Ways In Which A Horrible Credit Ratings History Relates To Your Credit Card Options

In these times of economic difficulty, millions of people are finding that money is more difficult to manage than ever before. With incomes staying low or even falling, while prices are rising, it’s getting harder and harder for many people to make ends meet. One inevitable consequence of this is more and more people building up a bad credit rating, as bills go unpaid and repayments get made late because of a lack of spare cash.

If this has happened to you, are your chances of getting a new credit card scuppered, This all depends on the degree of your bad credit rating. A few late payments here and there will probably just result in any card you apply for having a higher interest rate than those found in the best buy tables.

You may find the very best deals on balance transfers and so on out of reach, but you should still be able to get your hands on a decent credit card. More serious cases of credit impairment may mean you have to settle for one of the mid-range cards specifically aimed at those with poor credit or no credit history at all. These cards have high approval rates, but very few features.

The also come with high interest rates of around 30% APR and low credit limits, although the credit limits can be raised over time if you handle your account responsibly. In the worst cases, a prepaid card would give you the convenience of a credit card without the ability to actually borrow any money using it. Of course, in an ideal world you would avoid damaging your credit rating, but even if you can’t meet this ideal then you still have a number of options when it comes to credit cards.

You want to avoid paying interest because this will destroy your budget and your financial goals. If you hold your self accountable to your budget and stick to the financial plan you have created, you will only use the credit cards for the purchases you have already planned to have. Not the spontaneous purchases that will cripple your savings and ruin your chances of finally purchasing your new home or car!

Credit card companies aren't nice. They've an array of tricks to bite your cash. Repay credit cards in full at the end of the month and, with a few exceptions, no interest is charged. But if you pay most, but not all, of it off then interest is charged on the whole debt.

Put it like this. Spend £1,000 and then repay £980, and you pay a month's interest on the entire £1,000 debt, not just the remaining £20! It's always worth trying to scrape the extra cash together to pay off in full. Please don't borrow lightly. Plan, budget and prepare your finances to ensure you can make the repayments.

If you are trying to borrow more and already in debt, be careful. Read Where To Start With Problem Debts first and ask whether you really need to borrow. Lenders impose fines for late or missed payments, plus they can cancel special offer interest rates. To beat this, set up a direct debit to pay off the card, even for it's just for the minimum repayments (or more if you can). You'll never get fined and it'll stop you ruining your credit score. You should always try and pay more off if you can (see Danger: Minimum Repayments). Even though you've a direct debit, nothing is stopping you paying extra by cheque or debit card each month.

The first investigator of credit card fraud is you. Regular, frequent surveillance of your accounts can highlight activity you don't recognize before it becomes apparent to creditors and vendors. As your own sleuth you can take the first action to begin tracking the fraudster and stop future abuse of your identity by calling your credit card company's 24-hour hot line.

50 after that point, but speed is critical. Often all the fraudulent transactions are completed before the identity theft is discovered and reported. Theft--up close and personal--like purse-snatching, pick-pocketing, break-in or hold-up, can leave you with one advantage: immediacy. Reporting to police can immediately connect you to a professional fraud investigator. You will sign a statement of theft, under oath, to immediately receive a case number and establish liability limits.

Credit card fraud is almost 20 times as common online as at a bricks-and-mortar vendor. Online purchases, called "card not present" (CNP), use a card number entered without physically showing the card or ID. Most online (and in-store) transactions immediately access a worldwide database to spot non-typical buying patterns. If a purchase is much bigger or very different from your typical transactions, it is blocked and you are notified.

Professional credit fraud investigators are specially trained for "electronic backtracking" of electronic transaction trails through financial intermediaries and back to vendors. They are experts in sophisticated sciences like forensic accounting, information technology and financial security systems. Investigators sometimes find a victim's stolen credit card record clean--no unauthorized transactions. But new credit may have been issued using the old card for ID only, not purchases.