There's been a lot of talk about the new credit card rules in the past couple of years. The rules which became effective on Monday, February 22 are long overdue to protect consumers. Here's a summary of the changes:
· If you open a new credit card the bank cannot raise your interest rate in the first year.
· Credit card companies must give you 45 days notice before raising your interest rate.
· If you exceed your credit card limit credit card companies cannot charge a fee unless you signed up for this service. Be sure to read the fine print!
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This past year I had the pleasure of speaking at a MoneyWise Women Conference. It was a fabulous experience. I learned a lot myself from the other speakers!
Some of the attendees in my session about credit reports and scores asked some excellent questions about their credit. Because these questions are ones I get often, I’d like to share my advice here in case it may help you, too.
“Donna” asks: I have a zero balance unused credit card and an active high balance card. Should I split the balances to reduce the amount of available credit I am using?”
Continue reading "Credit Questions? We've Got Answers!" »
When was the last time you requested and reviewed your credit report? If you haven’t done it in the past 12 months, put it on your schedule for January. Your credit report is your financial report card and it’s more important today than it’s ever been. Pretty much everyone is looking at your credit report – potential and current creditors, insurance companies, landlords, utility companies, and even employers. Let’s take a peek at who’s looking at your credit:
Continue reading "Your Financial Report Card: Credit Report & Score" »
Today's Seattle Times (October 10, 2010) had an Op Ed about Investing in our women especially in hard times. The authors said "As community members, we too must invest in women. Whether you choose to act with your wallet, your time, or both, your action will make a difference. The critical role that women play in maintaining our families and community demands that we identify solutions that will foster not only an equitable recovery, but also innovative long-term solutions for women and girls -- and ultimately for all of us."
Continue reading "We Must Invest in Our Women -- Especially in Hard Times" »
Last night I interviewed Gerri Detweiler, President of Ultimate Credit for the monthly Money Wi$e Women Get Smart Teleseminar. WOW! Gerri is a wealth of knowledge about everything relating to credit reports and scores. The one-hour interview went by way too quickly! I learned several things from Gerri that I want to share with you.
Continue reading "Learning About Credit Reports & Scores from Gerri Detweiler" »
Conundrum: mystery, challenge, poser, problem, riddle. I think these words fairly well describe the process of understanding one's credit score in terms of how it comes to be, and what you can do to manage and improve it.
Credit scoring is one subject that I have to admit I'm fairly puzzled by. Just when I think I'm rocking along with a great history and the scores to match, a small business loan smacks my score down because the account is too new, and affects my ratio of what I owe to what's available to me. So my scores were high enough to get the loan, but I'm penalized in "credit-land" now that I have it.
Continue reading "A Financial Minute with Jenifer: The Credit Conundrum" »
Each of the three main national credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union - have announced that they will offer national freezes which will let consumers 'lock down' their credit histories. This will be especially helpful if a person is a victim of identity theft. Previous only 39 states had allowed consumers to lock down their scores.
A credit freeze stops the bureaus from issuing your credit history to a creditor who asks for it. Since few lenders will issue credit without first seeing a credit score, freezing one's credit information means identity thieves will not be able to use stolen social security numbers to illegally open new accounts.
Continue reading "Credit Score 'Lockdown' Privileges now being offered by all 3 credit bureaus in all 50 states" »
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