Beating The Rica

Archive for June, 2011

No balance transfer fee cards can help you repay the debt you have on one of your store or credit cards by transferring the current debt over to a new card. Once this transfer takes place, you will owe the money to the new credit card provider, but at a lower rate of interest.

How Balance Transfers Cards Work

If you have a good credit history and stable employment you will probably get approved for a balance transfer card. If you have been applying for other cards and have not been approved then you will probably have a hard time getting approval for this type of card. If you’re lucky, and you are approved, you will be able to handle your debt much easier because you will be paying a lower interest rate on the balance.

Balance transfers cards have become very popular lately due to the high amount of debt people are accumulating on their cards. It can be very difficult managing credit card debt and once it hits a certain point it becomes overwhelming and very hard to deal with. Cards that allow you to transfer your credit balance are the solution to getting this debt back under control.

No Balance Transfer Fee Can Save You Several Percent on Interest

Most credit card providers will charge you a transfer fee of around 3 percent on these transfers. A no balance transfer fee card means you won’t have to pay these transfer fees. This could save you hundreds of dollars in fees if your debt is worth thousands of dollars.

Your choices

When it comes to choosing the right no balance transfer fee card you have a few choices to make. You will have to figure out how long it will take to pay off your debt and then take a look at the different cards being offered that give you enough time to pay it off. It is important to establish this fact first so that you are certain that these debts can be paid off in time.

There are different promotional time periods for this kind of card. Each card will have its own set time limit for the balance to be paid in full. Some cards will give you six months, some 12 months and others will give you as long as you need to get the balance handled. The longer time you are given, however, the more interest you will have to pay. Saving money by not having to pay a transfer fee upfront will help you pay off your debt faster.

Making purchases

The low interest rate on balance transfers cards will only be applied to the balance that has been transferred and not to purchases. It is important to use this card only for a balance transfer until that amount has been paid off in full. You will have to pay the standard interest rate for your purchases, and this balance cannot be paid until the balance has been completely paid off. Your purchase balance will just sit on hold accumulating more interest and getting you into more debt.

Balance transfer no fee cards can really help you handle your credit card debt if they are handled properly. Many people turn to them when they see no other solution in sight and many have conquered their debt problem using these cards.

Are you looking to save money on your automotive coverage? While finding the best policy is important, your driving record is just as important – if not more important! According to a new study, the number of traffic offenses on your record can mean the difference between a monthly premium that is manageable and one that is sky high.

For example, drivers who purchased a plan last year with one ticket on their record had a monthly premium that was 18% higher on average than drivers with no violations. With two violations, drivers paid 34% extra, and with three they had to pay more than 50% extra! If you are 65 or older, violations have a magnified effect – just two violations in this age range and you will see a 57% increase.

The analysis examined 32,000 single-driver, one-car insurance policies purchased in 2010. The study found that a number of factors associated with receiving a ticket affected insurance rates.

Types of Violations

The following are infractions that will affect your monthly premium:

• Speeding
• Driving under the influence (DUI)
• Careless driving
• Running red lights or stop signs
• Failure to yield
• Illegal passing
• Improper U-turn
• Failure to use a child restraint

Time is of the Essence

The raw number of offenses on your record doesn’t necessarily make a huge impact on your driving record; it depends on the time period between the offenses. For instance, if you’ve been caught breaking traffic laws twice in the last six months, your car insurance rates will likely go up significantly. However, if you have two offenses that are five years apart, your rates should not go up substantially.

The amount of time between offenses is critical to establishing patterns in driving quality and responsibility-rare infractions tend to be seen as exceptions to otherwise good behavior, while frequent infractions are linked to poor driving habits.

Consider Points Before Buying

Some good news is that you can ask to see how insurers calculate their rates before you purchase a policy. Ask to see their point tables or schedules so you can know exactly what they charge for different driving records. That way, you can make the best decision.

Keeping Your Premium Low

Of course, avoiding tickets and driving safely are the best ways to avoid the pitfalls of infraction-related rate hikes. But you can also do a few other things:

- Take a Defensive Driving Course
In many states, taking a defensive driving course will reduce or eliminate points from your license, and consequently reduce your car insurance premiums.

- Be Sure to Shop Around
The more options you find, the more likely you are to find the optimal policy for you.

- Raise Your Deductible
By raising the amount you are willing to pay out of pocket in an accident, you take on more responsibility for accident repairs and thus will reduce your monthly payments. Just make sure you have enough in savings to pay for the maximum should you need it.

- Look Online
The best way to get low prices fast is to shop for car insurance online.

When it comes to setting premium rates, the make and model of the vehicle you propose to drive is the most important factor after your own safety record as a driver. Some models attract thieves either because they are easy to steal or provide a thrill factor when driven at speed. But for everyday use, the way the model performs in crash tests is the real issue. Let’s take just two issues. If there’s plenty of metal between you and other drivers, you are less likely to be injured in an accident. So, for example, sport utility vehicles have size and weight on their side. Now that new electronic stability controls have been fitted to reduce the risk of roll-over, these are among the safest vehicles to drive. The only drawback is the gas-guzzler tag. With gas back up to around $4 a gallon, filling up the tank on an SUV means you have to be in good standing with your credit card providers.

So, if the cost of putting and keeping an SUV on the road is too high, what are the safest low-cost vehicles? The answer is provided by two bodies, working more or less together: the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). The IIHS does the crash testing and general talking with the manufacturers about design to improve the safety of vehicles on the road. The HLDI analyzes all the available data from the insurance industry to put numbers on the human and economic losses that flow from traffic accidents. When you put the two sets of results together, you get a good picture of which vehicles to drive. When the IIHS first started, it preferred bigger vehicles. So long as the driver was wearing a seat belt, driving a truck or stable SUV was always going to give you the most protection. But now the tests have grown more open, measuring front, side and rear strength, as well as the risk of roll-over, small vehicles are outperforming the heavyweights. The top fuel economy cars are now safer than SUVs.

In part, this is due to their speed. You can often move out of the way of danger in a small car. The latest round of results show the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Juke and Toyota Prius as the top safety picks. Note the Prius. The hybrid delivers an estimated 51 miles to the gallon on the highway. If you are going to buy secondhand, check the archives for the listing of makes and models by year. Small vehicles used to lack the safety equipment now supplied as standard. Designs change from one year to the next. So, for example, the Elantra has gone from being one of the worst vehicles to one of the best.

Before you buy, check the lists published on the IIHS site and then get auto insurance quotes to confirm the current premium rates. You are looking for the best balance between price on the road and insurance costs. The good thing about free auto insurance quotes is you can get premium rates for as many different makes and models as you can afford. This lets you make the best overall decision on safety and cost.

Online sales of goods and services have increased every year since the advent of the Internet. In 2009, e-commerce grew by a healthy 10.8 percent as consumers continue to grow more comfortable with virtual shopping. According to a recent survey, 63 percent of US consumers say they shop online. Most of these purchases, about 55 percent, are made with a credit card.  The rest are made with debit cards, checks, money orders, or online payment services like PayPal or Google Checkout.

Which is best?

Credit and debit cards are easily the most popular method of payment on the Internet, and for good reason. Each of the other methods suffers from a fatal flaw or flaws. Accepting payments in the form of checks and money orders is not only slow, but is it also unreliable.

No, not because of the post office; they do a great job. But because customers sometimes change their minds and decide they no longer want an item that they have ordered.

Then they simply neglect to send a check or money order. Payment services like the aforementioned PayPal or Google Checkout are every bit as fast and reliable as using credit or debit cards. But to process these transactions, both the seller and the user have to be registered members of the service provider, and only a small percentage of Internet users have valid accounts.

Now, compare that with credit and debit cardholders. At last count, the average American had a total of eight credit and debit cards in his wallet. Believe it or not, consumers now pay with plastic about sixty percent of the time in stores and more than ninety percent of the time online. In short, a business simply cannot complete in the ultra competitive virtual marketplace if they do not accept credit or debit card payments.

Merchant Service Accounts

Why do some businesses still refuse to accept credit and debit card payments? For starters, it isn’t cheap. Also, the rules are quite rigid. Every business that accepts plastic must have a merchant service account. There are no exceptions.

These accounts are issued by banks and other financial institutions. It is their job as the provider to either accept or decline each credit or debit card transaction. If the sale is approved, the service provider will send a bill to the customer’s credit card company. Once payment is received, the provider will transfer the funds to the merchant less a transaction fee.

The transaction fee is typically a percentage of the final sale price. As you might expect, this fee differs from business to business. The larger and more established a business is, the more leverage they have to negotiate a lower transaction fee, while most small businesses are often told to take it or leave it.

Should you take it, or should you leave it?

Because credit and debit card payments are the lifeblood of most online businesses, the merchant service providers are in an obvious and undeniable position of power. They have what companies need to compete on the Internet, pure and simple. Let’s take a moment to discuss the many different fees.
The basic fee that all online merchants are charged when a transaction is approved is the interchange fee. This fee is determined by the credit card companies and the banks. It includes a percentage of the final sales price plus a small transaction fee. The larger the credit card company, the higher the interchange fee. At present, Visa and Master Card have the highest rates because they issue more cards and process more transactions than any other companies.

When a small business applies for a merchant service account, they are seldom told about interchange fees and all of the different factors and unknown variables that are used to determine them. Rather, they are quoted a base rate known as the discount rate, which includes the interchange rate and any other fees the service provider chooses to charge.

But this does not mean that you should take whatever they offer you. It means that the onus is one you to do the research and compare several different merchant service providers. Ask them to explain all of the various fees in layman’s terms. If they cannot, or if you feel that their contract is intentionally abstruse, it is probably best to move on.

Service

One of the most common mistakes new online merchants make is that they focus solely on the discount rate. If you have ever been in a convenience store when their point of sale terminal (card reader) breaks down, then you know how it can affect their business. Well, it is twice as bad online where ninety to one hundred percent of sales are made with credit or debit cards.

Therefore, it is critical that you find a merchant service provider that has a dedicated and experienced customer service team. Don’t take the salesman’s word for it either! Call them up on your own and make sure you can reach a live person.

Though finding the right service provider for you can be a bit of a delicate process, merchant accounts are simply essential for online businesses. Find the right plan for your business today.

Nowadays car insurance companies prefer female drivers to male drivers as they are considered as less risky drivers. Although a lot of men would disagree! It may surprise you to know that it isn’t necessarily because women have fewer accidents. They are involved in as many accidents as men. However, the overall damage caused by women is not as much in the majority of cases. Subsequently their insurance claims after are a lot less overall. That is why on an average women’s car insurance premiums tend to be at least 20% % lower than that of their male counterparts having the same demographic profile.

Women, in general, drive at lower speeds than men. It’s all these boy-racers who are making it hard for their older counterparts. And even some of the older men driver faster than they can really handle or control. So due to the number of lower speed by women the accidents caused by lady drivers are not as serious. So, even if they might make a claim as often as males do their claims are just less, which gives insurers lower premiums. Since male drivers, on average, drive at higher speeds then even if they crash on their own, the loss is high.

A female is regarded to be a better risk even from the age of 17. There are many premium discounts available for young lady drivers, like taking the pass plus certificate. The pass-plus is a series of extra lessons that a young lady driver learns following their standard driving test. Passing the pass-plus can gain you a discount of around 30% for the first year. Given how much some insurance companies charge to first time drivers a 30% discount could equate to a few

Unlike the government student loans that are usually need-based, the private student loans are not based on the student’s needs but actually are based on credit ratings. With private loans, you might even have the change to have interest rates that are lower than usual if only because your loan purpose in on education expenses.

Big banks and financial groups offer private loans

Where to we get these private student loans? Who are authorized to offer them?
Private personal student loans can be obtained from financial institutions, commercial banks, and even private individuals who act as lenders. Large commercial banks such as Chase, Citibank and Bank of America have private loans services that cater to the needs of college students.

Terms of payment

If you are someone who works to get a private loan, you have to be concerned about the type of payments the loan that you are getting might have. Options on payment are many; you may pay interest only, defer payment while still enrolled or begin the payments as soon as possible. It’s best that you identify your financial standing to be able to make a wise decision when it comes to payment terms.

Incentives as a big come-on for prospective borrowers

Lending companies, banks and financial groups that offer private student loans abound, especially on the Internet. With an industry as vibrant and profitable as that of loans, these business entities work hard and compete fierce with one another in order to capture a large share of the market. Most of them will offer prospective clients lots of attractive benefits and incentives such as low interest rates and fee deductions. It is your job to go and check on as many lenders as possible before you commit yourself to one. Your objective is to be connected to a lender that is willing to offer you the private personal student loans that best work for your college financial needs.