copy of your 3 credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com.

2. Run through with a pen and make sure that ALL accounts that were included in bankruptcy are noted as:

a. Zero Balance

b. Included in Bankruptcy

c. Current (not "default/derogatory" status"

3. For any accounts that do not meet all of the criteria in #2, file a dispute "Included in Bankruptcy" and "Incorrect Balance"

note: Disputes need to be done with ALL 3 Credit Reporting Agencies(CRA), see far below on how to do this. Include a copy of your discharge letter once you have it. You can include multiple inaccuracies in the same letter, but if you do that, make it a list/spreadsheet rather than paragraph format. Mail the 3 letters to each CRA (addresses below) CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED (CMRRR).

4. Once you get your receipts back, wait about 30 days for the results. For anything that wasn't updated to the correct info, get the creditor info from your report and mail a letter to them, including ONLY the account for that creditor. Send this letter CMRRR as well. Example:

5.a At the same time, send a "Method of Verification" letter to the CRA, including a copy of the result sheet they mailed you, with the questionable accounts highlighted. Example: http://www.gimmelaw.com/legal-form-credit-repair-method-of-verification-demand

6. Wait 30 days from the day you get the receipt.

7. At this point the bad stuff should all be pretty much gone (or reporting correctly), even if it's not, it's probably best to just leave it alone.





Rebuilding/Reestablishing credit (some of this is at the same time you're doing the stuff above):



1. 15 days after you get your CMRRR receipts back from step 3, above, apply for a CreditOne card.

a. http://www.creditonecards.com/pre-qualification.php

b. You do NOT want a SECURED version of this card. If that's all they'll offer you, decline it, wait a couple months and try again. Alot of people might tell you that secured cards are OK, but they aren't. From the evidence I've seen, it's more difficult to swtich from a secured card to an unsecured than it is to go from a bad bank (like Credit One or First Premier) to a better unsecured. Worst case scenario, get a secured card from a Credit Union/Bank that you are 100% CERTAIN will graduate to an usecured version in 12 months.



2. The DAY AFTER you receive and activate your Credit One Card, go to a OneNevada Credit Union branch and open a $1000/1year CREDIT BUILDER loan (if you do not already have a savings/checking with them, you'll need to open one of those, too. (www.onenevada.org) - (If you do not live in Nevada, find a different credit union/bank that offers a Credit Builder-type product).



3. Use your CreditOne Card for <10% of it's balance/month and Pay In Full(PIF) as soon as you get the bill.

a. In other words, if your limit is $300, do NOT charge more than $29/month on the card. EVER.

b. If there is an activation/processing charge, that's you're first month's purchase.

c. PIF the day you get the bill, not the day it's due.

d. An easy way to do this is to set up your MyFICO Scorewatch subscription to use your Credit One bank card instead of your debit card.



4. 5 months after activating the card from Step 1, get a Capital One card.

a. https://www.capitalone.com/ - This link will take you to the pre-qualifier, which is a good place to start. Say you have average credit.

b. Get the QuicksilverOne Rewards card for Average Credit (it has a $39 AF)

c. Capital one will enroll you in the Credit Steps program on this card, watch for the letter, it's an auto CLI @ 5 or 6 months.



5. Change your purchasing patterns:

a. Charge $1 or so on the CreditOne Card every month and PIF when the bill cuts (just to keep it reporting)

b. If you did step 3.d, change the MyFico auto-bill to your new CapitalOne card.

c. Charge up to 30% of the limit of your Cap1 card and PIF every month when the bill cuts.



6. When you get your Credit Steps Credit Line Increase (CLI):

a. That month DO NOT use your CreditOne Card

b. Pay your Cap1 card down to a $10 balance BEFORE the statement cuts. (you can do this online, make sure you leave $10 on your card… it's important.)



7. 11 Months after opening your CreditOne Card (6 Months after opening the CapitalOne card, after you get your CLI):

a. If you did NOT burn Discover Card in your BK, Apply for a DiscoverIT card (www.discover.com), take whatever counter-offer they give you. (www.discovercard.com)

b. If you DID burn Discover, Do step 10 right now, then move to step 8. Or, instead of applying for a DiscoverIT, app for the Walmart Discover, which is issued by GE Money Bank. (http://www.walmart.com/cp/Credit-Cards/632402)



8. When your CreditOne Card has a Zero Balance (and is reporting that way), it's time to cancel the card. You should have had it for 11 months by now. Cancel it immediately before the end of month 12 to avoid the annual fee.



9. It should now be 12 months after you got your Credit Builder loan, which means it's over. Put the cash in savings and go back to OneNevada(or wherever you got it). If they will let you get a $1000-$2000 UNSECURED 2 year loan, do that. If not, get a new Credit Builder loan, this time $2000 and 2 years.

10. 2 months after you get your Discover:

a. Apply for a Barclays Apple Financing Visa (don't worry, you don't have to buy anything Apple when you get it).

b. http://store.apple.com/us/instant_credit





You should now have the following cards in your wallet and be about 12-13 mo out of your BK:

1. Capital One (7 months old)

2. Discover (2 months old)

3. Barclays Visa (Brand New)



If you've done everything right, your FICO should be between 650 and 680.



It should also be time to pull your reports from www.annualcreditreport.com again. Look for / dispute anything inaccurate.



Use your credit cards sparingly over the next 6 months, charging small things on them and paying in full each month. Do NOT exceed 30% of your total available credit at any time. For example… if you need to charge $900 for something, and you have 3 cards that each have a $1000 limit. Pay off all your cards, put the $900 on one of them, and don't use the other two that month.



Always PIF the day the statement cuts, never charge anything that you couldn't just pay cash for.



To maximize your score, Pay 2 cards to ZERO, BEFORE their statements cut and pay the third card down to <10% of your total available credit BEFORE it's statement cuts. This forces 2 cards to REPORT zero balances, and the third to REPORT a small balance, which is the optimal credit formula.



Once you've had your Barclays for 6 months (and not a DAY sooner!) you may apply for additional credit if you like. If you are eligible to be a member of Navy Federal Credit Union, join them and app for the nRewards Visa + NavCheck (Overdraft Line of Credit). If not, you might want to ask OneNevada (Or your credit union) if you Q for one of their cards with the BK on your record, or you could get a Walmart Discover or something… There are several cards / loans to choose from at this point, pick one you like. Note: Chase / AMEX / Citi will NOT approve you with a BK reporting, don't even bother. Also, you might want to avoid anyone you included in your BK for a couple more years.



Please note, you do not HAVE to apply for anything. The cards from Discover and Barclays will grow with you over time, so instead of applying for anything, you might want to call Discover (which you've now had for 8 months) and ask them for a Credit Limit increase. You can do the same with Barclays too, since it's 6 months old now. You may notice inquiries on your credit reports when you ask for CLIs, but these aren't bad since you have limited your inquiries for the last 18 months. (you may see a slight score dip, but it will come back in 3-6 months).



Don't apply for anything else for the next 6 months… just let time do it's thing.



In FEB 2012 pull your reports from annualcreditreport.com again, look for/dispute any inaccuracies.



In April of 2014, it will be 2 years after your BK discharge. If you pay down all your balances but one BEFORE the statements cut, and pay that one down to <10% of your TOTAL available credit BEFORE the statement cuts, you'll have an optimized credit score. It should be 700 or so, plus or minus 15 points.



Keep using credit wisely and your score will only go up from where you are. As a note, I have $3550 of available credit. I use my Discover card to buy gas, have a couple of auto-payments going to my C1 and my Barclays, and NEVER carry a balance. I pay cash/debit for everything else. Also, I normally pay my cards to zero BEFORE the statement cuts, so they report no balances.





NOTE: Always apply for credit on a Tuesday or Wednesday around noon. If you are DECLINED, immediately call for Reconsideration: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Backdoor-Numbers/td-p/408066





The dispute process:

Helping Yourself

Step 1: Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information you think is inaccurate. Include copies (NOT originals) of any documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should identify each item in your report you dispute; state the facts and the reasons you dispute the information, and ask that it be removed or corrected. You may want to enclose a copy of your report, and circle the items in question. Send your letter by certified mail, “return receipt requested,” so you can document that the consumer reporting company received it. Keep copies of your dispute letter and enclosures.
Your letter may look something like the one below.

Dispute Sample Letter:

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/forms/sampleletter5.shtml

Consumer reporting companies must investigate the items you question within 30 days — unless they consider your dispute frivolous. They also must forward all the relevant data you provide about the inaccuracy to the organization that provided the information. After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from the consumer reporting company, it is required to investigate, review the relevant information, and report the results back to the consumer reporting company. If this investigation reveals that the disputed information is inaccurate, the information provider has to notify the nationwide consumer reporting companies so they can correct it in your file.

When the investigation is complete, the consumer reporting company must give you the results in writing, too, and a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed or deleted, the consumer reporting company is not permitted to put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies that it is accurate and complete. The consumer reporting company also must send you written notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the information provider. If you ask, the consumer reporting company must send notices of any correction to anyone who received your report in the past six months. You also can ask that a corrected copy of your report be sent to anyone who received a copy during the past two years for employment purposes.

If an investigation doesn’t resolve your dispute with the consumer reporting company, you can ask that a statement of the dispute be included in your file and in future reports. You also can ask the consumer reporting company to provide your statement to anyone who received a copy of your report in the recent past. You can expect to pay for this service.

Step 2: Tell the creditor or other information provider, in writing, that you dispute an item. Be sure to include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the provider reports the item to a consumer reporting company, it must include a notice of your dispute. And if you are correct — that is, if the information is found to be inaccurate — the information provider may not report it again.



Equifax

P.O. Box 7404256

Atlanta, GA 30374-0256



Experian

Dispute Department

P.O. Box 9701

Allen, TX 75013



TransUnion

Consumer Solutions

P.O. Box 2000

Chester, PA 19022-2000

Top 7 Credit Card Offers For Those With Excellent Credit

http://www.nextadvisor.com/blog/2013/11/06/top-7-credit-card-offers-for-those-with-excellent-credit/

by Tasha Lockyer November 6, 2013

Do you have excellent credit? If so, banks are actively looking to win you as a new credit card customer by offering some unprecedented deals. Although banks have been more careful about acquiring customers with questionable credit since the 2008 Financial Crisis, they are now fighting harder than ever to win coveted customers with great credit. If you are in the excellent credit sweet spot, they are effectively giving you money (and a lot of it) to use their credit cards. These are the top 7 deals you can take advantage of today:

Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express: This is such a great cash back card that I have one. Cardholders earn 6% cash back at supermarkets (up to $6K in purchases), 3% on gas and at department stores and 1% on everything else. The 3% cash back at department stores is sure to come in handy this holiday season, as will the 6% at supermarkets if you're hosting any holiday dinners or have guests visiting. Plus you'll get a $100 intro bonus and one year of Amazon Prime after spending $1,000 on purchases with your new Card in the first three months – that's a 15% cash back bonus on the first $1,000 you spend! In addition you'll enjoy a 0% 15-month intro APR on purchases and balance transfers. There is a $75 annual fee, but depending upon your spending patterns this card should easily pay for itself and then some. If you want a similar card that has no annual fee, check out Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express, which has the same 15-month 0% APR but lower cash back rates and a slightly lesser intro bonus.

Citi Simplicity® Card: Shopping for a special item for yourself or someone else? This card will let you make big purchases then carry that balance into 2016 without paying a dime of interest. The Citi Simplicity Card features an incredibly lengthy 18-month 0% introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers. And there are no late fees, convenient if you sometimes forget to pay your bill on time, as well as no annual fee. The combination makes this card perfect for anyone looking to make a large purchase (or several purchases) or who is interested in transferring balances from other high-interest credit cards to this one. Either way it's a smart choice.

Barclay Arrival Plus™ World Elite Mastercard®: Like to travel? This is the card for you. You'll earn 2 miles per dollar for every purchase, and a bonus 40,000 miles – equal to $400 in travel – after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of card membership. To use your miles, just book your travel and redeem your miles for a statement credit. You can make your travel arrangements however you'd like (by phone, online, using an agent, etc), fly any airline to any destination, and enjoy no blackout dates.

An added perk of this card is that if you use your miles to pay for travel you'll receive 10% of those miles back. So redeeming 10,000 miles will actually earn you a 1,000 mile bonus that will be deposited into your awards bank! That means if you take the 40,000 bonus miles and redeem them for travel they'll actually be worth 44,000 miles or $440. That's a pretty nice bonus just for signing up and using the card. Plus there are no foreign transaction fees, so you'll save money when you travel outside the US. There is a $89 annual fee, but it's waived the first year. Overall this is a fabulous travel card and we highly recommend it.

Citi Double Cash Card: The recently-launched Citi Double Cash Card (a NextAdvisor advertiser) features an effective 2% cash back on ALL purchases, the best we've seen for a card that offers a single cash back percentage on everything you buy. There are two steps two getting the full 2% cash back. Use your card to purchase the item(s) for the first 1% cash back. You'll receive the second 1% cash back after you've paid for your purchase(s), for a total of 2% effective cash back. As long as you're paying the minimum due each month you can take as long as you want to pay off your balance and get the additional 1% cash back (aka, 2% total effective cash back). In addition to this high cash back percentage, you'll also enjoy 15 months of a 0% APR on both purchases and balance transfers, giving you a little bit of a cushion to help pay items off. And to top it all off there's no annual fee and no caps on the amount cash back rewards you can earn.

BankAmericard Cash RewardsTM Credit Card: If you're in the market for a great cash back rewards cards that also has a 12-month 0% APR, this is a smart pick. Not only can you transfer over balances from your high-interest cards to the BankAmericard Cash Rewards card and pay zero interest for a full year, but you'll get the same 0% intro APR on new card purchases. Plus you'll earn 3% cash back on gas and 2% cash back on grocery stores (for the first $1,500 in combined grocery and gas purchases each quarter) and 1% cash back on everything else. And the cherry on top is you'll earn an additional $100 cash back after spending $500 in the first 3 months. This card really does have it all – cash back, an extra cash back bonus, a length 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers AND no annual fee.

Slate® from Chase: This card was designed with credit card balance consolidation in mind. Its 15-month, 0% introductory APR on both balance transfers and purchases translates to interest-free payments until 2015. Plus, there are no balance transfer fees during the first 60 days of card membership. This is a big deal, as depending upon how much you plan to transfer, balance transfer fees can really add up. In fact, a $0 intro balance transfer fee can save you hundreds of dollars in fees, and the $0 annual fee is also a money-saver. So if you have excellent credit, you absolutely should not be paying any credit card interest. Get this card and transfer your balances.

Chase Sapphire Preferred®: This is a rewards cards with lots of flexibility. It starts off by earning you 2 points for each dollar spent on travel and dining out, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. That's followed up by a 40,000 point bonus after spending $3,000 in the 3 months equal – equal to $500 in travel rewards. Redeeming your earned points via Chase's Ultimate Rewards saves 20% off travel costs, enabling you to stretch 40,000 worth of points to $500 in travel. You can also redeem your points for cash back, gift cards and merchandise.

The best part is that you can transfer your points 1:1 to many frequent travel programs with no transfer fees, including United MileagePlus, SouthWest Rapid Rewards, Hyatt Gold Passport and Marriot Rewards. That means 1,000 points are equal to 1,000 partner miles/points, straightforward and simple. This feature is likely to appeal to road warriors who are members of various partner programs, as users aren't limited to spending their points via Chase's rewards program. There is a $95 annual fee, but it is waived the first year.

Decisions about credit and loans involve lots of factors, including how much money you need, what terms you’re offered, and who is behind the offer. If you are choosing a credit card or wondering whether offers of credit and loans are on the up and up, these tips can help.

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/credit-and-loans

FICO scores from 300 to 850 and Vantage Plus scores from 501 to 990.

Here is the breakdown for both systems.

Vantage Plus system scores from 501-990.
A-901-990
B-801-900
C-701-800
D-601-700
F-501-600

FICO system scores from 300-850.
Elite-740-& up
Prime-700-739
Preferred-660-699
Standard-625-659
Sub-prime-624-& under

FICO is the only one that matters since it's the one that all major lenders look at.

So as you can see it depends on if your looking at a true FICO score or a Vantage plus score.

As far as what makes up credit scores it's the following;
1. Payment history (longer the better) 35%
2. Time in bureau (longer the better) 15%
3. Types of credit (mix of credit cards & installment loans) 10%
4. New credit (new accounts and inquiries) 10%
5. Debt to credit ratio (lower the better) 30%

Things that don't effect your score.
1. How much you make or how long you have been on your job.
2. Where you live or how long you have been there.
3. Any account not considered real credit like cell phones, rent, utilities, insurance or gym memberships.

So as you can see credit is based on opening and paying accounts. So without that you would have no score at all.

The credit bureaus use different scoring systems, Equifax scores from 250 to 843, Experian from 253 to 893. Transunion from 250 to 877.

There are also 3 different types of scores. The standard that you see, the auto enhanced that only auto dealers and lenders see and the factual which only mortgage companies and lenders see.

Credit Score Simulator

https://www.creditkarma.com/myfinances/simulator/index/ref/tools

Does it help to spread your debt across all your cards?

The short answer: Sometimes.

The long answer: Dornhelm says that the FICO scoring model considers utilization by looking at your balances divided by the credit limits on all your cards, as well as the single highest utilization on your credit cards. He says it's possible for two consumers owing the same amounts and having the same credit limits to get different credit scores if one puts a large balance on a card with a low limit, causing that card to have a high single utilization, compared to the other consumer.

Spreading your debt across multiple cards generally won't help your credit score, unless putting all your charges on one card would put that card close to being maxed out. "In any other situation, it's not going to help your score," says Davidson.

Having one credit card with a low credit limit could harm your score if you charge up a high balance on it, but your score could also suffer if you charge high balances on all your cards. Dornhelm says his company's research has shown that people with balances on a number of cards are more likely to mismanage their credit. "As such, there can be an impact to your score of having a large number of credit cards that have high balances on them," he says.

Don't go nuts
Credit management decisions shouldn't come down to the credit score alone. "The most important thing is spending patterns and tendencies," says Hardekopf. "The credit score is a far second."

When you obtain cards that meet your financial needs, concentrate on paying on time, keeping your utilization down and applying for new credit sparingly. Good credit management should save you money and help you build a better credit score.


http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/4-burning-questions-about-credit-scores-1.aspx

What's the ideal with utilization?
The short answer: There's no actual threshold, but the lower your utilization, the better.

The long answer: One of the most confusing pieces of advice on improving your credit scores is what utilization ratio you should try to keep your balances below. Recommendations of 30 percent and 50 percent abound, but other experts recommend 10, 35 and 40 percent.

"There is some misconception out there that there's a hard and fast threshold above which the consumer will start hurting their score, below which it's helping the consumer's FICO score," says Dornhelm. "Instead, it's a matter of gradations where the lower the utilization, the higher your score."

Dornhelm says a consumer's score takes the greatest blow as the person approaches 100 percent utilization, but could not offer an ideal threshold for consumers to heed. He says if people want to know whether their balances are too high, the score factors or reason codes provided to them when they purchase their FICO scores will indicate if high balances are keeping their score down.

Davidson contends that credit scores start to suffer after anything above 10 percent utilization, which she acknowledges is very low. "That's why experts say 50 or 30 percent," she says. As for those recommendations, she says, "30 is better than 50, but it's not as good as 10."

People who pay off their balance each month should still mind what they charge. If the issuer reports your payment data to the credit reporting agencies before you pay in full, then the amount reported will be the statement balance. If your statement balances are high, your utilization will look high even though you pay off your balances.

Davidson says one way keep your utilization down without getting a new card is to request a credit limit increase.

If you are in good standing with the issuer and know a higher credit limit won't tempt you to spend more, this can be a good way to bring down your utilization and boost your credit score.

Requesting a credit line increase may or may not result in a hard inquiry, which can ding your credit score. Davidson recommends people call their issuer and ask if the request will produce a hard inquiry. You can always ask how likely you are to be granted the increase, she says. The reduction in your utilization could be worth the ding from the inquiry.

Should you close credit card accounts?
The short answer: No, unless you have a solid financial reason to do so.

The long answer: "I would say that the biggest impact closing a credit account can have is essentially reducing the amount of available credit the consumer has, which in turn can increase their utilization figure, which can have a negative impact on the score," says Fair Isaac's Dornhelm.

If you're going to ditch a card, improving your credit scores shouldn't be the motivation.

"A card with an annual fee that you never use is a good candidate for closure," says Davidson. Consumers could try getting the fee waived by calling and threatening to close the card, she suggests.

Having multiple cards could help in such a situation. If the issuer won't work with you and you can't pay off the balance on that card, then you can do a balance transfer to an existing card in your wallet, without applying for a new card.

Davidson advises consumers not to close the oldest account or dump the card with the highest limit. Reducing the average age of your credit card accounts or losing a high credit limit can hurt your credit scores significantly, especially if you only have a few cards.

The impact on your average account age won't be immediate. As long as the closed account is on your credit reports, it's going to be considered by credit scoring models. Closed accounts can remain on credit reports for up to 10 years.

Unless a card is costing you money or presents a spending temptation, keep it open to help your credit scores. Use it once every six months -- purchase something small and pay it off to keep it active.

How many cards should you have?
The short answer: As many as you need, but no more than you can handle.

The long answer: The average number of credit cards per U.S. cardholder is 9.5, according to David Robertson, the publisher of The Nilson Report, a payments industry newsletter.

The number that experts recommend is somewhat lower.

"One or two is adequate. I'd say more than one for most people," says Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com and author of "How You can Profit from Credit Cards."

Having more than two, however, could provide options for people, should one issuer begin making unfair changes to your account, notes Emily Davidson, a financial expert for Credit.com.

As for your credit scores, "simply having a large number of credit cards is not going to have a negative impact on your FICO score," says Ethan Dornhelm, a senior scientist in the scoring solutions division at Fair Isaac, the creator of the popular FICO scoring model.

In the latest versions of the FICO Classic scoring model, the number of credit cards a consumer holds is not a factor in the calculation, even though it was a factor in some of the previous versions of the model.

In fact, having multiple cards that you use sparingly can boost your credit scores by lowering your overall balance-to-limit ratio, or utilization. Amounts owed makes up 30 percent of your FICO credit score.

Scott Bilker, author and creator of DebtSmart.com, provides a good, albeit extreme, example of someone with a lot of cards. He says that including the accounts he shares with his wife, he possesses 80 credit cards. His credit score fluctuates between 795 and 819, he says, and his credit limit total is around $572,000.

He doesn't recommend people get that many, but says having numerous cards gives him options. "When I had fewer cards, I was at the mercy of those few banks," Bilker says, adding that if an issuer charged a late fee or reduced his credit line, he was trapped.

While experts interviewed for this article disagreed over the ideal number of cards people should carry, they did agree that consumers should not have more cards than they can manage.

Credit Limit Tricks: Keep a High Score While Still Using Your Card

By Dana Dratch
Published February 28, 2013
CreditCards.com



http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/02/22/credit-limit-tricks-keep-high-score-while-still-using-your-card/

Here's an axiom familiar to borrowers: Using too much of your available credit hurts your credit score. A personal finance rule of thumb that goes with it says that for a good credit score, keep your "credit utilization ratio" -- what you use versus how much you have to use -- below 30%. The rule applies to each card individually, and to the cumulative limits of all your cards.

So if you have a card line with a $10,000 limit, for the best credit score, don't carry a balance higher than $3,000. Simple, right?

Sorry, but no. Your credit limit has fewer hard-and-fast rules than personal finance bromides would have you think. Knowing its tricks can get you a better credit score and keep money in your pocket.

Forget the old 30% idea

Start by throwing out the old notion about 30% usage being OK. FICO, the company that originated credit scoring and is still the largest provider of such scores, has long advised score-conscious consumers to be far more stingy about credit use. The company had told people to keep it to 10% or less, says Anthony Sprauve, spokesman for myFico.com, FICO's consumer website.

More recently, the company's stance has softened he says. Its studies indicate that there is only a minimal score difference between consumers who limit their usage to less than 20% and those who keep it to less than 10%, he says.

That can be good news for consumers who want to actually use lower-limit credit cards for more than token purchases.

According to FICO surveys, credit scoring "high achievers -- those with a score north of 750 -- they're using an average of 7% of their available credit," Sprauve says. "I think 20%, for a lot of people, is more realistic. I would rather talk about that as a realistic goal that they can attain, rather than something that might feel like a stretch and out of reach."

And remember that credit scoring formulas are closer to a sliding scale than a cliff. You don't go from a great score at 20% credit utilization to a lousy one at 21%. "There's no hard-and-fast guideline," Sprauve says. "But I think that if people stay somewhere between 10 and 20% range, that's a good place to be."

It's still true that you shouldn't go rack up debt on any one card. The FICO scoring system looks at "the total available credit and the total balance used," says Sprauve. "But it also does look at individual lines of credit. So it factors in both."

FICO, VantageScore differences

FICO's chief alternative, the VantageScore, is a bit more lenient in how it views utilization ratios. FICO counts credit usage as 30% of its overall score. In the VantageScore universe, the ratio makes up about 23% of the score, says Sarah Davies, senior vice president of research and analytics for VantageScore Solutions.

To keep it strong, aim for using less than half of your available credit lines, says Davies.

"If you keep your balance below 50%, your score is not negatively affected," she says. And keeping it "below 30%" is smart, she adds. And, as with the FICO models, the lower your utilization (above 0), the more benefit your score can see, she says. Also, as with FICO, how much a change in the utilization rate affects the score will vary by person, depending on their individual credit history.

If you like VantageScore's attitude toward credit usage better, that's nice, but you don't get to pick which score lenders use. VantageScore is used by less than 10% of the lending market, says Craig Focardi, research director for the TowerGroup.

Maximizing your credit score

Want to keep that score as high as possible while still using your cards? Here are four ways:

1. Use a card that doesn't report utilization ratios. Some true charge cards (cards where the full balance is due every month) don't report card balances to the credit bureaus. The best way to find out if yours does: Call the card issuer, says Sprauve. And if your card doesn't report monthly card charges, you don't have to worry that using more of your credit line will affect your score, he says.

2. Time your payment. You can appear to be carrying a balance, even if you're not. That's because card issuers report your balance owed to the credit bureaus on the same day every month, says Norm Magnuson, vice president of public affairs for the Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade association for credit reporting companies. That day probably isn't your payment due date.

Think of it as a monthly snapshot of your credit use. You want to look as pretty as possible to the credit bureaus on that day. If you're carrying a $2,000 balance on the 10th of the month, when the snapshot is taken, it doesn't matter if you pay it off on the due date on the 15th. The report to the credit bureau will say you were using a chunk of your credit, and that may blemish your score.

The solution: Find out what that day is, and pay any portion over your target usage amount before then. Phone the issuer and ask, "When do you send down that accounts receivable tape to the credit bureau?" says Magnuson. "I don't see why they'd have a problem with answering that. It's a straightforward question."

3. Pay your bill several times a month. Want to make certain you're always under your usage goal while still getting the most out of your cards? Try making payments weekly or twice a month. That will always suppress your balance, no matter when the credit bureau snapshot is taken.

But be careful: If you pay before the statement date, it could be counted as part of a different billing cycle, says Paul Westen, president and CEO of TCM Bank, the card issuer for many community and independent banks. You could still have a bill due in a few weeks, he says.

The smart move: Call first and find out how the billing department handles multiple monthly payments, along with what information you need to include when you pay.

4. Request a credit line increase. If you use a set amount every month and want that amount to equal 10 or 20% of your credit line, one way to make the math work is to increase the credit line, says Westen. "Creditors no longer give automatic credit line increases," he says. Instead, the onus is on the consumer to ask for more credit.

Utilization ratios aside, if you're paying that balance on time and in full "every month for a period of time, most issuers will have you at the most attractive rate," says Westen. If they don't, then switch cards, he advises.

Will closing a credit card account help my FICO score?

The short answer is no. We never recommend closing a credit card for the sole purpose of raising your FICO® score.

This may sound a bit counter-intuitive; after all, cleaning up your credit profile by getting rid of old or unused credit cards sounds like a good idea – and it may be from an overall credit management perspective. If you are tempted to charge more than you should just because you have more availability to credit, then getting rid of that temptation by closing some credit cards might be your best course of action.

However, your FICO score takes into consideration something called a "credit utilization ratio". This ratio basically looks at your total used credit in relation to your total available credit; the higher this ratio is, the more it can negatively affect your FICO score. So, by closing an old or unused card, you are essentially wiping away some of your available credit and there by increasing your credit utilization ratio.

It's a bit tricky, so here's an example:

Say you have 3 credit cards. Credit card 1 has a $500 balance and a $2000 credit limit. Credit card 2 is an unused card with a zero balance and a $3000 limit. Credit card 3 has a $1,500 balance and a $1,500 limit. In this scenario your credit utilization ratio looks like this:

Total balances = $2,000 ($500 + $1,500)
Total available credit = $6,500 ($2,000 + $3,000 + $1,500)
Credit utilization ratio = 30% (2,000 divided by 6,500)

Now, if you decide to close credit card 2 because it's an old card that you never use, your credit utilization ratio looks like this:

Total balances = $2,000 ($500 + $1,500)
Total available credit = $3,500 ($2,000 + $1,500)
Credit utilization ratio = 57% (2,000 divided by 3,500)

You can see that your utilization ratio rose from 30% to 57% by closing the unused credit card.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/questions/credit-cards-and-score.aspx

Protecting your FICO score

Consumer credit and FICO® scores aren't solo acts. Rather they are a dance by two partners, you and the lender. Each partner takes actions that could result in changes to the your FICO score. Although you can't control your lender's actions, by managing your credit responsibly over time, you can help protect your credit score from the unexpected.

To your FICO score, managing your credit responsibly means:

Pay your bills on time — Late payments and accounts referred to collections agencies can have a major impact on your FICO score.
Keep balances low on credit cards relative to their credit limits — High outstanding debt can affect your credit score.
Pay off debt rather than moving it around — A reliable way to improve your credit score is by paying down your credit card debt.
Don't open new credit cards just to increase your available credit — This approach could backfire and actually lower your credit score.
Open new credit accounts only as needed — A cautious approach to taking on new credit will help you maintain a good score.

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/Articles/Protect_FICO_Score.aspx

How FICO scores look at credit card limits

Your FICO® score assesses your risk based on the information on your credit report. An important factor is the category Amounts Owed, which accounts for roughly 30 percent of a typical person's FICO score.

Information about your credit limit falls into this category. However your FICO score does not consider your credit limit by itself. Instead, the FICO score considers your credit limit when determining your "credit utilization rate." Utilization means the amount of your available credit that you are using at the time your score is calculated.

Credit utilization rate is calculated by dividing an account's outstanding balance by its credit limit.

For example, say that Alice has a credit card with a $20,000 credit limit and a $10,000 balance. Alice's credit utilization rate on that account is 50 percent ($10,000 balance divided by $20,000 limit equals 0.50).

Credit utilization rate has proven to be extremely predictive of future repayment risk. So it is often an important factor in a person's score. Generally speaking, the higher your utilization rate is, the greater is the risk that you will default on a credit account within the next two years.

That's why it's always good advice to keep your credit card balances low – the lower the better. That helps ensure that your credit utilization rate stays low.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/articles/fico_scores_credit_limit.aspx

If you are just beginning credit (first credit card) or have recently moved to the states, I highly suggest that you first read this:

Even if you have money and that is not an issue, they say not having any credit on file is actually worst than having a bad credit score (FICO scores less than 600)

Before applying with Discover or other credit companies if you are in this situation, I highly recommend that you first apply for the Capital One - Secured MasterCard Credit Card which will require a small 49, 99 or 200 dollar deposit. Use the small limit as best as possible, and you can normally in about 6 months request for a credit line increase with much success if you pay on time.

Also attempt to keep the credit utilization below 33%. This means you will have to make small payments about every two weeks or so depending on the card's usage to keep the limit for exceeding this threshold.

This method should give a FICO score in upper 600's fairly quickly, and Capital One will also be updating the credit bureaus also with this new information. This will allow you to apply within one year to other credit companies for a typical unsecured credit card.

Giving a home for credit, credit cards, and building / repairing credit.