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Students are good at paying off credit cards

Andre — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:57:31 +0000

Students are apparently more likely to pay off the balance of their credit cards than the general population, research has found.

According to UK payments association Apacs, 59 per cent of students between the ages of 16 and 24 always repay the full amount, compared to the 55 per cent national average.

http://www.apacs.org.uk/08_10_15.htm

Interesting!

Transferring money from your credit card to your bank

Andre — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:44:31 +0000

Something we don’t often talk about is the ability to transfer money from a credit card to a debit account. You may think this is quite a bizarre thing to do, but even from personal experience, I’ve had to do this. Imagine you’re near your overdraft limit and you’ve got a few direct debits coming out – maybe rent or bills. If you’ve got no money coming into your account, how do you deal with it?

If you’ve got a normal credit card you can take the cash out and then lodge it in your debit account, but it’s a pain and you’re going to be charged at a higher interest rate for withdrawing cash and you’ll have to pay the handling fee (around 3%). Virgin though make it slightly easier – you can do a money transfer into a debit account, and although you’ll pay a slightly higher rate than the purchase rate, it’s still below that of withdrawing cash. You still pay the handling fee, but overall it works out as cheaper and a lot less hassle!

If you’re looking for a virgin credit card, then it’s currently a really good choice – with the longest 0 interest balance transfer periods, and a good free interest purchase period, it’s one of the best credit card deals on the market. You can find out more information by going directly to the Virgin credit card website

Credit rating important to get a credit card

Andre — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:22:31 +0000

When it comes to applying for credit cards, your credit score is something that everyone talks about. Get a good credit score and then you should be able to get most cards.. Well, that’s not entirely true, but your credit score does obviously play a part.

But how big a part does your wage play, if you’re earning lots of money, does it really matter if you’re credit score is not that great? After all, with a good wage you should be able to pay your credit card off easily, or at least have access to more funds.

No-one really knows how credit card providers rate applicants, and what value they place on different things, but if you’re looking to get one of the best credit card deals, then be advised, a good rating is not the only thing you’re going to need.

The best credit card deals are getting harder to get, with providers sharing more and more information. IT also means that credit card tarts are going to find it more difficult to get balance transfer cards on a regular basis.

If you’re looking for a good credit card deal check out the options on the site, some of the best balance transfers and cards with the best perks.

Credit card fraud on the up

Andre — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:05:50 +0000

Apparently card fraud is on the up. With the worsening economic climate, criminals are subjecting more and more people to credit card and debit card fraud. Whereas in the past, online fraud, and usage of someone else’s account only made up part of the problem, now it has escalated. Bands and credit card companies are more reluctant to lend to people, so criminals are potentially finding it harder and harder to open new accounts, and so are turning more and more to consumers, and using open accounts to fund large purchases which are then promptly sold on.

This is not to say you shouldn’t get any more cards, but it does show, that in this day and age, we have to be more vigilant, and keep an eye both on our credit and debit cards, but also our balances, to ensure no fraudulent activity has occurred.

If you’re looking for a credit card, check out our credit card comparison page, with no-nonsense information on what is, and what is not, a good credit card deal.

Credit card interest rates

Andre — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:30:24 +0000

If you have a debt with a credit card, I urge you to keep an eye on the interest rate. This isn’t a scare tactic, and people shouldn’t go running to see their credit card statement, but there has been a bit of talk recently and some bad reviews online of people who have suddenly seen their interest rates rise – some of them even double.

If you don’t have any debt or can move your balance easily, then any interest rate increase may not affect you too badly. Imagine though, if you have an outstanding balance of a few thousand pounds. If the interest rates suddenly double then the monthly payments are going to be much higher.

You can compare some of the best interest rates on the market at the student credit cards comparison page.

The problem of increasing interest rates is especially important if you’ve transferred a balance, and are nearing the end of your promotional period. This is the time you really want to be thinking hard about how you’re going to clear the debt, or if this is not possible, what other credit card you are going to move your debt to. Remember, this is not something you want tot leave to the last minute – it’s worth doing your research in advance.

One thing I would like to draw your attention to though, is that many promotional balance transfer periods require you to move the balance with a set time after opening the card. You can’t get a Virgin credit cards for example, with a 16 months 0% interest on balance transfers promotion, and then just use the promotion 22 months down the line

Applying for more than one credit card

Andre — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:14:39 +0000

I’ve talked a bit before about the new deal that has been struck by a number of banks which will mean that they are going to share more information about customers and applicants. Well, I’ve been asked about the pros and cons of applying for lots of cards at the same time, to maximise the chances of being accepted for one, as each one has processes which take different lengths of time.

There are a few things to remember when applying for credit cards:

a) If you apply for a credit card it shows on your credit report. The more credit cards you apply for the more likely other lending institutions are going to become wary on your financial status – and may assume that you are in financial difficulty or are just relying too much on credit cards. This will reduce the chance of you being accepted.

b) If you do get accepted for a card and then don’t take up their offer then the chances of you being accepted by them again a year or two down the line may well be slimmer. Blanket applications now may hurt your chances of getting a credit card later on then.

c) Offers change and new deals come along – applying for lots of credit cards now may not get you the best deals, or not all of them at least.

In short, if you need a credit card, do your research and apply for one of them, and if possible, not more than one. This way you’ll leave your credit report relatively unharmed and you won’t have ruined your chances in the future.

If you want more information on the best balance transfer cards take a look at the virgin credit card – with 16 months 0% interest on balance transfers and 6 months 0% interest on purchases.

Balance transfer credit cards are the way forward

Andre — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:33:56 +0000

Consumers are taking advantage of the best deals, and according to research by Abbey, credit card holders, be they student credit cards or any other for that matter, are finding that come the New Year, finances are more strapped, and the lure of moving balances to an interest free balance transfer credit card is too good to miss. We’ve got details of balance transfer cards here, but we encourage you to shop around, and have a look at the best offers. The virgin credit card is probably still the best deal on the market – with 16 months free interest on balance transfers and 6 months 0 interest on purchases, and an average of 16.6% APR. Follow the link for more details or to apply for the virgin credit card.

After new years is always a great time to look at your spending, and your credit card balances. If you change your card now, and take advantage of the balance transfer offers available on the market you can stop yourself paying interest potentially up until April 2010, which will no doubt help your financial position, and save you big interest payments

Spending on credit cards

Andre — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:46:11 +0000

The British Banking Association (BBA) has released some figures about October and November spending on credit cards – and has shown that people actually spent less on their credit cards in November, with only £6.9 billion, compared to the £7.1 billion that was spent in October. If you’re looking to get a credit card check out the comparison table with a few of the best offers, but the trend in showing the possibility that people may be more careful with using credit cards, especially during the economic downturn.

Using your credit cards daily

Andre — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:26:04 +0000

Sainsburys Bank has recently released some stats about credit card usage – and has found that there are around 7.55 million credit card users who are using their cards every day, and using them for everyday purchases, both small and large. These 7.55 million are putting around £3.65 billion on credit cards every month. This actually works out to an average of around £483 per month that these type of users are putting on plastic.

Interestingly, your typical student who falls into the 18 – 24 year age group, makes up only 7% of this “everyday credit card user” section, with the older generation being much more likely to fall into this type of user pattern.

If you’re one of the few young people that do use your credit card daily, Sainsbury research further goes to suggest that a large percentage of these people are not getting the rewards they could from their card usage. If you’ve had a look for the best student credit card deals then you might have found that there are a number of credit cards where you can either get cashback or some type of rewards on your purchases. With Sainsburys credit card you can get nectar points, with the Virgin credit card you can also build up a points system. The more you use your card, effectively the more points / rewards you can build up.

The Sainsburys credit card, and more details on it, can be found by going to the Sainsburys Bank website

A step in the right direction

Andre — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:27:52 +0000

The government has been putting pressure on credit card companies to come up with a set of rules to ensure that consumers get fair deals from credit cards, and the providers have announced a set a rules which will make it harder for them to raise interest rates, and only two interest rate increases will be allowed per year. This is stop consumers from being hit with sudden credit card interest-rate increases, and high fees.

It’s a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t address the point that the average credit card interest rate has increased to over 17.6%, whilst the Bnak of England base rate ras been reduced by almost 3 percent.