Credit Cards Tips for You

Time flies when youre having fun, or just getting busy with your life, and suddenly its the holiday season again!

Kids are excited about their Christmas break, parents are frantically preppin the house with holiday décor, students are eager to go home for some eggnog and family fun, etc. But one thing everybody starts to stress about is all the holiday shopping they need to get done.

During these ongoing rough economic times, its important to do some smart shopping and protect yourself against credit card fraud and many other things that can negatively affect your holiday season.

That is why we have compiled a list of the top four holiday tips to ensure you have a merry good ol time with family and friends, no matter where you are or what your financial constraints may be.

Youll come across some “amazing” offers that will seem really hard, or sometimes almost impossible, to pass up. But just as the devil on your shoulder may try to tempt you to buy, buy, buy the angel on the other side trying to knock some sense into you shouldnt go unnoticed either.

Set aside a budget of how much you can afford to spend this holiday season and heres the catch: STICK TO IT. That

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The key measure of financial stress in the British banking system has hit its highest level for more than two years.

The three-month London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) – the interest rate that reflects banks’ willingness to lend to each other – reached 1% for the first time since July 2009 on Wednesday. It means that banks are now charging each other almost twice as much as the Bank of England’s base rate of 0.5% to borrow money. In normal conditions, the gap between base rate and Libor is typically 0.15-0.2%; the rise to 0.5% indicates growing alarm about the safety of the financial system.

The bad news for consumers is that Libor is one of the key elements in mortgage pricing, and a sustained rise in Libor soon feeds through to higher mortgage rates. Ray Boulger from brokers John Charcol said: “Libor at 1% is a key psychological level. It has been slowly but remorselessly rising throughout the past few weeks, and it means that lenders will be much more cautious about offering good tracker rates.

“The banks got caught out last time when they were offering loans at base rate plus 0.5% or less, which were in reality funded through Libor. We’

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We’re all aware of the importance of having great credit scores, but sometimes figuring out how to get that stellar credit score is like cracking the code to the secret sauce at your favorite burger joint.

The result is that over the years, dozens of credit scoring myths and misunderstandings have popped up as people have attempted to get their financial lives in order. Here are my top five in descending order.

5. “Canceling credit cards will improve my credit score.” FICO is all about your past – 15 percent of your score includes the age of your oldest account, along with the average age of your credit accounts. Closing down old accounts essentially wipes out all of the hard work you’ve done to establish a long, trusting relationship with a lender.

Even more, closing old credit cards can cripple your credit utilization ratio, which is 30 percent of your overall score. If you throw away available credit that has been offered to you, your utilization rate will rise and lenders may think you’re too strapped for new credit. You want to

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In a hurry to start your caffeinated day? Tully’s Coffee specialty coffee retailer has implemented the NCR “RealPOS 70XRT” point-of-sale workstations, part of Tully’s enterprise technology initiative to improve your checkout experience and gain greater business insight into its store operations. NCR will also provide depot repair services for Tully’s through its Services organization. Tully’s can decrease customer wait times through faster transaction speeds and an easy-to-use touchscreen cashier interface. The NCR “RealPOS 70XRT” reduces energy costs up to 50% over previous-generation systems, thanks to energy efficient Intel processors and a high-efficiency power supply and a reliable and bright touchscreen interface.

American Express cardholders  enrolled in the Membership Rewards program may not be aware of a perk common to many credit card rewards programs:  a virtual mall where cardholders can earn extra rewards points simply by using their cards to shop at a broad range of popular merchants. The merchants involved vary over time, as do the bonus incentives, but in many instances, it is possible to earn four or six times the normal reward rate by utilizing this service.

After consumers log-in to their online accounts, they simply need to scroll over the rewards button and select the option to “Earn Points.” Once on this page, a selection of featured deals is listed, as well as an easy to use navigation that allows consumers to seek out merchants by categories ranging from department stores to office supplies and even travel.

On the various category pages, American Express boldly notes where 3X, 4X, and often 6X or more points can be earned. Consumers must simply click the merchant and proceed to their website via the link provided by American Express. Below

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